To prepare the vegetable broth, put a pot on the stove with the water, the cleaned and coarsely chopped vegetables, and a pinch of salt. While it simmers gently, place the duck breast on your work surface, use a sharp knife to eliminate the fatty parts and then cut it into small pieces. Wash the sage, rosemary, onion, celery, carrot and parsley; pat them dry and then chop them all together. Heat 8 spoonfuls of olive oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed pan and let the garlic brown in it; then remove it and add the chopped vegetables and herbs, sauté and continue to stir for a few minutes. When this mixture begins to turn golden, add the meat and the bay leaves, stir well and let the pieces of duck brown all over. Pour in the white wine over a high heat; when it has evaporated, season with salt and pepper and stir thoroughly again. Pour 2 ladles of the vegetable broth over the meat and leave to simmer over a low heat for 1½ - 2 hours; stir from time to time. Take care that the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan; if you see that it’s getting too dry, add some more broth, a little at a time. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and check that the meat is cooked. Then remove the bay leaves and set them aside. Put the meat through a mincer with all the liquid, return it to the pan, add ½ a ladle of broth, 2 spoonfuls of olive oil and the bay leaves you removed earlier. Stir thoroughly again and the sauce is ready! Cook the pappardelle in plenty of boiling, salted water; strain when “al dente” and toss the pasta in the pan. Mix everything together well and serve immediately, piping hot, with grated cheese to sprinkle on to as desired.

Pappardelle are a type of egg pasta similar to tagliatelle but a little wider, they’re typical to the Arezzo area, while “nana” means duck in the dialect of Arezzo.