The complete foodie guide to Lazio

The most famous of all the Roman pasta dishes, carbonara is a sauce made from guanciale (cured pig’s cheek), eggs and Parmesan. Authentic versions never contain cream; instead, the sauce is created by using pasta water to emulsify the egg and cheese, without letting the eggs scramble.

Pasta alla Gricia is a Roman pasta sauce which is essentially a simpler version of carbonara (which is believed to be an evolution of the dish). Fried guanciale and Pecorino Romano cheese are mixed with pasta water to produce a rich sauce, which is seasoned with plenty of black pepper.

Arrabbiata is a Lazian pasta sauce which translates to ‘angry’, referring to the chilli in the tomato sauce. Not much else is needed – garlic and basil act as the aromatics, and it’s a sauce which tends to be served without cheese, making it naturally vegan.

The final Roman pasta dish looks very simple on paper, but can be a tricky sauce to master. Pecorino Romano and lots of cracked black pepper are combined with just the right amount of pasta water to create a thick, glossy sauce which coats the pasta, with an extra dose of grated cheese sprinkled on top.

This pasta from Amatrice (which was tragically hit by a powerful earthquake in 2016) is popular across the rest of Lazio and other parts of Italy. A tomato sauce flavoured with chilli, onion and white wine is combined with guanciale and used to dress bucatini, Lazio’s most famous pasta shape.

Lazio is home to some of Italy’s most famous meat dishes, with saltimbocca often replicated all over the world. The authentic version sees pieces of veal wrapped in thin slices of prosciutto and sage leaves, before being pan-fried in a mixture of white wine and butter.

The origins of porchetta are shrouded in mystery, although the neighbouring region of Umbria is generally seen as the home of this famous pork dish. However, across Lazio you’ll find wonderful examples of porchetta, with whole pigs stuffed with a mixture of herbs, garlic and (sometimes) fennel before being slowly roasted whole. Vans across central Italy will then chop up the meat and stuff it into bread rolls, making this one of the country’s most delicious street foods.

This Roman vegetable stew is a pure taste of Italian springtime, with fresh artichokes, broad beans and peas cooked in white wine and lemon juice. With such good quality vegetables not much else needs to be done to them, and you’ll see this dish being enjoyed across Lazio when they are in season.

The perfect example of bold, flavourful Roman meat cookery, this stew is made of oxtail, which in Italy is considered a form of offal. The meat is gently braised in a tomato and red wine sauce with plenty of celery until meltingly tender to create a robust hearty dish perfect for Roman winters.

Lazio’s answer to Sicilian arancini might look the same at first, but the key difference is that the rice is cooked in a tomato-rich beef ragù rather than butter and white wine. Each suppli is stuffed with plenty of mozzarella, which is why they are known as suppli al telefono – as they’re split open, the long strands of melted cheese are said to resemble telephone wires.

This dish, hailing from the small Lazian town of Antrodoco, consists of thin crepes being stuffed with a simple beef ragù before being topped with tomato sauce and grated Parmesan. They are then baked in a dish (similar to Mexican enchiladas) and finished with basil leaves.

A simple combination of pasta and chickpeas that has countless variations depending on where you are in Lazio, this is a fantastic example of humble cucina povera cooking done well. The accompanying broth is often flavoured with anchovies, rosemary and garlic, with a little bit of tomato for sweetness.

The people of Lazio eat a lot of chicken – an ingredient which isn’t as common in many other parts of Italy – and the most iconic way of preparing it is alla Romana. This sees a whole chicken jointed into pieces and braised in while wine with tomatoes and peppers until tender, with a little oregano sprinkled over the top.

We think of gnocchi as small potato dumplings, often boiled and pan-fried with butter and sage or adorned with pasta sauce, but the Roman version is significantly different. Semolina flour is combined with milk, butter, egg and nutmeg, left to set then cut into rounds. These are then placed in a baking tray, sprinkled with Parmesan and baked until crisp. It’s an immensely satisfying dish that encapsulates everything great about Italian comfort food.