Another title with an alliteration! Wow, the Spring weather sure has made us clever. Back in February we had a week off for winter break and we went to Rome to eat piles of food and see just pile upon pile of old things. Rome is so old and full of piles! It was a lovely week and we walked all over to sights and ruins in between eating. 55 miles of walking…really not enough considering all of the carbo-loading we did!
Roman things. We went to a lot of churches, fountains, sights and ruins while in Rome because you really can’t walk 10 steps without running into something!
Our first meal in Rome at Roma Sparita. This is a a classica Roman dish called cacio e pepe which is pasta with cheese and black pepper. The starchy pasta water is the secret to making the cheesey peppery sauce. It was insane. And served in a Parmesan cheese bowl.
This picture is not great but this dish of pasta carbonara was sooooo amazing. I think about it every day. We had it at Poldo e Gianna Osteria, a super adorable and delicious restaurant.
Artichokes were in season and we ate them at as many meals as possible, fried and roasted. I miss them.
We went on a food tour with Roma Eat that we booked through Airbnb in the experiences section. It was 5 hours of tasting tons of food; over 20 different tastes and dishes. We wandered around a popular market and got to try all kinds of produce, meat and cheese from different vendors. Our tour guide also took us around an amazingly non touristy area near the Vatican to stop at a few shops and restaurants as well. It was a delicious day!
Typical Roman breakfast of cappucino and cornetto, like a crossaint but with less butter and sweeter. The Roman’s do not waste time on eggs and bacon. Save room for lunch!
These are called tomatoes.
Bruschetta made right before our EYES in the market.
On the food tour we went to very old and famous pasta shop and got to watch them make all kinds of pasta. They let us taste a fresh, raw ravioli stuffed with nuts and cheese and it was amazing.
I was super excited to see these Farfalline cookies filled with apricot jam at the market. My Grandma used to make these around Christmas time.
Zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies and then battered and deep fried are super popular and delicious.
This is another classic Roman dish called amatriciana. Its a tomato based sauce with lots of crispy guanciale (cured, spiced pork jowl) and it so so good!
Ceiling at our Airbnb painted by a man named Michaelangelo. The picture is crooked because we weren’t allowed to take photos in our Airbnb.
We went to this restaurant, La Fraschetta, twice, on the recommendation of our friend Suitcase who lived in this neighborhood a few years back.
This dish is called puntarelle which is a type of chicory that grows towards the end of winter. Its bitter but delicious when served with chilies, anchovies, garlic, vinegar and oil. Behind the puntarelle is whole roasted artichoke. We ate this along with pasta alla gricia with artichokes, veal scallopini and meatballs. Pretty, prettttty good. All courtesy of La Fraschetta.
Inside of St. Peters Basillica in Vatican City. This church is huge and beautiful and adorned in lots of expensive building and decorative materials. Good to see what the Catholic church does with the collection basket cash.
Burrata with sun dried tomatoes at Roscioli’s. Not delicious at all.
Roman things
Thanks to everyone for their recommendations for what to see, do and eat in Rome. Especially Tyler for recommending sooo many restaurants and exactly what to eat as well! We pretty much ate every dish you mentioned!
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