And here’s the last gourmet tour! After having traversed the famous Tuscany and explored the mysteries and pleasures of Umbria, how not to dedicate the last episode of these gourmet trips to the eternal city. Because Rome is not only monuments, Roman empire and ancient culture. Among the strata of this city there are many trattorias that tell a different story.

The history of Roman cuisine and its dishes: based on rural and peasant ingredients, of vegetable and animal origin, prepared according to recipes often handed down from generation to generation in the family.

Da Checchino – via di Monte Testaccio, 30

Testaccio, a Blue-collar neighborhood just across the river from Trastevere, has a lively morning market, restaurants popular with locals, and a jumping nightlife.

Roman Chicory with anchovies

If you are in the Eternal City in February or march, don’t miss out on the unique chance to sample this sharp lemony leaf, served here with creamy anchovy vinaigrette to offset the bite

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 6 anchovies in salt, deboned
• 5 cups Roman chicory (a variety of chicory Catalogna)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup wine vinegar
• 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil

Preparation  Wash the chicory well, discarding the green leaves and the hardest parts with a small knife. Put them in cold water and leave them immersed for at least half an hour. Drain, dry and pour into a salad bowl, where you will have prepared a sauce by pounding anchovies, cloves of garlic, a little vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Let them rest for at least 15 minutes. Stir and serve.

Coda alla Vaccinara – Stewed oxtail

La coda alla vaccinara is one of the most popular recipes of traditional Roman cuisine.

Ingredients

• 1 kg of oxtail
• 50 gr of lardo
• 800 gr of peeled tomatoes 
• 200 ml of dry white wine
• 4 celery hearts
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 clove of garlic
• broth
• olive oil
• salt e pepper
• a coast of celery and a carrot and 1 additional onion for boiling

Preparation Cut the tail to logs, making sure to work on the joints or let it cut by the butcher. Wash it very well and boil it in plenty of salted water with the onion, carrot and celery. In a saucepan, heat the oil with the well beaten bacon, add the chopped onion and a crushed garlic clove. Brown and remove the freshly browned garlic. Add the tail drained brown for a few minutes, sprinkle with wine and let evaporate, salt and pepper. Add the tomato pulp and cover over medium heat for about two hours, adding a little broth if necessary. Add the celery hearts cut into sticks, stir and continue cooking for another hour. When the meat starts to break away from the bones, the tail is ready. If you like, after cooking, you can add previously soaked raisins, pine nuts and a teaspoon of cocoa previously dissolved in a little sauce of the tail.

Ristorante Paris – Piazza San Calisto, 7a

Trastevere, all twisty lanes and cobbles and artsy boutiques, delights even the most jaded tourist. Dario Cappellanti and his wife Jole took over the Jewish restaurant named “Paris” in 1984. They kept much of the original menu, and their Carciofi alla Giudia and Pasta e Broccoli con Arzilla are delicious.

Carciofi alla Giudia

The artichoke alla Giudia is a typical dish of Roman cuisine that derives from the Jewish tradition. The Jews of the capital, on the occasion of the Kippur (the “feast of atonement”), a day of total fasting, prepared a traditional dish using Roman mussels, a variety of artichokes with large leaves typical of Lazio. Tradition wanted them to be eaten fried in oil and opened like flowers.

Ingredients (4 People)

• 4 tender artichokes called “cimaroli”
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 cucchiai di lemon juice
• 1,5 lt olive oil
• sale
• pepper

PreparationWhen they start to turn golden, check the cooking at the base of the stem, which should be slightly al dente. Withdraw them with the perforated scoop and dry them on absorbent paper.  Heat the oil again with a lively flame, with a fork placed at the base an artichoke at a time and keep it immersed in boiling oil for about 3-4 minutes. The leaves will open like the petals of a flower becoming crispy. At this point who knows the secrets of cooking, knows that he must spray them with a jet of cold water: the leaves will become even more crisp. Withdraw the artichokes, dry them on a kitchen towel or on paper towels and immediately serve them very hot.  They are a delicious appetizer, but also a side dish or a dish in the measure of two artichokes per person.

