Vincisgrassi

Vincisgrassi is not lasagna. I must say this immediately because Americans, and even many Italians from other regions, assume any layered pasta baked with meat sauce and béchamel must be lasagna Bolognese by another name. They are wrong. Vincisgrassi belongs to Le Marche, a region that sits between Emilia-Romagna and Abruzzo along the Adriatic coast, and it has its own character, its own ingredients, its own soul.

The ragù of Le Marche includes chicken giblets: the livers, the hearts, sometimes the gizzards. This gives the sauce a depth and richness that pure ground meat cannot achieve. There is veal as well, and the two together create something iron-rich and intense. The pasta sheets must be rolled thin, thinner than you think possible, because the dish should be about the layers, not about chewing through thick noodles.

Some families add a splash of vin cotto, the cooked wine of the region, to the dough or the sauce. Others include sweetbreads when budget and occasion allow. These variations prove what I always teach: Italian cooking is regional, and within regions, it is familial. Each kitchen holds its own truth.

This is a dish for Christmas, for Easter, for the Sunday when the whole family gathers and you want to show what you know. It cannot be rushed. If you are not prepared to spend an afternoon in the kitchen, if you are not willing to simmer the ragù until it surrenders completely, choose a simpler dish.