Fresh pasta in Rome
Apr 6th, 2008, 07:19 AM
#1
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Fresh pasta in Rome
We are renting an apartment in the Trastevere area in June and want to make a lot of our evening meals. Pasta with fresh vegetables drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with cheese sounds perfect to me. Do you know where, or if, we can purchase fresh pasta - like ravioli - Rome? What other market purchases do you suggest for cooking? I want to cook, but I don't want to spend hours in the kitchen.
Apr 6th, 2008, 07:27 AM
#2
Hi sewitall,
in my experience, the italians don't get so het up about fresh pasta - the dried stuff is what they susally use, unless the actual dish calls for fresh - eg tagiatelle.
I would go to the nearest market and buy whatever you fancy for the sauce [the main part, after all] and thence the deli for the pasta. and don't despise the humble supermarket - they do have some very good fresh stuff as well as frozen.
some delis sell made up dishes which can be very good, or will advise you on the best sort of pasta for your sauce.
WHen we went to Venice recently, I went onto google maps and printed off a map of the area we were going to stay in marked with the locations of supermarkets and delis. this proved quite useful, but you'll find that there are loads of other shops you can use, especially in somewhere like trastevere which is a place where real romans live and shop.
have fun,
regards, ann
in my experience, the italians don't get so het up about fresh pasta - the dried stuff is what they susally use, unless the actual dish calls for fresh - eg tagiatelle.
I would go to the nearest market and buy whatever you fancy for the sauce [the main part, after all] and thence the deli for the pasta. and don't despise the humble supermarket - they do have some very good fresh stuff as well as frozen.
some delis sell made up dishes which can be very good, or will advise you on the best sort of pasta for your sauce.
WHen we went to Venice recently, I went onto google maps and printed off a map of the area we were going to stay in marked with the locations of supermarkets and delis. this proved quite useful, but you'll find that there are loads of other shops you can use, especially in somewhere like trastevere which is a place where real romans live and shop.
have fun,
regards, ann
Apr 6th, 2008, 07:34 AM
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The Stand(e) grocery store in the basement of Oviesse in Trastevere is a great grocery store that might be close to your apartment. It has a great deli area with various pastas that are fresh and just need to be heated along with various deli items like olives,calamari,cheest,etc. The rest of the store has a great selection and is one of my favorite grocery stores in Roma.
The one thing that you may find in Europe is that by the time you pay in Euros all of the grocery items-it might have been cheaper to eat out and enjoy the atmosphere?
The one thing that you may find in Europe is that by the time you pay in Euros all of the grocery items-it might have been cheaper to eat out and enjoy the atmosphere?
Apr 6th, 2008, 07:50 AM
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This is very helpful. Thanks. I will check out all of your suggestions. There are four of us so when we cook it will be for four. I have seen cooking classes that include foods such as ravioli made with great fillings like pear and spinach so I don't believe that the sauce is always the most important part.
I didn't know you could do a Google search for grocery stores. Can you save that? How?
I didn't know you could do a Google search for grocery stores. Can you save that? How?
Apr 6th, 2008, 12:41 PM
#7
Hi again, sewitall,
<<I didn't know you could do a Google search for grocery stores. Can you save that? How?>>
1. google google maps.
2. put in the addresss you'll be staying at.
3. go to "select business"
4. Put in grocer/delicatessen/supermarket.
5. print.
