A couple trips back we flopped on our stance concerning cooking Christmas dinner. We stopped. It's far more pleasant to let someone else take care of it.
There was this one Christmas when we wanted to make a stuffed pork loin. Finding a turkey was out of the question. Chickens are plentiful but questionable with a jaundice palour that would give Bo Pilgrim the boot. Duck, as far as large birds go, would be the best, if the apartment's kitchen had a large enough working stove and equipped with something to cook it in. Campo has a couple of vendors that sell inexpensive racks and roasting pans, but the better deals are at Mercato Esquilino by Termini a hike away from Navona. (Find something in a price range that is not intended for but should be placed out in the trash afterwards.) Large cuts of meat are generally hard to find. Not a lot of 3lb, un chilo e mezzo, rump roast for sale at the Despar. If memory serves correctly, it was a veal loin that year we purchased.
There's just no running down to the local Albertsons or WalMart in centro citta. When wrapping presents one must visit the art supply store for tape, the office supply store for scissors and gift/carte store for the wrapping paper. Fortunately, i knew of a hardware store so were able to get some string to tie the loin up with. It is possible to shop at a mega store that has everything, on the outer edges of Rome; but have give up a full day lugging shopping bags through turnstiles, down escalators and up stairs, to ride the Metro or get on a bus route. In these more suburban parts the streets are wider and mostly filled with speeding vehicles. Just unpleasant. The Cinecitta Due had grocery store that was on the opposite end of the mall from the entrance, which was a least a quarter mile from Metro stop. Back in Rome it would be another quarter mile through the cobblestone streets buzzing with scooters and smart cars. So it's best just to put together the meal bit by bit, in town.
If it's a full three day's preperaton, it's that much and more on the clean up. Roman plumbing is weak. Usually, the sinks small. There is no garbage disposal. Until this year, we have never had a dishwasher. It best to go ahead and toss that roasting pan and just deal with the plates and small pans provided by the landlord only. In parts of Rome large dumpster sized containers are stationed every block. One for glass, another for paper and then trash.
In the historical center it's much different. Just off the south end of piazza Navona is Pasquino, a statue reported to be of Menelaus, also known as the Talking Statue. It has always served a place for Romans to post notes expressing their political views and criticism since the 16th century.
 It's where we dropped off our trash. That's my vetro e la plastica recycling. It was a Tuesday morning and some old lady yelled at me.
Every Monday and Thursday we had to drop off our glass and recyclable plastic and every Tuesday and Friday paper. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday it was all other forms of household waste, except compostables. Those were picked up on Tuesday and Thursday.
Too much to deal with on vacation, which is why we go out to eat on Christmas Day.
In 2008 we went to L'Angoletto in Piazza Rondanini for Christmas Eve dinner and a trattatoria, i think simply named Forno, on Christmas day. This year we saved L'Angoletto for our last meal, but did try to return to same trattoria. It was not open. The family restaurant, owned by our old landlord, was not opened either. L'Insalata Ricca Ristorante just three doors down from the apartment was. Despite the name, they serve way more than salads. Kelly had a steak the night we returned from Pompeii that's flavour would rival Morton's. Anyday.
Besides the couple that came in a course after we did and left long before we had finished off the liter each of beer and wine, we had the entire place to ourselves.
We ordered up bruschetta al tartuffo e funghi. For primi it was lasagna and risotto; Lily ordered a cheese pizza that arrived at the same time. I have always thought a good lasagna to be too time consuming not economically viable enough to be preparing at home, so order it when i can. Secondi was bistecca vitello and i had scamorza e prosciutto.
   
