Far and wide throughout Italy, their food varies by region, but without a doubt all of the regions have something in common: pasta. For the Italian chef Paolo Alari, there is not one nook or cranny of Italy where they don’t eat pasta: from spaghetti, fettuccine, penne and rotini to stuffed pastas like ravioli or tortellini.
Ravioli could easily be explained as squares of pasta that can be filled with either meat, seafood or cheese. Like other pastas, ravioli is served with a tomato sauce, which is traditionally prepared with virgin olive oil, basil, onion and pepper.
If we talk about Italian cuisine, pizza cannot be omitted. History tells us that Italian food was influenced by other countries such as Greece, African and Asian countries. For example, the Greeks made a flatbread, which it is imagined led to the creation of the pizza, but it was in the city of Naples where they first began to experiment with cooking pizza in the seventeenth century.
Later, another item derived from pizza was the calzone, which was also invented in Naples. The calzone is prepared like pizza but it is closed and usually is filled with cheese, ground beef and some vegetables.
Basic ingredients are pasta, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, prosciutto (dry-cured ham) and parmesan cheese, as well as wine, tomatoes, onions, garlic, marinara sauce, strips of roasted red pepper, capers, rosemary, thyme, basil and oregano.
La Cosa Fulana
Location: Nicoya, 2 kilometers north of the Coca Cola agency, heading towards Santa Cruz. (view on map)
Dish: Calzone. Stuffed with Mozzarella cheese, ham and mushrooms and ricotta cheese,
Price: ¢5,550 (about $10.50)
Phone: 2686-6388
Dolce Vita Restaurant
Location: Guiones, Nosara. Along the main road heading toward Esperanza, passed Nosara Yoga Institute. (view on map)
Dish: Ravioli stuffed with lobster, served with cocktail sauce and small shrimp.
Price: ¢11,130 ($21).
Phone: 2682-0107
For more restaurants check out our “Food Guide”
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