Travelling Gluten Free in Italy

Being gluten intolerant I was a bit wary about venturing to Italy, the home of wheaty goodness. But my fears were unfounded, as it turns out that Italy was coeliac friendly. In fact, coeliac disease is a recognised condition in Italy, with all Italians being tested for the disease at a young age, meaning that asking for  “Senza Gluten” is quite common, and not met with the often blank stares you frequently get in certain London establisments. 

In fact, as a recognised disease, bigger pharmacies stock an abundance of snacks, croissants cereals and breads, rivalling the range of the bigger UK supermarkets. My carry on luggage was loaded with biscotti and fancy looking pasta on our return!   

But everywhere we ate in the Eternal City, there was at least 1 Gluten free pasta
option on the menu (always homemade), not to mention an abundance of risotto and buffalo mozzarella pomodoro (drool). Some establishments even offered gluten free breads and pastas.

My two favourite restaurants that we gorged ourselves at are…

Cucina Cantina

Gluten Free Bolognese, and a non-gluten free yummy pizza

This gorgeous little restaurant is just off the Piazza Navona and a refuge from the sweltering heat. Rustic and cool with incredibly helpful staff, their Gluten Free Bolognese (9.50 euros) was tastier than my Mums – simple flavours, lots of parmesan and fresh basil on top. Add a few Spritz, and top off with a shot of limenocello and you have the perfect lunchtime menu!

There were 2 or 3 Gluten Free pasta options on the menu at Cucina Cantina, plus plenty of salads and meats.

Voglia de Pizza

The cream of the crop is Voglia local run pizzeria with paper covered plastic tables al fresco on Via Giusseppi that has… wait for it… an ENTIRE GLUTEN FREE MENU. You can imagine my elation to find that I cold chose from Pizza, Pasta, Bruschetta, Calzone, Crumbed Squid.. the list was endless. I chose a Bruschetta Pomodoro (4 euros) and a Diavalo pizza (£10 euros), that The Boy said was indistinguishable from his wheat filled version.

Voglia took pride in catering for the intolerant, even rushing over to our small table when they saw that The Boy’s wheaty pizza was touching mine in case of contamination.

Topped off with a class of Vino Rosso Del A Cassa (3 euros) it was the perfect end to my trip to Rome. Across from us was another couple from America, who were also Gluten Free travellers and said that it was the best pizza they had come across in Roma as well.

The best gluten free pizza ever?

Voglia is a bit tricky to find, but well worth the effort of locating it on the map. 

So fellow gluten sufferers, if you are travelling to Rome - which you absolutely must do - fear not about what you will eat, as you can feast like a King!