Carbonara, cacio e pepe, saltimbocca, carciofi alla Giudia… Many Italian staples are really Roman classics, and visitors are justified in wanting to savor those as much as possible while they’re here!

However, on any given menu there are wonderfully tasty treats that hardly get noticed. Such is the fame of some Roman dishes, many great local preparations are ignored, and only the connoisseurs (or local customers) know to order them. What follows is a small list, in no way comprehensive, of those peculiar dishes. Buon appetito!

Primi (AKA soups and pasta or rice-based dishes)

Minestra di arzilla (skate and broccolo romanesco soup): a perfect dish in the fall or winter, when the signature Roman green cauliflower is in season. Skate (or ray) meat complements it deliciously, as does the broken spaghetti, which is the pasta traditionally added to this thick broth.

Gnocchi cozze e pecorino (gnocchi with sauteed mussels and pecorino cheese): the origin of this dish is debated, and you will find it in menus all over southern and central Italy, although it probably comes from the Lazio coastline. It’s a different way of serving gnocchi, and certainly one of the few fish-based primi allowing the use of cheese on it. And with abandon, too!

Fettuccine con le rigaglie (fettuccine with chicken giblets ragu): interestingly, many American-Italian pasta dishes featuring chicken meat in them are really derived from a recipe that was a staple of peasant food, where sweetbreads or offal more generally are used as seasoning for basic dishes such as pasta. For a variation, try “rigatoni con la pajata” (rigatoni with a sauce made of tomatoes and veal intestines).

Secondi (AKA meat-based or fish-based dishes)

Coratella coi carciofi (lamb offal with artichokes): The quinto quarto parts of a butchered animal are prominent in secondi dishes, as peasant food in Rome relies heavily on that. This particular preparation can also be eaten as a side dish, a contorno.

Fritto misto alla romana: not to be confused with “frittura mista”, which features in all restaurants serving fish, this has no fish whatsoever in it, and is usually served around Christmas. It’s not for everyone, as it contains deep fried sweetbreads & brains (sometimes testicles, too), artichokes, zucchine, slices of apple, fresh cheese (like ricotta). A variation only offers deep fried artichokes and brains.

Lesso alla Picchiapò (Picchiapò-style simmered beef): No one is actually sure who or what Picchiapò is, but this is one of the oldest recipes born around the abattoir by the Testaccio Hill, where the beef is slow-cooked with onions and tomato.

… and everything else!

Vignarola (untranslatable: roughly “dish made the vineyards way”) : perfect in the spring, as it relies heavily on greens that are in season now: fava beans, lettuce, mint, artichokes and pig jowl – again, the quintessential peasant food when meat was hard to come by. We included it in this odd sub-section because some restaurant serve it as soup, some as a side dish. See who offers it… and don’t miss on it!

Purée di fave con la cicoria (Fava bean purée with sauteed wild chicory): Who said that the Roman cuisine is hostile to non-meat eaters? This age-old seasonal recipe, dating back to ancient Rome, is the perfect demonstration that there is such a thing as vegan traditional dishes in the city. You only need to be careful around this if you’re allergic to fava beans.