A Recipe from Boston’s Little Italy, with Pasta Chef Sophia Ronga

“This recipe can go from casual to complicated,” says Ronga. “If you haven’t been to the grocery store and you’re living off pantry staples, you can still make it.” While this is a great time to break out the pasta maker, Ronga says you don’t need any special equipment—she used an empty wine bottle to roll out pasta dough when she first moved to the North End.

With such a flexible recipe, you can also swap in store-bought sauce, dried pasta, or your own favorite ingredients, says Ronga. Otherwise, make a day of it. “The meatballs, the homemade pasta, the sauce . . . they make this a little bit more advanced. It’s something you could dress up a bit more and have fun experimenting with.”

Ingredients: 16-ounce can crushed tomatoes, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 ½ cups red wine, 2 chopped garlic cloves, spices (salt, pepper, parsley, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes—plus fresh basil for serving).

1. In a saucepan, heat the olive oil and garlic on medium heat until the garlic begins to color, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the wine. “It should sizzle,” says Sophia. “You want to cook out the alcohol, so allow it to simmer for about 5 minutes.”
3. Stir in the tomatoes and add herbs and seasoning to taste. Sophia suggests going easy on the red-pepper flakes. “Trust me,” she says. “They pack in heat.”
4. Let the sauce simmer on low as you make the pasta dough and meatballs.

Ingredients: 2 jumbo eggs, ½ cup semolina flour, ½ cup 00 flour. “If you don’t have either of these flours, you can use a little less than 1 cup all-purpose,” says Sophia.

1. Combine flour in a mixing bowl and make a well in the middle. Crack the eggs into the well and use a fork to stir the eggs.
2. Slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs until a dough starts to form. Once you have a ball of dough, knead for about 10 minutes.
3. Coat the dough with some additional flour, and allow it to sit for 30 minutes. “Activate that gluten,” says Sophia.
4. Roll out the dough. “For spaghetti, it’s particularly important to keep it well-floured. Continue to work it in a circle with the rolling pin.”
5. Cut your pasta. “To get something as thin as spaghetti, it’s easier to use a pasta machine, but you can also use a pizza cutter, a knife, or whatever you have on hand.”

Ingredients: 1 pound ground meat, 1 cup breadcrumbs, 1 egg, ½ cup grated, Parmesan cheese, 2 chopped garlic cloves, spices (salt, pepper, parsley, basil, and oregano). “I usually get a meatloaf mix,” says Sophia, “but any ground meat will work.”

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, plus a spoonful of the red sauce that’s simmering.
2. Mix ingredients well with your hands and form the meat mixture into balls. “If things are feeling too wet, add in more breadcrumbs, says Sophia. “If things aren’t sticking together, add a bit more sauce or another egg.”
3. Place on a greased sheet pan, and bake for 20–25 minutes, or until browned. “Make sure you give them some space on the pan.”

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil while the meatballs are in the oven.
2. When the meatballs are browned, add them and any drippings to the red sauce, simmering for an additional 5–10 minutes.
3. Boil the fresh pasta for 2–5 minutes, or until tender. Drain. Toss the pasta, sauce, and meatballs together. Serve topped with plenty of chopped, fresh basil.

For more delicious Italian-inspired recipes, check out Sophia's website and Instagram page.