Lidia's Kitchen

-Buongiorno.

I'm Lidia Bastianich, and teaching you about Italian food has always been my passion.

Just like that.

You got that right.

It has always been about cooking together and building your confidence in the kitchen.

For me, food is about gathering around the table to enjoy loved ones.

Your family is going to love it.

Share a delicious meal and make memories.

Tutti a tavola a mangiare.

"Lidia's Kitchen: Tradition to Table."

-Funding provided by... -Every can of Cento tomatoes is born in Italy, where they are grown and ripened in sun-drenched fields and then harvested by local farmers who select them just for us.

Cento -- trust your family with our family.

-Authentically Italian -- Prosecco DOC.

The Italian sparking art of living.

-For over 140 years, Auricchio traditional handcrafted provolone.

Made in Italy.

-Memories fuel my soul and cooking dishes that remind me of my mother always bring me comfort.

As a kid, it was my job to shell the favas.

But in my kitchen, it was my mother's.

Fava has a particular flavor, almost caramel.

For me, at least.

My mother ate more panettone that I could possibly imagine.

And this homemade one is unbeatable.

Just ask my daughter.

She can't get enough.

When this bubbling pan of eggplant rollatini is delivered to the table, there are extra-big smiles.

And my mother, Grandma Erminia, was the biggest fan.

Each stir, the smell, each bite reminds me of a song.

Favas -- they make great vegetables, but also they make a great soup.

And my mother loved soups.

And also, you know what?

She lived with me.

I was blessed most of my life.

We came as immigrants.

We were together.

Then I got married, and, of course, I wanted my independence.

And it lasted until I had Joe, my first son, because I needed that support.

So we lived together all the time.

I always talk about my grandmother.

I talk about my mother as the grandmother.

I think that today, the importance and the passing down from generation to generation and the security that an older generation brings... You know, as a parent, yes, you love your child, but you're working, you're this, you're that.

But grandmas and grandpas have unconditional love and they show it, but also give the child the security that no matter what, they have an anchor, they have their roots.

So for me at least, my mother was the basis, such an essential part of who I am, who my children are, who my family and, of course now, all the memories that she has generated.

[ Indistinct conversations ] Did you get that?

-And go ahead.

-Vellutata di fave con riso.

Velvety fava soup and rice.

Simple, delicious.

And let's just address favas.

Flat bean as they're known.

This is the fava pod.

In the springtime, it comes out.

And this is how you shell it.

And they are delicious.

In order to use them fresh, you have to blanch these.

Then peel them again.

But for the soup, we're going to be using dry favas.

So these are dry favas -- You can hear -- in this kind of shell.

So let me show you that this shell, once you blanch it, it gets peeled.

So this is dry favas with the shell on.

This is dry favas with the shell off.

For this soup, these are the ideal -- peeled, dried fava beans.

Because they disintegrate, you need to soak them overnight.

Once they're soaked, they become just like these.

Like this.

Look.

These have been soaked overnight.

So let's begin now with the base of the soup.

Some olive oil and prosciutto cotto -- Some ham just for flavoring.

But if you don't want ham, or you can put bacon, that's okay, too, because at the end, the dried fava will disintegrate.

There'll be some left, a little bit, little pieces, but most of it disintegrates and makes a velvety soup.

The onions -- that goes in next.

Let's get the onion in there.

And you want a nice, sturdy pan for soup.

You know?

We'll be adding 4 to 5 liters of water, and so there'll be plenty of liquid.

And you have to give it space to sort of simmer and become velvety.

The garlic -- I'm just going to crush it so it gives the flavor.

But you could chop it.

And that means that the flavor of garlic will really remain.

This way, you can pull out the cloves after they have cooked.

So I salt every major ingredient that I put in.

The ham has some salt.

Just a little bit for the onion.

And also the salt helps to pull out the water from the onion.

So let's put the carrots in.

So why am I cutting like this is because this is a big piece.

I'm going to cut it in small.

This I can just cut like this.

And these are fine.

You know, usually in any soups or sauces, you see me a lot of times do a pestata, which is actually in a food processor, and it disintegrates in whatever you're cooking, soup or sauce.

