Roman Holiday🍅

Summery Italian food + where to eat in the Eternal City

Ciao, friends!

I hope everyone is having a good week. As I type this from the middle of a gray miasma of wildfire smog that has drifted south from Canada, my thoughts cannot help but turn to my recent trip to Rome. Rome, the Eternal City, is a study in beautifully interwoven contrasts: breathtaking beauty mixed with shocking amounts of graffiti, crumbling palazzos on the same street as an ultramodern art museum. There’s just something about it.

To me, the most eternal and enduring element of Rome—the reason to come again and again—is its food: classic, simple, and unpretentious. Whether you’re seeking out the city’s best pasta (always at the humblest spots, never the fanciest), a crisp square of pizza, or seasonal produce at the piazza farmers’ market, you could do nothing but eat your way around Rome and have an excellent vacation.

Inspired by the season and by dreams of bella Italia, here are all my favorite summery Italian recipes. Plus: My guide to the Best Places to Eat in Rome: pizza, pasta, gelato, date night, and stunning rooftop drinks. Become a paid subscriber for all the intel!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. Thanks for being a part of Unpeeled Journal. —Lisa

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The Basil Pesto That Won the World Championship

This basil pesto recipe won the World Pesto Championship in Genoa, Italy, the birthplace of pesto. Now you can make it right in your home kitchen in 15 minutes.

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Italian Artichoke Spread (Crema di Carciofi)

Another quick, no-cook winner, this can be made with a bag of frozen artichokes and is the perfect summer spread with crudité, charcuterie, or on a sandwich.

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Summer Squash Parmigiana

The best (maybe only?) answer to what to do with all that zucchini and yellow squash. This is one of my most popular recipes.

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Minestrone Soup

Soup should be enjoyed all year long. And there’s nothing better in summer than this, with zucchini, ripe tomatoes, onion, and garlic. A perfect, laid-back summer meal.

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Italian Ricotta Cookies

A soft, happy sprinkle cookie with just the right notes of vanilla and lemon. Perfect for picnics.

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How to Chiffonade Basil

A quick guide to creating those perfect ribbons of basil to sprinkle on your next caprese, pasta, or summer meal.

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Where to Eat in Rome

Everything here is the best.

Rome is one of the best places in the world to eat. It just is. Now, it may not offer the cornucopia of options that you’ll find in other global best food cities like New York or Tokyo. But that’s fine. What they have, they’ve perfected, and while you’re tucking into that perfect bowl of pasta cacio e pepe or all'amatriciana, you won’t want anything else.

Below, here are my personal picks for where to go:

• Get my top two spots for famous Roman-style pizza

• Learn where to find the most glorious (not-tourist crap) gelato

• The inside track to 3 restaurants cooking the perfect, classic Roman pastas

• My favorite date-night restaurant

• Visit the 5-star hotel with stunning rooftop cocktails that are worth the splurge

• Find out where to shop those beautiful hand-painted pasta bowls (authenticity guaranteed, and they also have an online store!)

All the best Roman eating, below.