Tagliatelle al Ragu

There are as many ragu recipes as there are nonas. But this one from Rowley Leigh is interesting in that he suggests sauteing the vegetables separately. He is also adamant about not compacting the meat after it has been put through the mincer. As a result, "the meat does not cake into lumps that have to be broken down during the cooking process". Frying the pancetta until a bit crisp is also unusual, as is the omission of wine I believe. The milk is fairly standard, making the sauce especially smooth. To date, I've not seen many ragus with garlic and especially thyme, so I wonder if this is Mr. Leigh's idea?

250 gr unsmoked pancetta

750 gr lean beef

750 gr belly pork

2 onions

2 large carrots

4 celery stalks

2 cloves garlic

300 gr tomato passata

70 gr tomato puree

400 gr tinned and peeled plum tomatoes

3 bay leaves

a few sprigs of thyme

nutmeg

1 liter milk

1. cut the meat into long strips, mince the pancetta first on the medium blade of the mincer and put to one side; mix the remaining meat and pass that through the machine (if you have one, otherwise chop away)
2. heat a heavy saucepan with a tblsp of EVOO and add the pancetta; let it sweat for 10 minutes until the fat renders out and the meat is fried to a nice friable texture; add the rest of the minced meat and stir well with a wooden spoon; continue to cook on high heat for 20 minutes, stirring regularly; continue cooking on lower heat for another 20 minutes stirring occasionally
3. while the meat cooks, peel and cut the vegetables into a fine dice; in another pan stew them together in two tblsp EVOO until very soft; add all three types of tomato with a dessertspoon of sugar and then add the herbs, a good grating of nutmeg, a tsp of salt and plenty of ground pepper; simmer for a few minutes and then add to the meat after it has been cooking for 40 minutes
4. bring the mix to a gentle simmer and then pour in the milk; stir well and simmer for another two hours on a very gentle heat, stirring now and then; make sure the sauce does not catch on the bottom of the pan
5. drop the tagliatelle in a large pot of salted water; when cooked, lift out with thongs into a saucepan; add ragu to taste (not too much!); add a bit of pasta cooking water and gently fold the sauce through the pasta
6. serve on some heated plates, with freshly grated parmesan all around