Start by chopping the celery, onions and carrots thinly. This effort is key as you are making a pasta sauce not a stew.
In a casserole dish add some oil and cook the pancetta so that you start the dish by giving it a lot of flavor. When they are all pink add the onions, celery and carrots. Leave it cook for 5 min, the liquid from the vegetables should keep it from sticking but if it does add a little splash of white wine.
Add the minced beef and mix well. Remove the sausage from the skin and add that too to the pot. Stir well and when the beef looks quite cook and it start to stick add the wine and leave it to evaporate
Add the tinned tomatoes and the cherry tomatoes (if using) and the sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes.
Leave to cook with a lid over small fire for ideally 2 hours but for a minimum of at least 1 hour. Check it after 1 hour and again at 1.5 hours so ensure that it’s not sticking and if needed add some beef stock.
