A gelato in Rome

Gelato, or italian ice cream, at its best is rich, creamy and much softer than what we can buy in the UK. It's also about my favourite thing to eat in the world. I have, so far in the 3 months in Italy eaten it for breakfast (once) lunch (too many times to count) and dinner (shamefully often). 

Note I don't mean with dinner, I mean when I was out of the house at a dinner-ish sort of time, I deliberately ignored all the more normal, readily available and very cheap street food Rome has to offer and as my friends noshed down on pizza 'alla taglia' and arancini, I picked up a double or triple helping of the good stuff. Shameshameshame. 
I even worked out a system of sorts. Dinner = main meal of the day, therefore my cup must contain only the higher calorie, creamy flavours (no sorbet here) and ideally there will be chunks. 
I have a problem. Yes indeed.

My point is a) gelato is freaking incredible and b) I've eaten a fair bit, and got around little more over three months than the casual gelato munching tourist. So here are my top picks, both locations and flavours. 

Except where I've drawn your attention to it, all prices are essentially the same, around 2-3E for the satisfying medium sized cup in the picture. 

Sort of hummus with sort of flatbreads (with semolina 'no knead' pizza dough)

This was a potato and chickpea curry. 
But apparently Rome is the Land that Cumin Forgot, so this was hummus and flatbread.
Then, when I came to convert all the regular partygoers into a smooth, hummus-y dip. I struck a problem. No blender. No masher, no processor, no nuttin'. Nuts. 
(Quite literally; nuts, but more on that later). 
Very well, back to the pot with a fork to mash a tin of chickpeas and all their bestest friends into a sort of smearable 'smashed hummus'. Sort of like when restaurants fob you off with crushed potatoes with the skins on when all you wanted was to fill your face with mash. But I digress. 

Palmiers, any which way (and my killer tip for puffy, flaky shortcrust)

I have a confession to make, and that confession is that I, Sarah, food blogger, all round would-be fattie and dinner party, pot luck and party nibbles enthusiast, hate cooking for other people. Hate it. 

Things that astonish me (and chocolate chip tiramisu)

I've been in Rome for three weeks now and some things continue to astonish me every day. 

This is my view! My actual, genuine view from my bedroom if I go and stick my head out the window. Surely they reserve this sort of spectacle for actual residents, or the Pope, or something. It boggles me to the core every single time I wake up. 

Ciao bella! And some almond-lemon biscuits

I know, it's been a while. It's not you though, it's me. Guess what I've been up to?
Yup, moved to Italy!
(Don't worry, I have total faith you got that one. You got smarts).

I'm only going to be away for four months, but it's been all kinds of disruptive.  There's lots I want to share but, unfortunately, nothing in the food department. Yes, in a country famous for it's food, I'm currently sharing a dormitory kitchen with 150+ other people. I'm moving to Rome in a more stable, long term sort of way soon though, so keep everything crossed for me!

Kale and almond pesto

I bought more kale than one person can reasonably be expected to eat. I colcannoned, I baked crunchy, deliciously savoury kale crisps. Then I panicked. Thankfully, I became reasonable and used the power of Google to sort my life out.

Kale and almond pesto is a good student food because it substitutes much cheaper alternatives for the pricey basil and pine nuts in traditional pesto recipes. It freezes well (just put into portion sized balls first- I froze mine in a muffin tin!) and is really very good for you too. I made my recipe up as I went, so all measure are a little rough around the edges.

Chewy, Gooey Chocolate Meringues

You need to make these. Sure, there's a little fuss, a little faff but seriously, make them, then come back and tell me it wasn't worth it. Go on, dare you.

I spotted the recipe here at bakerella and if I'd actually bothered reading the entire recipe before I started, I almost definitely wouldn't have bothered. Swiss meringue? No chew-inducing cornflour and lemon juice? It just didn't seem right. 

But I digress.