Pasta, pizza or…? much more! Here some dishes you shouldn’t miss.

PIZZA

From the classic to the most imaginative, the Roman pizza is thin and crunchy! My advice is to enter inside the pizzeria and look around if there is a wood-burning oven, the best pizzas are cooked right there. 

Before pizza you should always have some fried food. Try a supplì: delicious breaded and fried rice balls with mozzarella. Alternatively, or together with the supplì, why do not try a “fiore di zucca”, a fillet of cod or some “olive ascolane”? Otherwise, ask for a mixed fry and taste everything, it could be a great idea!

ROMAN DISHES

The traditional Roman cuisine is mainly composed of simple, popular and genuine ingredients for creating dishes with strong flavors. Some of the most famous dishes are with pasta! Here some of the most popular ones:

Cacio e pepe: It is one of the oldest and simplest dishes. Three ingredients: a good pasta, cacio and pepe. Something very simple but it requires to know the art of cooking until creamy. Freshly pepper and “pecorino romano” (roman cheese) are the only ingredients of this tasty and incredibly creamy pasta.

Carbonara: eggs, cheese, pancetta (it’s not bacon!) and pepper! Who doesn’t go crazy for carbonara? It is one of the main Roman gastronomic offer.

Gricia: it is more than an amatriciana without the souce!

Amatriciana: few and genuine ingredients: olive oil, pancetta (it’s not bacon), pecorino cheese, tomato and some chili pepper. Try eating it all without getting your shirt dirty.

Rigatoni con la pajata: rigatoni or other types of pasta with “pajata” (entrails of beef or veal). It is less known than other dishes buti t is a real traditional dish.

Among the second dishes of the Roman cuisine we cite the oven-roasted lamb, the “trippa alla romana” with sauce or with mint and peco

rino cheese, the roasted porchetta (the one from Ariccia is the most famous) and the artichokes “alla giudia” (fried in boiling oil, a recipe of Jewish origin). If you prefer white meat you must try the chicken with peppers or the rabbit. My advice is don’t miss the “saltimbocca alla romana” and the more classic and traditional meatballs with sauce.

At the end of the meal, of course, the dessert! The roman desserts are the “maritozzi con la panna”, the fresh ricotta and custard tarts, the tart of “Visciole” (it is  a type of cherries) or the variant with ricotta and sour cherries. My advice is to end the meal with Tiramisu! Actually there are lots of kind of tiramisù but the classic is always the best, an irresistible mix of cacao, coffee and mascarpone.

THE GELATO (ICECREAM)

Serious topic here in Rome… any Roman person has his favorite “gelateria” (the icecream shop). Asking where to find the “best roman gelato” could lead to endless debates! Anyway, here some useful information: first of all, the gelato in Rome can be small, medium or large and the classic cone has three flavors, more cream of course! Ask for a cone with double cream… My advice is to try various “gelateria” (ice cream shops), strictly HOMEMADE. If it is not clearly indicated that it is an “GELATERIA ARTIGIANALE” (homemade icecream) you will surely eat an industrial ice cream and believe me, it is not the same thing. So… you just should try as many homemade ice creams as possible, more flavours as possible and discovering your favorite roman “gelateria”!

STREET FOOD

The roman food tradition has lots of dishes to eat on the street… with your hands!

The king of the roman street food is for sure the “pizza al taglio”! “Pizza al taglio” is slice pizza. Unlike the traditional pizza, it is not cooked in a wood-fired oven but in an electric oven and it is cruncy outside and soft inside. Hundreds of different kind of flavours, you should try!

The trapizzino, is now also in Milan, Florence and New York. Trapizzino was born in one of the most famous Roman districts, “Testaccio” and it is a pizza in the shape of a sandwich, as tasty as the first and as practical as the second.

Not only pizza but also fried foods is a piece of the roman food tradition. You should  try the supplì (the classics or the special like the amatriciana or cacio e pepe variants), the fried cod, or the “panzerotti”.

The Sandwiches are the street food over the world, but each city has its special ingredients from own tradition. The Roman sandwiches can go from sheep cheese to seasonal figs, from prosciutto to pecorino, from chicory to broccoli but the most famous is absolutley the “panino with porchetta di Ariccia”.