After cleaning the vegetables, finely chop the onion, carrot, and celery as fine as possible with a kitchen knife for the “soffritto” and set aside.
In a pot or Dutch oven (at least 20 cm in diameter), heat a drizzle of olive oil and melt the butter over medium heat for a few minutes.
Once the butter has melted, cook the onion slowly with a pinch of salt, stirring frequently until it becomes soft and translucent. This might take from 5-10 minutes.
Next, add the celery and the carrot together with another pinch of salt stirring often for around 5 minutes.
Once the vegetables are caramelized (between 10 and 15 minutes), add the finely chopped pancetta (or ground pork mix) stirring the mixture to break it apart. Increase the heat to medium-low to facilitate the cooking of the pancetta and the release of its fat. Cook the "soffritto" and pancetta together, allowing their flavors to meld without browning for another 10 to 15 minutes.
With the vegetables and bacon cooked, now it is time to add the ground beef to the pan. Spread the pancetta and vegetables around the edges of the pot, creating space in the center for the meat. Increase the heat to medium-high and add one-third of the meat with salt. Stir continuously to fully break up the meat and prevent it from releasing excess liquid. Once the meat begins to change color, move it to the sides and add another third with salt. Repeat this process until all the meat is browned and fully cooked and there are no big chunks left.
Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring for a few minutes. Optionally add a generous grating of freshly ground nutmeg to add warmth and depth to the ragù Bolognese.
Deglaze with half of the red wine leaving it to evaporate slowly. Keep the heat on high for a couple of minutes, stirring again until the wine alcohol evaporates. Then repeat with the remaining wine. This step requires a little patience and may take up to 25 minutes but it's important not to leave any traces of wine before pouring the tomatoes.
Stir in the hand-crushed tomatoes and let it simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. In the meantime, warm the broth and tomato paste in another pan, mixing them together until fully dissolved. Set aside until the 30 minutes have passed.
Once ready, pour the hot broth and tomato paste mixture into the pot. Bring it to a gentle simmer, reduce the heat to low, and cover the pot, leaving the lid slightly ajar. Let it simmer gently for at least 3 hours, stirring occasionally, or longer if needed for a deeper flavour
Cook for about 3 and a half hours, stirring occasionally and checking the consistency of the ragù (add salt, pepper, or more water if needed). Always keep the lid on, please! About 30 minutes before turning off the heat, you can add the milk to give the ragù more creaminess and reduce the acidity of the tomatoes.
Finally season with salt and pepper. If you're using the sauce of lasagne then you might need to cook it for longer until it becomes denser.