6. Repeat for whatever else you mgiht want.
dutyfree has some great sugestions there. of course if it's avaialbe you should try it. [fresh pasta that is - who was it who said you should try anything once except incest and morris dancing?]
from very recent personal experience, we found that we could eat in in [Venice]for less than half what a meal out would cost us. and for snacks and drinks the difference was even greater.
if you go with the made up dishes you can get, or ready-made pasta and sauce, your supper should take only minutes. you may also find a take out [porta via] pizzeria like we did - 20E for one giant and one medium pizza, which gave us enough for all four plus some left-overs.
we were lucky in that our apartment had all of the staples we needed - salt, pepper, oil, coffee, sugar - no tea bags but we'd brought them with us. so I would advise not buying anything until you have sussed out your partment.
also there may be a place near-by that sells wine from the cask. we got litres of prosecco and a local red[actually 1 1/2 litres as that was the only size plastic bottles they had] for about E3-4. they even supplied the bottles, but would be happy if you took your own.
have a great time,
regards, ann
PS -you may need to adapt your cooking style. have a good look at the utensils, pots and pans you've got before you make any big purchases - you may not have anything to cook it in or with!
<<I didn't know you could do a Google search for grocery stores. Can you save that? How?>>
1. google google maps.
2. put in the addresss you'll be staying at.
3. go to "select business"
4. Put in grocer/delicatessen/supermarket.
5. print.
6. Repeat for whatever else you mgiht want.
dutyfree has some great sugestions there. of course if it's avaialbe you should try it. [fresh pasta that is - who was it who said you should try anything once except incest and morris dancing?]
from very recent personal experience, we found that we could eat in in [Venice]for less than half what a meal out would cost us. and for snacks and drinks the difference was even greater.
if you go with the made up dishes you can get, or ready-made pasta and sauce, your supper should take only minutes. you may also find a take out [porta via] pizzeria like we did - 20E for one giant and one medium pizza, which gave us enough for all four plus some left-overs.
we were lucky in that our apartment had all of the staples we needed - salt, pepper, oil, coffee, sugar - no tea bags but we'd brought them with us. so I would advise not buying anything until you have sussed out your partment.
also there may be a place near-by that sells wine from the cask. we got litres of prosecco and a local red[actually 1 1/2 litres as that was the only size plastic bottles they had] for about E3-4. they even supplied the bottles, but would be happy if you took your own.
have a great time,
regards, ann
PS -you may need to adapt your cooking style. have a good look at the utensils, pots and pans you've got before you make any big purchases - you may not have anything to cook it in or with!
Apr 6th, 2008, 05:57 PM
#8
Depending on how the kitchen is equipped, cooking fresh pasta and sauce for 4 may be easy or not so much.
There are lots of ways to have a meal in an apartment without hardly cooking at all... collect prepared foods, cheese, salami, dried meats, prepared salads, roast chicken, a few bottles of wine, bread. You can have wonderful meals without getting the pots & pans dirty at all!
Personally I'd probably save my pasta eating for the times I went out to a restaurant or cafe.
There are lots of ways to have a meal in an apartment without hardly cooking at all... collect prepared foods, cheese, salami, dried meats, prepared salads, roast chicken, a few bottles of wine, bread. You can have wonderful meals without getting the pots & pans dirty at all!
Personally I'd probably save my pasta eating for the times I went out to a restaurant or cafe.
Apr 6th, 2008, 08:20 PM
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I second all the previous recomendations, last year spent 10 days in trastevere. If you are dead set on cooking, go to La drogheria di trastevere, piazza san cosimato66 (ang via natale del grande), you can get natural tipical seasoning in packets, to cook in a can of crushed tomatoes and add to pasta...I brought back Boscaiola, delicious or whatever you like. Via del moro or that area has a bakery where you can buy pizza by weight and very good breads--sells quickly sometimes. in the same area there is a wine shop, where they will fill your container. You do find good quality stuff in the supermarket as noted. There is also a restaurant in that area that serves fresh pastas...you wait while things are prepared, food was good but don.t remember the name-they advertise that fact. The cold cuts and bread make excellent lunches, and of course some wine. Whatever you do, enjoy.
Apr 7th, 2008, 07:40 AM
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We enjoyed a few meals of pasta with fresh sauce in Rome made by an expert (moi)... or at least my kids think so!
Campo di Fiori market had excellent fresh tomatoes (which came with a little sprig of fresh basil) and delicious vegetables.
