The Italian Food I've Been Craving Since I Left Italy

Italian food. Everyone loves it. It’s a classic dinner party go-to and for good reason. I mean, who can turn down a hot bowl of mostaccioli with cheese melting on top? It’s a crowd pleaser and a safe bet for whoever spends the money on the catering service.

As someone who grew up in America, accustomed to Italian-American food, I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of similarities and differences when I got on a plane to live in Italy for four months. I was pleasantly surprised once I had had a few meals! I found that the food in Italy was similar to Italian American food, but it was always somewhere on a range of slightly to massively better. You could order a plate of pasta, or a pizza, which is served by the whole and not by the slice (amazing, right?!). But there were two types of food that really stood out to me in Italy, two foods that I missed immediately after being forced to leave the beautiful county two months early because of the Coronavirus outbreak, two foods that I will eat immediately whenever I return to Italy.

And if I were to throw an Italian themed dinner party, I think I would have to ditch the classic tin foil tray of mostaccioli. Instead, I’d recreate a typical night of actually living in Italy.

The night would begin with a game of soccer, or calcio. This might be an odd way to begin a dinner party, but when I played intramural soccer in Rome, it just felt like the most European thing I could be doing. So to recreate a typical Italian night, soccer would have to be in the mix.

After our friendly competition, we would all walk to a pizzeria. It would be a few blocks away and we’d walk across cobblestone streets to our destination. The destination is: part one of the best Italian food I had, soppressata pizza. Soppressata is a type of sausage, similar to pepperoni. It has a little bit of spice to it, and it’s just so incredibly delicious beneath a healthy layer of cheese. Everyone would be served their own individual pizza, which we would eat with a fork and knife. For drinks, there would be a choice of birra or vino, both of which pair deliciously with the pizza. This dinner party would be held in a little restaurant on a street corner, nothing fancy. But we would all eat and drink and converse and laugh, until we decided it was time for dessert.

Ah, dessert. Part two of my Italian food cravings, gelato. They say the gelato in Italy is better. Honestly, that’s a bit of an understatement. But I think part of what makes the gelato in Italy so amazing is the experience. The streets of Rome are lined with little gelato shops. Wherever you are in the city, I don’t think you’re ever more than two blocks away from a gelateria. You’re also never more than two blocks away from an ancient ruin. Ah, Rome. Anyway, for the dessert portion of dinner, we would all walk to a gelateria. Usually you can pick two flavors to get in your cone. I would choose cafe and stracciatella. Translation: coffee and this delicious flavor with little chocolate shavings mixed in. It’s the most delicious flavor combo! We would sit outside in the warm Roman night, eating our gelato and enjoying each other’s company.

As for the guest list, I would invite everyone who was a part of my study abroad program. We all experienced nights much like this, and I know they would all love a recreation. But the night would also be open to everyone who loves Italy and is waiting anxiously for the chance to return.

And to end this, here's a lovely quote from and Italian restaurant: