It may be Boston’s best comfort food. At Grotto, a cozy subterranean restaurant in the shadow of the State House, chef Scott Herritt starts with homemade Italian sausage (loose, not cased), thick slices of Nitzki’s applewood-smoked bacon, and quartered domestic mushrooms. This assemblage is seasoned with a simple mix of spices — salt, pepper, garlic, crushed red pepper — and deglazed with cream. When the cream reduces down, Herritt adds parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and a light sprinkling of truffle oil. Then comes the pasta, implausibly fluffy ricotta cavatelli made from scratch with egg, semolina, and hand-packed ricotta cheese. Tossed with peas and topped with breadcrumbs (homemade again), the end product is rich, salty, and addictively delicious — just the thing if the bleak Massachusetts winter is bringing you down. But be forewarned: a heavy post-prandial stupor will almost certainly follow.

Available for $11 (lunch), $10 (appetizer), and $18 (dinner entrée) at Grotto, 37 Bowdoin Street, in Boston | 617.227.3434.

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