But here I do want some texture.

And cutting the carrots like this will do just that.

And so at this point, you know, when you're putting all your basic vegetable condiments, you have to stand by a little bit because you do want it to wilt, but you don't want it to burn.

So this is tomato paste -- a concentration of ripe summer tomatoes.

Especially in northern Italy, we don't have the beauty of tomatoes that they have in southern Italy.

So we use a lot of the tomato paste.

Toast it up a little bit, just like that.

And I'm going to add thyme... the whole sprig.

Bay leaves.

You know I love those.

And those two you pull out at the end, but you want to get all the flavor out of it.

And I can smell the toasting.

Now we can put the water.

And, you know, depends on how your dry fava have reconstituted in the soaking, they might take a little longer to cook.

They might take a little bit more water.

And now we add the soaked favas.

You know what you could equate this to?

A split pea soup.

You know when you make your dry peas and they're split just like the fava split?

And the soup is very creamy.

So I'm going to put a little bit of salt.

Not too much because salt sometimes tends to harden the beans.

I'm going to bring it to a boil and put a cover on.

Once it's vigorously boiling, lower down and this will take a good 45 to an hour, maybe even longer.

And towards the end, in the last 20 minutes, we're going to add rice -- long-grain rice -- just when you're ready to serve.

I love it when you guys write to me.

Let's see what you need to know.

"I need help with not overcooking the pasta in minestrone soup.

I just made some today and didn't add the elbows until everything else was cooked.

The pasta was al dente when I removed the soup from the fire, but after the soup cooled, the pasta had absorbed all the broth and was soft and mushy.

Thank you for your help and expertise!

Mary."

Absolutely.

This happens.

So take the pasta intended for the soup.

Cook it separately in a salted water like you do regular pasta.

Leave it al dente and drain it.

When you're ready to serve, add the pasta that you just cooked so that the pasta goes in the soup only before you are ready to serve it and you're in control.

As the kids would say, easy peasy.

Thank you.

Thank you for writing.

Keep on writing.

Keep on watching.

It looks like the rice is cooked.

And keep in mind that the rice will keep on growing, so it's ready to serve.

Let's shut off the fire and let's get the plates going.

Put the plate close in.

You know I hate drizzle on the plate.

Then you have to clean it.

So use a little plate underneath just to escort yourself.

And I think, "How would you serve this?"

You can plate it.

I'm doing it for you because I really want you to see the whole effect.

But you can put the whole pot on a coaster in the middle of the table.

Looks good.

A little bit for Lidia.

Mmm.

This looks good.

Let's bring it to the table now.

Okay.

One, two.

Nice and creamy.

Mmm.

It needs a little bit of grated cheese.

And again you can put grated cheese on the table or a chunk of cheese with a grater.

It's fun.

I think people love to do that.

And you really get the maximum flavor of cheese that way.

And I do like a little bit of a drizzle of oil.

Okay.

And Lidia's -- a little drizzle of oil.

Some grated cheese, so I'm going to... Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Nice and creamy.

Mmm.

The fava has a particular flavor -- almost -- It's like caramel for me at least.

Mmm.

Delicious.

I'm sure you're going to make this one.

Panettone con amarene e cioccolato.

Chocolate cherry panettone.

Usually you have raisins in the Italian panettone, but some marinated cherries and some chocolate.

Chocolate and cherries go great together.

And so it's a dough.

It's a dough that you have to rise.

Let rise several times.

And then inside we fold the cherries and the chocolate.

So you will need flour, eggs, unsalted butter, cut into pieces, sugar, instant yeast, a little vegetable oil just to line the bowl, kosher salt, some vanilla, almond extract and, of course, the marinated cherry and semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks.

Well, it depends on how sweet you like it.

You know, I mean, if you like to, uh, find that bittersweet in the panettone, then that's what you use.

You combine the flour and pinch of yeast and water -- everything at room temperature -- in a large bowl.

The first dough is not a smooth dough.

It's kind of shaggy and sticky.

So be prepared for that.

But you want it to really rise.

So you oil another bowl and this will begin to rise and kind of become a loosey kind of starter.

And what's important about the panettone is that it rises.

