Bolognese meat sauce with fresh tagliatelle

Squeeze a cup and a half of canned Italian plum tomatoes by hand.

Melt three tablespoons of butter with a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a heavy bottom pan over medium heat and cook half a cup of chopped onion until translucent.

Add two thirds of a cup each of chopped carrot and celery, then the ground beef broken up, a large pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper; cook until the beef loses its raw red colour.

Add one cup of whole milk and simmer, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely.

Grate in about an eighth of a teaspoon of nutmeg.

Add one cup of dry white wine and simmer until evaporated; the milk and wine together took around half an hour.

Add the tomatoes, and when they bubble drop the heat to the laziest of simmers with an intermittent bubble; cook uncovered at least three hours, stirring frequently, adding water as it goes. His ran over four hours.

Mound one cup of flour, break two large eggs into a wide hollow and beat them with a fork about a minute, drawing the flour in.

Work the eggs and flour together with fingers and palms, adding flour only until a thumb pressed into the centre comes out clean.

Knead, pushing against the heel of the palm, folding in half and giving a half turn, a full eight minutes until smooth.

Cut into six equal pieces for a two-egg dough, twelve for four eggs; he used four.

Flatten a piece with the palm, feed it through the widest setting of the pasta machine, fold twice into a third of its length and repeat two or three times, keeping everything floured.

Bring the rollers closer a notch at a time down the settings; the machine goes to nine notches.

When the strips are dry enough to cut but still bend without cracking, fold loosely into a flat roll about three inches wide and cut quarter inch wide tagliatelle.

Season the sauce to taste.

Boil around four quarts of water with just under a tablespoon and a half of salt, drop the pasta and stir at once with a wooden spoon.

Cook to al dente; check at two minutes, up to four at the most. His took three minutes.

Drain in a colander with vigorous shakes, toss the pasta with the bolognese and a knob of butter, and grate Parmigiano Reggiano over the top.