Following The Romans at Favilla Pizzeria in Rome, Italy

Posted by Rowena Dumlao - Giardina 1/20/2020

Following The Romans at Favilla Pizzeria in Rome, Italy

Undeniably, pizza is one of the most loved food in Italy. Whether you are a local or just visiting the country, those smoky round pizzas topped with the essential classic toppings or the more venturesome combinations. Rome is dotted with pizzerias but finding a good one with good digestibility and uses quality ingredients doesn't come around often. In the district of San Giovanni of Rome, a few steps from Piazza Re di Roma is a new pizzeria called Favilla, owned by Giulia Pate, a 30-year old Roman who dedicated her time and effort in learning about the canons of pizza making.

Thanks to her partner, Giorgio who just opened Oh Dog, the first Roman restaurant dedicated to hotdog, Giulia approached the world of catering as well. Her first steps were taking dough and leavening courses in learning all the details about obtaining light, digestible and fragrant dough. With the use of Type 1 semi-wholemeal flour and Type 0 durum wheat mixture and a weight that goes at 230 grams which falls between the typical Roman at 180 grams and 250 grams of Neapolitan pizzas, a maturation between 48 to 72 hours that follows a slow leavening then baked in an electric Valorian oven, they come out highly digestible thin pizzas but lightly thicker than the Roman ones.

Among the popular pizza combinations in addition to the classic ones like Margherita, Diavola, Capricciosa, Bufalina Amatriciana, there are the more elaborate combinations like Roma, topped with fior di latte, sautèed chicory, anchovies and mint, Fish and Chips which is focaccia-based and topped with octopus cooked at low temperature, mashed potatoes, burrata cream and peperone crusco (dried sweet peppers), Calabrotta topped with 'nduja (spicy, spreadable salume) and onions from Tropea, and L'Insolita topped with squash, mortadella and roasted peanuts. Prices between €6.50 to €12.

Pizza is just a part of the menu of Favilla as there are more proposals for Appetizers (€2.50 to €9.50), First Courses of Pasta (€8 to €12), Main Courses (€8 to €18), and daily Desserts. The menu changes quarterly within a year which follows the seasons. Great attention is given to the raw materials used which are sourced from selected Italian suppliers. The meat is supplied by the historical Roman meat shop Angelo Feroci, Inserbo tomatoes from the Campania region, extra virgin olive oil from Flaminio, fresh pasta from Pastificio Secondi and the durum wheat pasta from Felicetti.

Fried food is always tricky to attain lightness and good digestibility but at the kitchen of Favilla, you can be assured that their fried bites maintain the lightness they what to obtain like their pizzas. Worth mentioning are the Mare d'Inverno (fried cod, fresh Tropea onions, Mantuan squash cream and amaretti granules), and Verso Roma (boiled meatballs and green sauce).