Vincisgrassi alla maceratese — Italy

Vincisgrassi alla maceratese is a baked pasta dish from the Marche region of Italy, built like a lasagna from layers of egg pasta sheets, a rich meat ragù, and béchamel sauce, finished with grated parmesan and baked until the top turns golden. It is reported from the area around Macerata, a town in the Marche region, where this style of the dish is known for a fuller, richer ragù than found in some neighboring versions of vincisgrassi prepared elsewhere in the region. To prepare it, sheets of egg pasta are laid in a baking dish, alternating with a ragù built from a mix of meats, often including chicken giblets alongside pork or beef, simmered slowly with tomato, wine, and root vegetables, and with béchamel sauce spread between the layers. The assembled dish is topped with grated parmesan and butter, then baked in the oven until the top browns and the layers set enough to slice. The Macerata style is distinguished mainly by the ragù, which tends to include giblets such as chicken liver and other offal for depth of flavor, sometimes alongside dried mushrooms, giving a heavier, more savory result than plainer meat-only ragùs used in some other versions of the dish. The number of layers, the thickness of the béchamel, and the exact mix of meats otherwise vary from one household or restaurant to the next.