Place ground beef in a large sauce pot. Turn up heat. Season with herbs, kosher salt, and black pepper.

When bottom of ground beef is browned, add shallots and bell pepper. Stir. When meat is nearly finished browning, add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add worchestershire sauce and tomato paste and scrape up all brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1 minute to caramelize tomato paste to remove its bitterness.

Add tomato products and bay leaf. Stir. Simmer gently for 30 minutes.

Remove bay leaf. Add vinegar and sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, sugar, and vinegar to taste.

Garnish with basil and parmigiano reggiano.

Variations; Parsley, sage, marjoram, parmesean, romano, spinach, celery, bacon, pancetta, chives, oregano, habanero, paprika, heavy cream, shallots, jalapeños, balsamic, asiago, fontina, red or yellow onion, beef stock, red wine, rose, celery seed, fennel, fennel seed, Italian seasoning, herbes de provence, dried onion soup mix, sausage, diced steak, sherry, sherry vinegar, port, mushrooms, roasted garlic/bell pepper/tomato puree, carrots, arugula,