And in Italy, they have the panettone rising seven times before you get that panettone that you're used to in Italy.

Here I spare you the seven.

I think three times will be enough.

Once you have the first rising, about 8 to 12 hours, you begin to add the remaining ingredients and you mix it all until the dough comes together.

And then you transfer this new dough to the oiled bowl.

Start a new one because you want smooth ride.

You want a smooth ride up the sides for this dough and let it rise for about an hour in there until it begins to puff.

Then you take the dough out, you flatten it and it is time to add the cherries and the chocolate.

Fold the dough over itself.

Knead it -- A dough scraper could help you pull up the ends of the dough and fold it in -- until the chocolate and the cherries incorporate, but don't over-knead it.

You don't want them chocolate to break apart or melt, or the cherries.

You still want those chunks in there.

Then you form two balls.

Now is the time for the complete dough rising.

Everything is in that dough and you make a nice, smooth ball of each.

And I'm following this because I don't want to lead you astray.

It's not an easy recipe, but I guarantee you can do it if you follow the recipe.

And let it rise for about two, three hours until it doubles in size.

So, so far, we have three risings.

The oven has to be preheated at 375 degrees, beat an egg and brush the panettone and bake until it's golden on top and it's cooked throughout.

It should be about 190 degrees inside and this will take about 35 minutes.

Cool on a rack and you're ready to have your panettone.

Well, how do you serve it?

Well, it's beautiful like that.

Just the whole.

Can sprinkle some powdered sugar.

If you want to serve it as a dessert in itself, what I like to do, I like to pour a warm zabaglione over that slice of panettone and we love it.

Rollatini di melanzane -- eggplant.

Well, the favorite Italian vegetables and I kind of half-clean it.

The eggplant can be tough if you leave all of the skin on.

And what's important about eggplant is that you buy a good one.

What do you mean?

A good, nice, firm one.

And that it has the stem.

Look at the stem.

Like, you see, it's a nice green stem.

That means that it's freshly picked, that it's not laying around.

I am saving all of these little kind of tips.

I'm going to put them in the sauce so we do not waste anything.

And you want to cut them the long way like that.

Because this is where the -- This is where we'll put the stuffing and we'll roll it up.

And you want a certain density of the slice so it will hold the stuffing.

Let me chop this up and put it in the sauce.

A little bit of salt and just lightly flour it and we'll fry it in vegetable oil.

Just slightly flour.

Let's...

Yes.

I like it to get a little color, but it doesn't have to be over fried because we will bake it ultimately, and we'll finish cooking.

You know, this is Grandma's...

This was Grandma's favorite meal.

She just loved ricotta.

She loved latticini.

Latticini is milk products, but especially ricotta.

And the eggplant, of course, I used to make it for her.

I used to make in big batches because they reheat well.

So it's a great dish.

And we'll finish frying it.

We'll let them drain a little bit.

And then we'll make the stuffing and bake them.

And here we have... "Greetings from Australia!"

Hmm, thank you.

Thank you for watching me all the way down there.

"I always get very hungry watching your show.

My question is, when cooking off the ' melanzane,' sometimes I find it tastes very bitter, especially if they have lots of seeds.

Jay."

Yeah, melanzane, eggplant, always have that question.

First of all is in choosing the product.

So when you buy a melanzane, make sure that they're firm when you touch them.

They almost squeak.

Make sure that the stem is nice and green still, that it is not brown, and usually melanzane that are long, they have less seeds because the plumpness -- you call it the stomach of the melanzane -- has a lot of seeds, so the choice of the melanzane is number one.

Then you cut the melanzane, put it in a colander, and you put the salt and you kind of layer -- salt, melanzane -- put a little pressure on.

Give it a few hours.

Salt will pull out the water, the bitterness.

Once you have done that, you wash the melanzana and the salt and the water, everything off and pat it dry and proceed to cook the melanzana the way you always do.

That should work.

Alright, Jay, keep on writing.

Keep on asking questions.

It's time to assemble the rollatini.

So we will do some sauce first.

And you know the eggplant that I saved?

I'm going to put it right in the sauce instead of throwing it out.

And some garlic in there, too.