The grocery store at home looked so uninviting when we returned!
Eating in was definitely a highlight of our trip ( but don't forget the gelato, and the ... and the....) OK, lots of highlights! but it was a lot cheaper for a family of 4 to eat in at dinner. Everyone liked the after dinner stroll for gelato too!
I did buy chicken breasts one night and they were very good too.
Our apartment had a dishwasher so clean up was easy.
We stayed in a hotel in Florence prior to this and ate out for 3 consecutive nights so we really appreciated eating in in the comfort of our apartment in Rome.
I'm sorely missing eating in at the moment as we are renovating the kitchen... eating out all the time gets exhausting!
Campo di Fiori market had excellent fresh tomatoes (which came with a little sprig of fresh basil) and delicious vegetables.
The grocery store at home looked so uninviting when we returned!
Eating in was definitely a highlight of our trip ( but don't forget the gelato, and the ... and the....) OK, lots of highlights! but it was a lot cheaper for a family of 4 to eat in at dinner. Everyone liked the after dinner stroll for gelato too!
I did buy chicken breasts one night and they were very good too.
Our apartment had a dishwasher so clean up was easy.
We stayed in a hotel in Florence prior to this and ate out for 3 consecutive nights so we really appreciated eating in in the comfort of our apartment in Rome.
I'm sorely missing eating in at the moment as we are renovating the kitchen... eating out all the time gets exhausting!
Apr 7th, 2008, 02:49 PM
#12
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Thank you for all of the suggestions. I am bookmarking and checking out everything. I assume that we will do a little of each since we will be there for ten nights. We will probably eat in cafes and restaurants, bring food home from a bakery, cook from scratch, and sometimes stop in a deli for a sandwich made to order. I like the idea of getting some fresh vegetables at a market for dinner at night. I love the idea of seeing a supermarket since I am a Family & Consumer Science teacher these experiences are great to share with my students. What is Oviesse and where is it? The grocery store in the basement sounds interesting. I plan to freeze and reuse water bottles since I know from experience how much that costs. Also, I am a person who needs to have coffee when I first wake up, but a sweet roll from a bakery would go nicely with it.
Apr 8th, 2008, 07:26 AM
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Sewitall...I share your passion for supermarkets overseas. We lived in a small town about 12 hours out of Rome for some time. Though we tended to patronize the local groceria, butcher and bakery, we were also tempted by the supermercato from time to time.
What amazed me was the vast array of imported goods available in this relatively small town in a not particularly sophisticated area of the country (Abruzzi), a place well out of the tourist trails.
The meat counter routinely featured red meats organic, grain-fed or 'regular' from Argentina, South Africa and new Zealand.
After hearing that the Italians are positively allergic to cheeses other than their own, I was amazed to see Lancashire Blues, German Roqueforts, Swiss Emmentalier and even Canadian Cheddars.
I know you are there to experience Italian food culture, but it was fascinating to me to see how diverse it has become with the innovation of the Oasis and other supermarkets. On the other hand, there are the Slow Food purists (I confess I am one) who celebrate the local culture and are increasingly distressed about this trend. An interesting dynamic that adds to vacation time for foodies!
What amazed me was the vast array of imported goods available in this relatively small town in a not particularly sophisticated area of the country (Abruzzi), a place well out of the tourist trails.
The meat counter routinely featured red meats organic, grain-fed or 'regular' from Argentina, South Africa and new Zealand.
After hearing that the Italians are positively allergic to cheeses other than their own, I was amazed to see Lancashire Blues, German Roqueforts, Swiss Emmentalier and even Canadian Cheddars.
I know you are there to experience Italian food culture, but it was fascinating to me to see how diverse it has become with the innovation of the Oasis and other supermarkets. On the other hand, there are the Slow Food purists (I confess I am one) who celebrate the local culture and are increasingly distressed about this trend. An interesting dynamic that adds to vacation time for foodies!