Pasta-Broccoflower-ray fish soup

Ingredients (6 people)

• a kilogram of arzilla (breed)
• a Romanesco broccoli of about 600 g
• 200 g of spaghetti
• 200 g of peeled tomatoes
• 4-5 anchovy fillets in oil
• 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• White wine
• an onion
• a carrot
• a celery coast
• 2 cloves of garlic
• parsley
• chili pepper
• salt

Preparation Clean the breed by brushing it vigorously under running water then I put it in a saucepan with about 2 liters of cold water. After having mashed them, cut celery, carrot and onion into coarse pieces and put them in the saucepan along with some parsley and salt stalks. Cover and as soon as it starts boiling, set the flame to a minimum and cook over a gentle flame for about a quarter of an hour. Shoot the race with the skimmer and clean it by removing the head, skin and cartilages. I put aside the fillets of pulp and put all the waste (head and cartilage) in the saucepan with the stock, letting it cook for another half an hour. The pulp, seasoned with oil, salt and pepper and a few drops of lemon, serve as an appetizer or main course. I prepare a very finely chopped garlic with cloves, a handful of parsley and a little chilli and let it dry over a very light fire in a saucepan with oil. After a minute I join the anchovy fillets and let them get rid of the hot oil by crushing them with a fork, then add the peeled tomatoes and two fingers of wine, cover and cook for a quarter of an hour. I divide broccoli into florets, wash them and divide into two or four larger ones. I put them in the saucepan and let them season for a few minutes in the sauce over high heat. Filter the fish stock letting it fall directly into the casserole with broccoli. I also combine the pieces of pulp recovered from the waste and boil gently for about ten minutes, then I adjust the salt and drop the spaghetti into small pieces. I cook for about a quarter of an hour and serve the hot soup.

When in Rome …. Eating the Roman Fast-food

Er Buchetto – Via del Viminale, 2F

Panino con la porchetta

Dar Filettaro – Largo dei Librari, 88

Filetto di Baccala’

To finish … the icing on the cake: a day trip to the famous “Osteria di San Cesareo” – Via Filippo Corridoni 60, San Cesareo RM

In ancient time, the town of San Cesareo was on the Via Labicana, a half-day trip from Rome  and chock full of luxurious patrician villas. Today it’s a thirty-minute drive south from Rome on the road to Naples, and it attracts a parade of pilgrims eager to dine at Anna Dente’s table.

Since opening the doors of her cozy Osteria in 1995, Signora Anna has earned a reputation as an ambassador of typical Roman cooking.

Strozzapreti all’amatriciana

Strozzapreti amatriciana is a first course of great taste and tradition that combines the type of handmade pasta and the amatriciana sauce cooked with guanciale and tomato, just 2 simple ingredients that together create a perfect idyll!

Ingredients: (4 people)

• 1 piece of ONION
• 100 gr of DANKS SMOKED PANCETTA
• 500 ml of TOMATO SAUCE
• 500 gr of STROZZAPRETI
• EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
• SALT
• SUGAR
• PECORINO GRATED

Preparation In a saucepan heat the oil and fry the onion for a few minutes. Add the bacon and cook for 5 minutes, then add the sauce, a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar. Cook over a low heat for about half an hour, adding a little water if necessary. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water. Drain, put it back in the pot and sprinkle with plenty of pecorino cheese, add a few ladles of sauce and mix well. Serve with the other sauce and choice with other pecorino.

Finger-burning baby spring lamb chops

The chopped lamb is prepared by softening the meat with the meat tenderizer, adding salt and pepper and spreading it with softened butter before grilling it and serving it hot. Here are the steps of the burnt-out lamb

Ingredients (4 People)

• 12 tender lamb chops
• salt

PreparationHeat the plate over medium heat with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, without exaggerating in quantity because the lamb is cooking with its own fat. After a few minutes, turn the meat on the other side and, only at the end, adjust to fine salt. Cooking is 15-20 minutes in total (if the pieces of meat are all the same height). Serve the lamb immediately.