Pasta alla Genovese

Cook the pancetta or salt pork in olive oil over medium heat until it browns a little and most of the fat has rendered out.

Lift it out with a slotted spoon and reserve, leaving three or four tablespoons of rendered pork fat in the pot.

Crank the heat to high, add all the beef at once and season with salt. The juices will come out and boil; over the next 10 to 15 minutes they evaporate and then the meat browns.

Reduce to medium high, add the diced carrots and celery and the reserved pancetta, with black pepper and a generous pinch of salt, and cook about five minutes.

Add a small squirt of tomato paste, exactly one bay leaf and a splash of white wine, and cook a couple of minutes to deglaze the bottom.

Peel the onions, halve them, make two cuts into each half and slice across. Cutting them a few at a time while the meat browns spaces the work out.

Press all the onions into the pot, turn the heat to medium, cover tightly and cook 30 minutes without touching it.

Uncover, stir thoroughly, cover and give it another 30 minutes.

Reduce to low and simmer eight to ten hours, stirring occasionally and skimming excess fat, until the beef and onions break down into one substance.

Taste and adjust for salt.

Heat a couple of ladles of sauce, add the slightly undercooked rigatoni, a pinch of fresh marjoram and a shake of cayenne, and finish cooking the pasta in the sauce for the last minute.

Thin with a splash of pasta water if needed, turn off the heat, grate in Parmigiano Reggiano and stir.