Alright.

Let's put that in with the eggplant.

A little bit of salt.

A little peperoncino.

Let's give it some spice.

And get the tomatoes in.

All of this.

Now let me salt the tomatoes.

Let it sort of just caramelize a little bit.

And you might not get as much of the liquid out of the tomatoes and the eggplant.

So I do add a little bit of water and let that kind of cook down.

Cover this so we get more heat in there.

And now let's make the stuffing.

Ricotta.

I always like to dry my ricotta.

Just put it in the strainer for a few hours and then we add the rest.

Egg.

Whisk the egg a little bit.

You could put it just in there, but I like to whisk it.

Okay.

And it's a simple filling -- parsley, ricotta and then cheese.

You know, actually the beauty of this dish is its simplicity.

But, you know, tradition is tradition.

So I'm going to just mix this a little bit to get it going.

I have shredded mozzarella.

Grated cheese.

That's it.

So let's mix it well.

And you don't want to make it into a creamy kind of mixture.

So I want the curds of ricotta to remain in there.

So let's see.

The sauce looks good.

Let's get rolling.

And...I like to begin from the small part.

And you just roll it as simple as that.

And actually I get comments from you.

"Lidia, we love the way you handle food, you touch food."

Well, I love touching food.

You know, I can tell how soft the eggplant or the meat is.

Now, you can see how you can make this for a large group.

And this needs a little bit of fresh basil, of course.

And let's nestle these babies right in here.

So one... And you keep going around.

So I'm going to take a little bit and just... Before I fill it all up, I want to put some sauce over it.

Some of the tomatoes.

Okay.

That looks good.

Let's cover it with some grated cheese because we want a nice, crispy top and a delicious top.

So...that looks good.

Cover it.

Hot oven -- 400 degrees -- for about 20, 25 minutes, but I will uncover it in the last 10 minutes so it gets a nice, crispy top.

Alright, another question.

This one is from Rosa.

"My family avoids eggplant because it is too wet when biting into it.

How should I dry it out before adding it to recipes?"

Eggplant absorbs liquid and sometimes it absorbs the fat that you're frying into.

So that's why some -- you have to be careful about cooking eggplant.

The only way that it will be crispy is if you flour, egg and bread, pan-fry it and leave it crispy like that.

Thank you, Rosa.

Keep on writing to me.

I love hearing from you.

It has settled.

Ready to serve.

Ready to enjoy.

Mmm.

Perfetto, perfetto.

So let me pick the best one that I have here.

Hmm.

That's one.

It rested, but it's still nice and hot on the inside.

Mmm.

Looking good.

And one for Lidia.

Right here.

Let me bring it to the table.

You can serve it just like that.

Or you can just bring the whole pot to the table.

Maybe a little sprig of basil just to make it look beautiful.

And let me... Mmm.

Mmm.

So delicious.

And as I always say, tutti a tavola a mangiare.

Here's to you, Grandma, and to all of you.

-[ Singing in Italian ] -[ Speaking Italian ] -Oh, okay.

So the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

-Or... -[ Speaking Italian ] -You look a little bit like me, too.

-You mean I'm good-looking like you?

-You bet I do.

-Alright.

I'll take that.

-[ Speaking Italian ] -Si!

-[ Speaking Italian ] -Si!

-[ Singing in Italian ] -Mwah!

Salute!

-The food from this series is a celebration of the Italian dishes Lidia cooks for the ones she loves the most, from the traditional recipes of her childhood to the new creations she feeds her family today.

All of these easy-to-prepare recipes can be found in Lidia's latest cookbook, "From Our Family Table to Yours," available for $35.

To purchase this cookbook and any of her additional products, call 1-800-PLAY-PBS, or visit shop.pbs.org/lidia.

To learn more about Lidia, access to videos, and to get recipes, tips, techniques, and much more, visit us online at lidiasitaly.com.

Follow Lidia on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, @LidiaBastianich.

-Funding provided by... -At Cento Fine Foods, we're dedicated to preserving the culinary heritage of authentic Italian foods by offering over 100 specialty Italian products for the American kitchen.

Cento -- trust your family with our family.

-And by...