The true heart of Rome lies in a bowl, overflowing with pasta. While the eternal city’s pizza and fried delights like supplì are worthy contenders, Roman pasta takes the crown. Four legendary dishes reign supreme: cacio e pepe, gricia, amatriciana and carbonara. Cacio e pepe is pasta bathed in salty pecorino and cracked black pepper. Add guanciale, cured pig cheek that melts in your mouth faster than your phone battery in the summer heat, and you have gricia. You want some tomato sauce? That’s amatriciana. Or maybe you leave the tomato and take the egg, then you got yourself some carbonara. Roman tradition runs deep, and these classics are the backbone of most trattorias. But you’ll also find incredible variations with fresh seafood and other regional specialties like the quinto quarto—especially favored by the locals.
Unmissable Pasta Dishes:
Carbonara - egg, guanciale, pecorino, pepper
Amatriciana - guanciale, pecorino, tomato, pepper
Gricia - guanciale, pecorino, pepper
Cacio e Pepe - pecorino, pepper
Pajata - milk-fed veal intestines
