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Note: As far as the meat goes, you could use any combination of the four, or only use beef or beef and pork.
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But its worth using all four.
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It really does make all the difference in the final flavour.
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Heat the olive oil in a deep-bottomed saucepan (I use the Le Creuset).
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Dice the onion and place into the pan.
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Cook gently for a few minutes.
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Dice up the bacon or prosciutto and add to the pan with the crushed garlic.
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Cook over a gentle heat until the fat on the bacon has dissolved.
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Grate your carrot and zucchini finely.
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Squeeze as much of the water out of the zucchini as you can and add both to the pan.
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Turn up the heat and cook for a minute or so.
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Add the meat and cook till browned.
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Turn the heat down to a medium low.
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Add the tomato paste and stir to mix.
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Add the oregano, thyme, marjoram, cinnamon, and beef stock powder.
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Stir to mix.
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Open your cans on tomato and put the tomatoes onto your chopping board (reserve the sauce).
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Remove the icky bits from the tomatoes and dice up.
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Add to the sauce along with all the juices.
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Stir.
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Add the bay leaves, tomato sauce (ketchup), balsamic, Tabasco and red wine.
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Stir the sauce well and cover with the lid.
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Now, if you are going to bake your sauce you need to put your oven on to 180C (350F) and place your sauce with the lid on in the oven for 2 hours.
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Check once in a while and stir occasionally.
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If you will make this on the stove top, place on a very low heat and simmer gently for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally and topping up the liquid if needed.
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You can (and I do) combine the two cooking methods.
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I often simmer my sauce for a couple of hours and then whack it in the oven for an hour or so at 160C (320F).
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However, when I am making this sauce for lasagne, I tend to go the stove top direction, simply because I am going to be baking the sauce in the lasagne.
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As with any ragu this is best made the day before, left to cool, placed in the fridge overnight and then reheated slowly over a low heat the next day before serving.
