Casoncelli pasta (casonsei) from Lombardy.

Make the filling.

1. Wash the leeks, remove the outer leaves and cut them into small pieces, Remove the casing from the sausages and crumble the meat. Cut the mortadella into very small pieces. Cut the pancetta into small cubes if needed.
2. Wash and chop the parsley finely. Wash and cook the wet spinach until it wilts. Peel the potatoes (I don’t do this when using a potato ricer because the peel remains in the ricer when you press the cooked potato through).
3. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until fork tender. Drain the spinach and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. I often use a tea towel for this. Chop the cooked spinach finely. Sauté the leeks in butter until soft, then add the spinach and parsley. Cook for another minute or two. Set aside to cool.
4. Pass the cooked potato through a sieve or potato ricer or mash them as well as possible without adding any liquid.
5. Put the breadcrumbs, grated grana, potatoes, spinach, leeks, parsley, sausage meat, finely chopped mortadella, egg, salt and pepper into a bowl. Mix the ingredients well and leave the mixture covered in clingfilm to rest in the refrigerator overnight. You can also just use the filling immediately.

Make the pasta dough.

1. Sift the ‘00’ flour and semolina flour into a bowl with a pinch of salt and 2 eggs. Start to beat the eggs with a fork and then mix everything together still using a fork. Now add water a little at a time whilst continuing to mix with a fork. Don't use all the water if the dough starts to feel too wet. Add a little more flour if this happens. Next start to knead the mixture in the bowl with your hands.
2. Once you have the beginnings of a dough that doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl, turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, and continue kneading with your hands for 5-10 minutes. Roll the dough into a ball and wrap it in clingfilm (plastic wrap) and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
3. While the dough is resting, take small pieces of filling and roll them into cherry sized balls. Place them on a flour dusted surface until ready to use them. You may have more filling than you need so I would suggest rolling half into balls and making the casoncelli. Then make more filling balls for the next batch of pasta. If you have leftover filling, it makes great patties that you can fry or bakefor another meal or a snack.
4. Cut off about one quarter of the dough. Flatten it with the palms of your hands or a rolling pin. If using a pasta machine pass the dough through the widest setting. (That’s 7 on my machine but 1 on others)
5. Fold the first dough sheet into thirds and pass it again through the widest setting, shorter edge first. Do this once more. Then, pass the dough through the next 2-3 settings. The sheets shouldn’t be too thin as they need to hold the filling. You can also roll the dough out using a rolling pin.
6. Place your ready sheet on a flour dusted surface and cut out circles of about 7cm in diameter. Remove the extra dough. You can use it to make more sheets.
7. Place a ball of filling in the centre of each circle, fold the pasta over the filling to form half circles. Press the edges down with your fingers. Fold the smooth part of the stuffed pasta onto the edges so they are underneath. Turn the pasta over and press gently in the middle where the edges of the half moon are. Place your ready casoncelli onto a flour dusted surface until you are ready to cook them.

Make the condiment, cook and serve.

1. Put a pot of water onto boil for the pasta. In the meantime, cook the pancetta in a pan with the butter. Add some sage leaves and once they start to darken, set aside.
2. Add salt tothe water for the pasta once it is boiling. Bring to a boil again and then cook the ready casoncelli in the boiling salted water. When they rise to the surface, give them another minute, test taste one casoncelli. If it is ready, use a slotted spoon to transfer the pasta to a large pan with the condiment. Gently mix everything together over a low heat and then serve with more grated grana if required!