Cooking our way through Five Quarters




Our intention this trip is to continue cooking our way through 'Five Quarters' in the very place where it was written and using local produce from Mercato Testaccio.



We are meeting lovely Rachel Roddy for coffee in the centre of the mercato and after catching up on family gossip we tag along as she shops at the various stalls. Rachel also helps us find the best misticanza (mixture of greens) for our lunch recipe. 



We also visit Volpetti where we have a much better experience than our first trip here when we felt badgered into buying much more than we needed. Today we pick up ricotta (it hadn't arrived at Lina & Enzio's stall in the mercato) & 'good' olive oil.



Back in the apartment we create  Rachel's lemon & ricotta cake which we will have for breakfast tomorrow & we also prepare the greens for lunch.






Lunch of rigatoni with ricotta & greens is eaten on the terrace alongside chilled white wine, a gift to us from the apartment owner.




Our shopping therapy this afternoon is at Eataly where we know we can pick up our favourite Lazio wine, Silene






At passeggiata time we head to the Aventine Hill. The jasmine is in full bloom and the perfume is intoxicating. We pass by the Keyhole, where there is a queue to take a peek and also pass by the Orange Garden,where a huge tour group is amassed. Fortunately neither of these places is our destination tonight. We carry on to the Rose Garden which is only open a few weeks a year and is the venue for our aperitivo.


The air is heavy with the scent of the roses as we sip our negronis - absolute heaven.



Dinner tonight is at Da Remo, a cheap, cheerful and very popular spot in Testaccio. Their Roman style thin crust pizzas are absolutely delicious, as are their suppli.


Back to the terrace for wine, this time a local red bought simply because we love the label!