We just learned how to say “favorite” in Italian class the other day, so I thought I’d dedicate this post to my favorite things. Accordingly, it will be all about food (with photos!).
It’s taken me quite a while to start to blogging again, mainly because I’ve had a ton of reading to do… Sorry! In happier news, I’m done with my first course of the quarter, which covered the history of Ancient Rome. I literally turned in the final paper a few hours ago (yay!). The second course started yesterday, and it will cover Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, aka the Christianization of Rome. Should be interesting!
I’ll try to blog more often, and will be back-dating posts about the past three weeks once I get around to writing them… Keep an eye out for the one about my trip to Croatia!
So, back to food…
My roommate and I have been cooking a lot since we arrived because it’s a pain (and expensive) to go out to eat all the time, and more importantly because we love to cook. We’ve made some really great dinners so far, and we’re making an effort to learn how to make some authentic Italian dishes. We live with our program’s Italian Student Companion (ISC), who is awesome and has taught us some of her tricks and favorite recipes! She made the entire apartment an authentic carbonara a couple of weeks ago and prepared a tomato sauce from scratch the other night…both were delicious! I’m starting to catch on, and I think I’ve mastered pasta al dente. (According to our ISC, the trick is to make the pasta at the same time as the sauce/veggies, rather than cooking the pasta first and letting it sit in the strainer, where it cooks more, hardens, and gets cold. Using the pasta right after it’s done cooking is the best way to preserve the al dente consistency!)
Pasta with sautéed peppers, onions, and zucchini
Farfalle with sausage, peppers, and onions and a side of sweet lemon carrots
Broccoflower! saw it at the supermarket, had to try it
An Italian version of ratatouille, which our ISC taught us how to make (potatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions, and eggplant topped with a few pine nuts)
Braised lemon chicken, made by my roommate! (And served with a side of rosemary potatoes)
My favorite of our cooked meals so far is the braised chicken – I think my roommate was a chef in her past life (no recipe, just instinct!). Anyway, moving on… out of the kitchen, that is.
We obviously eat lots of pizza here, and it’s SO GOOD. I’m not even going to try to put it into words…
My first pizza in Rome (and my favorite so far!) – an amazing white pizza in Trastevere (just off of Piazza Trilussa), topped with pesto, potatoes, and sausage.
Me and my roommate in Naples with our Neopolitan pizzas! Mine had mushrooms, artichokes, basil, and mozzarella, and hers was folded over, filled with ricotta, and topped with mozzarella. Cheesy goodness.
My roommate’s rosemary and olive oil “pizza” in Ancona, Italy – sauceless and kind of like a really crunchy flatbread. Not exactly filling, but delicious nonetheless!
Ancona’s version of the “Hawaiian” pizza (no meat, just pineapple) – another one of my favorites
Which brings us to gelato. The only thing I can say is that it’s so much better than ice cream! There are some good gelaterias in LA, but it’s nothing like getting gelato in Italy. They’re on every corner, which is all too tempting. I’m on a search to find the best pistachio…
Pistachio and bacio (chocolate and hazelnut combined)
A gelateria in Cumae with flavors I’d never seen before! Apparently the rule is, if there’s a gelato flavor you’ve never seen before, it has no calories the first time you try it ;) It’s a dangerous concept, I know.
Limoncello gelato – “no calories”
Italian McDonalds has gelato McFlurries… (awfully tempting, but I don’t eat McDonalds)
More desserts…
A chocolate bar in Trastevere..!
“Mozart cake” – a pistachio flavored cake that’s common across Europe. This was came from a little dessert shop in Split, Croatia (more on that trip coming soon!)
Indulging in a cannoli before hopping on a train to Ancona
Ciobar. Italy does hot chocolate best. (Although it’s really more like pudding)
And coffee! A morning cappuccino is my new best friend.
A cappuccino from the cafe just down the street from IES, where I have class.
Stay tuned for more about my adventures in Italy and beyond!
tasty adventures 