It was the night we returned from Pompeii and were starving that we had a second dinner at that restaurant. Satisfied with a gelato, Lily headed up to the apartment to Facetime her friends. The place was packed. Kelly and i had to walk around Navona for about twenty minutes and return. We were seated next to cassiere and felt silly about photo documenting the meal. Rest assured it looked as great as it tasted. Had suppli for antipasta. They are little ovalesque shaped fried balls of goodness, stuffed with a tomato based risotto and mozzarella. Aranchi have a chicken stock risotto, meat and usually a bit of vegetables. I love the suppli. I eat them in lieu of pizza al taglia. Order if they are on the menu at a ristorante or trattoria, for they will be larger, fresher, and not as mass produced as those accompanied by sliced pizza. Primi was ravioli con creme zucca and gnocchi spinachi e formaggio. Secondi the bistecca my made a Texan gal feel right at home and i had the saltimbocca.
Every trip to Rome i order the saltimbocca and then make a mental note not to again. I want to like it. It's has all the ingredients for success, but doesn't. It's a sort of unfried open faced Chicken Cordon Bleu. Chicken smothered with prosciutto and sealed in with a fine white cheese. In between the ham and the chicken lies the deal breaker. Sage. I like sage. Crave it sometimes. When it's in a sausage. These are just leaves. Not good ones either. Removing, oh, is not out of the question but a necessity, though it does no actual good, for they are thick hairy leather-like straps of vegetation pungent as to actually stain the chicken. This time it's for real. It is written. No more saltibocca for me. Unless someone proclaims to have the world's best and i have a healthy supply of Alcaeffer.
L'Insalta Ricca does get a 3.5 stars from us, only because when looking up their address on the internet just now i found that it is a chain. The atmosphere was totally homey. The staff, though spoke plenty of English, recognized that i was trying to speak Italian and were accommodating. The menu is actually no different than nearly ever other ristorante in Rome. Portions are healthy, i could not have eaten any more saltibocca. The prices are totally fair. Total bill was a third of what we would spend at L'Angoletto.
Piazza Rondanini 51, Rome, phone: +39 06 6868019.
We have been going to L'Angoletto since Lily was four years old. Wanted to try a place that was not right on the piazza di turistica, but not so up into a vicolo as to be uninviting. Right around the corner from the Pantheon sits the Piazza Rondanini filled with the porches and umbrellas of three ristoranti. The one is in the far left hand corner. Their specialty, obviously, fish. Though we never really order any, since the very first visit Lily has to have bistecca di vitello. We do get the moscardini fritti every time. I think that Rome should have more calamari for some reason, but they don't.
L'Angoletto has this extremely welcoming aura about them. I have witnessed it not only personally a half dozen times over the past decade, but seen it with others sitting around us. The same waiter meets us every time with a slightly lingering handshake as he stares straight into my eyes struggling to try place me. There is a connection. I hear him in ask in an absurd amount of different languages as too how long have you been in Rome, how long are going to be here, and why not live here forever.
 
It has always been a three fork, two spoon, two glass, additional knife provided if needed sort of place, but over the past ten years has gradually become more al fantasia. Once upon a time, when entering the establishment there was a salty smelling backdrop of that evening's options sprawled out on a huge bed of ice. The cook's eyes eager as he bent over looking under the canopy of pots and pans to see what was whetting my appetite. They have expanded, putting the kitchen further back and fish out front. Gotten few more dozen white and dusty rose linen tables and added bit more lighting. Il cuore rustico spogliato e l'anima resta.
For Primi it was spaghetti cabonara and minestrone; and Secondi a bistecca vitella, bistecca griglia, and coda all vaccinara. I have a thing about my meal involving bones. Don't really care for them to be on the plate at all. Grosses me out. That said, i have to order the ox tails. The first time i had them was at Hosteria del Moro da Tony last year. This was better from the presentation, to the type of plate, sauce and flavour. It reminds me of my mother's beef stew. The meat so tender that it can be removed easily and the bone discarded. I must be honest in saying that our next door neighbor's, back here in Dallas, has on ox tail recipe that is far different from (and in all our opinions far better) than this traditional Roman recipe, but i am not telling them.
  
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