Vegetarian food in Italy is awful!

[Teakettletrio]

We are five days into our trip. The place is beautiful, the scenery is stunning, the sights are fascinating. BUT the food is awful. We’ve had various combinations of cheese and tomatoes for 5 days straight. I’m starting to lose it. The supermarkets are full of gorgeous looking vegetables but all we get offered is spaghetti pomoforo, gnocchi pomodoro or margarita pizza. We got all excited yesterday as we thought we had found a restaurant with a veggie burger, but it turned out to be a potato croquet in a bun. Is it just us? Have we been unlucky?

@MrsTerryPratchett pesto isn't vegetarian, it has parmesan in it.

@SoloSofa24 I’d ruled that place out on account of it being Michelin starred, no menu available on website and having three teenagers with me. All of those things do not mix!!

Then you are not a vegetarian then if you eat fish!!

Spaghetti alla nerano is a popular Calabrian pasta dish, with courgettes and no meat-not sure if the cheese is fully veggie though.
we recently stayed near Sorrento and found it was worth taking a bit of time to find restaurants away from the main tourist hot spots as the food in them was not the best.

OP I'm with you. My daughter is vegetarian and there was very little she could eat when we were in Venice in the summer. Most food is NOT vegetarian friendly because it contains rennet or has meat based stock.

We did find a vegan section in the supermarket and were in an air b n b so could cook.

Veggies that eat fish aren't veggie...

This is where you start to get issues because people want vegetarian but can't even describe being what being vegetarian is accurately.

And then people wonder why vegetarians are served sneaky ham and fish!

It’s not just you OP - or I have been equally as unlucky! There just doesn’t seem to be much veg in the vegetarian dishes - it’ll be a bit of oil, tomato, cheese and a carb! It’s really frustrating as they have lovely fresh veggies - just put them in our food!

Careful, they often have anchovies in, particularly in Rome.

OP you’re best possibly looking at the ‘contorni’ which are vegetable side dishes.
20years ago my Italian family thought vegetarians only ate chicken. We asked them again recently and they were totally clued up, but I do wonder if they’d click that Parmesan etc wasn’t veggie. I’ll have to ask them next time we get together.

Even 20 years ago traditional Italian restaurants just didn’t cater for vegetarians. It would freak them out!
I remember fixed menu meals where DSIL got handed a lump of cheese or a 5-egg omelette (ick) when there were perfectly good pizzas that only needed the last step of prosciutto leaving out or side dishes like sautéd or grilled veg that could have been sized up.
Nowadays if you go to even a mid-range restaurant and talk to the manager they’ll have enough grounding in nutrition (legal requirement) to be able to cater to your needs. Just play the helpless tourist!

I remember ordering what I thought would be a simple vegetable soup in Italy once and found more animal bone in it than veg.

"But mamma, I told you crack was a pescatarian, and you've made us a ragu with beef mince!"

"Pffft....tell her it's four legged tuna!" 😆😆😆

(that was over 30 years ago, mind you)

Lucca in Tuscany. It could have been Bottega de Leo e Anna, but i may well have mixed it up.

How annoying. Hope you are able to find places, using the ideas that people have given

it says does not eat fish flipping learn to read

Hoppinggreen · Yesterday 21:29
DD is veggie and doesn't eat fish either but did really well in Lombardy a couple of years ago. Much better than Germany or Spain.

You need to ask for contorni or verdure . Just use ChatGPT for easy translations and ask if they have something with legumes.
And no, hummus, is never on any menu.

DH is veggie and we found similar in Sardinia this summer. We have decided we prefer Greece.

Currently in Spain, vegetarian food choice is awful here.
Much preferred Italy but the best European country by far was Greece.

Ah, this reminds me of France and Belgium 20 odd years ago. I'd ask if a dish was meat free, they'd confirm it was, and then it would arrive with bacon in it. When challenged they'd throw their hands in the air and exclaim "it is just lardons!" 😂

I would try asking for modifications to dishes. Restaurants should be fairly accommodating, but you might pay more.

I found this article for you:

plantifullybasedblog.com/2024/04/15/vegan-in-italy-a-guide-to-the-best-food/

Burrata isn’t vegetarian if it’s made traditionally. The hidden meat in lots of cheeses is difficult. I am not vegetarian but my parents and brother are and I messed up with cheese a couple of times.

I’m in Sicily right now and I’m sick of having to have tomato spaghetti or margarita pizza. The range of restaurants never seems to include places that offer Indian/Turkish/Chinese food. It always makes me appreciate the range of cuisine we have in the UK. I know people will think that’s sacrilege, but being a vegetarian in Italy is incredibly boring. I had a caprese salad yesterday and the tomatoes were tasteless.

In my experience, about half of Italian food is vegetarian, they just don’t call it that. As, culturally, the presence or absence of meat isn’t a defining quality in their cuisine(s).

Italian food is also VERY regional. If you’re trying to get food from a region other than the one you’re in, you’ll generally end up in rubbish tourist traps. You’re in Campania. It’s not a region I know well, but a quick Google indicates that these are local dishes you can eat:

Pasta and rice dishes
• Spaghetti alla Nerano: Spaghetti with zucchini and cheese
• Gnocchi alla sorrentina: Gnocchi baked with tomato sauce and cheese
• Pasta e Fagioli: A hearty soup made with pasta and beans
• Fagioli alla maruzzara: White cannellini beans simmered with tomatoes and celery
• Risotto ai funghi: Mushroom risotto

Vegetable and baked dishes
• Parmigiana di melanzane: Fried eggplant layered with tomato sauce and cheese
• Pomodori arreganati: Baked tomatoes with a breadcrumb and herb topping
• Peperoni ripieni: Stuffed peppers
• Zuppa di cardi: Artichoke thistle soup
• Minestra maritata: Vegetable and cabbage soup
• Ciambotta
• Spollichini in bisaccia
• Fried dishes such as sciurilli (zucchini flowers) and peperoncini verdi (fried green peppers)

So, stay away from touristy places and look for menus advertising those.

we struggled in netherlands

I agree with what you say about eating locally and things just not being identified as vegetarian BUT on your list they would as a minimum have to exclude:
-parmigiana melanzane
-spaghetti alla nerano
as they will have Parmesan. But yes as a PP said as well, I’d just ask for amendments - tell them no Parmesan as in many dishes it will just be on the top.

Italy is famous for cucina povera, which means many of their traditional dishes should be simple with only a few ingredients. They also delight in side dishes which are often just grilled vegetables with olive oil and salt. A selection of those, like tapas, with a central dish of spaghetti pomodoro is my idea of heaven (and I’m not veggie).

To the pp in Sicily eating bland tomatoes, you’re eating in the wrong place.