Hi! We leave in less than two weeks for Rome and am really looking forward to cooking some meals in our apartment. I can't wait to go to the market for veggies and fruit and the butcher for meats that are unusual and things I haven't tried yet. I would love to hear about some fabulous meals you have cooked, maybe something you have never cooked before when staying in a different country...yum yum!

This is a good question! I hope it sparks lots of discussion. While you wait for the answers, be sure to look at the Travel Recipes for Italy article on the main website, where there are lots of good ideas to get you started.

Weeeellll, my trip report hasn't been published yet, but I cooked a great deal while on vacation in Italy with my mother during the first part of this month. We were together 15 nights and only ate out about 7 or 8 times, once a day, so there was a lot of cooking going on.

The key is buying great ingredients, and in Italy that is easy. If you have great ingredients, you don't need to do much to them.

My favorite meal was a whole roasted fish for the two of us. I purchased an Orata, which is sea bream, very sweet, meaty, and tender, and easy to filet if you roast it whole. This method will work with snapper or sea bass (branzino), too.

I seasoned the inside cavity slightly, and stuffed with thin lemon slices. In a small bowl, I put some parsley and celery leaves and very thin slices of fennel, and tossed them with a bit of very good extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and stuffed them in, as well. Next, some whole garlic cloves and small, oil-cured black olives. Don't overstuff him; just what will fit.

In a large roasting pan, I made a bed of thinly sliced onion (leeks would be fine too) and more sliced fennel and some large bias-slices of celery and carrot. This bed of aromatics is more for flavor than anything else...you can add some herbs if you like. The fish went on top of the bed, which should be the same size as the fish, maybe a little smaller.

On the sides of the pan, I put some thinly sliced potatoes and carrots to roast; this was mainly because I only had one roasting pan, and had some carrots to use up, but if your pan is big enough , they should all be quite happy. A few splashes of white wine go in the pan, and then generously annoint the potatoes and the fish with very good olive oil. If you want, lay 3 thin lemon slices on top of the fish to make him look extra handsome and make your guests (and yourself) ooh and ahh.

Roast the fish in a hot oven, about 400 degrees if you are in America - I just guessed on our Italian stove and set it over the middle - for about 35 minutes, maybe 40. Let the fish rest five minutes before fileting

The stuffing comes out; you can garnish the fish filets with the olives and lemon slices and garlic cloves; the rest has served its purpose and should be discarded.

Filet the fish on both sides - its not that hard, you whack off the tail and head and remove the top filet, discard the center bone, and then the bottom filet. Orata is very easy to filet.

You can serve the crispy potatoes and carrots on the side. Drizzle more olive oil on the fish. Drink a full-bodied white wine with this, not too light. We had a beautiful green salad and good bread and some sliced, ripe tomatoes with this meal and it was really, really great. I think it was my favorite meal in Italy.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: stella,

Wow, that sounds lovely!

Another good idea was to make a ragu from sausage. I didn't have anything but salt and pepper in the apartment I rented in Florence, and with just some onions and garlic, I could make a great pasta sauce with canned tomatoes. The seasoning and richness from the sausage flavors the sauce perfectly.

Saute some diced onion in good olive oil a minute or two, take 2 or three fresh sausages (spicy is good!), remove the casings, crumble the meat and saute it with the onion, add some finely chopped garlic. Let the sausage barely start to brown, then add a small can of crushed whole tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, let it simmer for a bit.

This is good on a substantial pasta like rigatoni, with grated Parmigiano Reggiano. I threw it together one morning and we had it ready to go the following night when we came back tired and hungry from a museum visit.

If you happen to find broccoli raab at the market, you can blanch it until it is tender in salted water, chop it, and you have pasta with sausage and broccoli raab...great with orchiette.