Typical Dishes

Frascatelli are a type of pasta handmade with cornmeal which is typical of Labico and of the Roman countryside area.

They are similar to orecchiette (the hand made pasta in Apulia region) and have an irregular shape with different sizes and a rough consistency.

They are ideal for different full-bodied sauces and every town has its own speciality.

Cif-Ciaf is perhaps the most famous dish of the tradition of mountain pastures of Cervara di Roma that was eaten in the high-altitude pastures.

It is a stew of sheep meat boiled with oil, vinegar and salt to form a soup. For this preparation no water was used as that was very precious in the mountains in the pastures far from the springs.

Today it is cooked on request and accompanied by potatoes with rosemary or local seasonal vegetables.

Like all mountain villages, even in Cervara di Roma one of the traditional dishes is potato gnocchi.

Gnocchi del Brigante (or Gnocchi of Brigands) are prepared with a mixture of water, flour, salt and crushed potatoes.

After being well 'massaged', the dough is divided into parts that then in turn stretched into shapes that are then cut into cubes.

The favorite sauce is that based on lamb testicles or the famous 'Gnocchi del Brigante' seasoned with a spicy tomato sauce.

In Cervara di Roma you can find two types of homemade pasta with water, flour and salt. They are the Strozzapreti to which a feast is dedicated and the Cecamarites.

They are distinguished by their shape: strozzapreti are twisted while the cecamarites are smooth.

They are seasoned in various ways, with simple tomatoes, with the famous Cervara Truffle or with sauce of lamb's testicles for those who want the strong flavours of the agro-pastoral tradition.

For the cheese we use local pecorino (made with milk from sheets) or the classic Parmesan.

Pappaciucco is one of the traditional dishes of Cervara di Roma and over the centuries had been one of the main winter meals.

Its ingredients are very simple being black cabbage and potatoes that are found in the cold season.

Today it is used as a side dish.

Recalicu is one of the traditional dishes of Cervara di Roma based on polenta and beans.

The peculiarity is that the polenta and beans are cooked together and flavour each other.

The polenta is then spread on wooden plates and seasoned with a ‘drizzle’ of extra virgin olive oil.

This dish is celebrated in a festival the first week of January on the occasion of the Befana.

Polenta is one of the typical winter dishes in Acquafondata, south of Lazio region at the border with Molise and Campania regions.

Polenta (grown corn) has been for centuries one of the dishes with which the population has been fed. P

olenta is seasoned with turnips and with a pork-based sauce.

Croutons with Anchovies fished in Azio is perhaps one of the cheapest but most loved dishes of the tradition of this coast city sea cuisine.

Take slices of bread and toast them before putting the sauce on. Traditionally, bread was transformed into croutons by coating with oil or butter.

The sauce comprises anchovies cooked with oil, garlic, onion, tomato and salt.

As soon as the sauce is concentrated, it is poured on the toast and served hot. Flavour with a sprinkling of pepper and a leaf of basil.