1. Dry the meat and pierce it in several places with a sharp knife. Push a sliver of garlic and a little chopped parsley into each cut. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy saucepan or cast-iron casserole and brown the meat thoroughly on all sides. Lift the meat out of the pot and set it aside on a plate.
3. Lower the heat and add the finely diced onions and chilli. Fry gently until the onions are translucent and tender. Return the meat to the pot, add the sugar and pour on the wine. Allow the wine to bubble up before adding the tomatoes (ripe tomatoes, sliced or canned Italian tomatoes). Cover the pot, resting the lid over a wooden spoon to allow some evaporation. Simmer very slowly for two and a half hours, until the meat is very tender.
4.  Alternatively, if you are using a lidded cast-iron casserole dish, you can cook the dish in the oven set to 150 degC. Once the meat is tender, lift it out of the pot onto a plate. If the sauce is too thin, continue to boil it without a lid, until it is thick enough to coat pasta. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Tips

Just as delicious as the versions using beef, lamb and pork work in the same dish - meats that contribute a subtle sweetness to the sauce. When I made it this way, I bought a 500g piece of pork scotch fillet and a 500g piece of lamb leg on the bone and followed the rest of the above recipe exactly. For two people this made three meals; the hot lamb moistened with a little of the sauce on the first night, the cold pork, sliced thinly, served with salad on the second night, and for lunch on the third day, the sauce tossed with pasta and topped with Italian parmesan.