You’re in Rome. You want pizza. Where can you go to get a good one? You know you should head for somewhere with a forno al legna, but even so the choice is huge. Worry no longer! We have done the donkey work, eaten our hearts out and in our opinion the best pizza in Rome is from Ivo a Trastevere. Head to San Francisco a Ripa in Trastevere (West of the Tiber) and get one of the table outside. It’s busy, you’ll have to wait if you’re much later than 8.00pm. Lots of people do, because it is worth it.
What to order? In Naples, home of the pizza there are only two flavours that should be eaten – Margherita and Marinara. In Rome there is more leeway. A crazy suggestion that works well if you have the appetite is the Capricciosa, here served with mushrooms, olives, prosciutto and an egg!
Not as inauthentic as a ham and pineapple deep-pan, but heading that way. Utterly delicious though, which is what counts. Note the slightly burned edges which are to be welcomed and actually give an added depth to the crust. The filling goes further out towards the edge of the pizza than is often the case and helps create a texture of flavours that results in much fewer crusts left lonely on the side of empty plates. Taken in the balmy Roman evening sunshine with a glass of red wine and an amusing companion this is a high ranking pizza.
A more correct order would be the Margherita with cherry tomatoes, although here it is given the Wild West name ‘Buffalo Bill.’ The crusts are crispy whilst the bases flop delightfully. Buffalo mozzarella often makes pizza too moist, but here it works well, adding a creamy zing to the sweetness of the Italian cherry tomatoes.These are flavours that is is impossible to recreate in England, although we can at least always add a leaf or two of basil, the smell of which takes any right-thinking man straight back to Italy.
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