Restaurant-Style Spaghetti Sauce

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat and brown the ground beef and Italian sausage together, breaking them up but letting the meat sit long enough to develop a crust, 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and cook until softened and beginning to color, 8 minutes, then stir in the garlic for 1 minute. Cutting the vegetables very fine lets them dissolve into the sauce rather than floating in it.
3. Stir in the tomato paste and cook 3 minutes, until it darkens to brick red and coats the meat.
4. Pour in the dry red wine, scrape the bottom of the pot, and simmer until it has almost entirely cooked away, about 6 minutes.
5. Add the crushed tomatoes, dried oregano, dried basil, granulated sugar, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves. Bring to a bare simmer, then cook partly covered over the lowest heat for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes and scraping the bottom.
6. Stir in the whole milk and simmer 10 minutes more; the dairy rounds off the acidity in a way sugar alone cannot. Discard the bay leaves.
7. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the fresh basil and grated Parmesan cheese. Taste for salt and serve over spaghetti.