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.

-It's the Italian way.

Prosecco DOC ros.

A toast of Italy.

-Locatelli Pecorino Romano cheese from Italy -- handcrafted from 100% sheep's milk.

-I'm keeping it all fresh today with summertime ingredients that need little or no cooking.

An eye-catching salad of shrimp and sweet melon is dressed up in a bright, minty pesto.

Juicy, ripe tomatoes create a simple, fresh, classic sauce when tossed with hot rigatoni and mozzarella.

Get ready for the family to ask for seconds.

From garden to plate, let's keep it fresh.

I feel it's all about the food.

Even as a chef, if I don't have the product in my hand, there's not much I can do.

I cannot make any products.

So the freshness, being connected to the source of food, being close to that source of food, staying with the seasonality, the maturity of different fruits, different vegetables, it's the most important thing.

If I go to a market, and I see beautiful things, I get stimulated.

I don't need a recipe.

You buy this, you buy this, you buy that.

When I get it all in front of me, I know what I'll make.

I'll make something because the food is going to speak to me.

And so it is maybe because I grew up in a setting where, you know, I helped grow food, raise the animals.

When it was time to pick potatoes, I will be there picking up the little ones, not to leave them alone.

And picking up the peas, I knew which one were full and ready.

I ate the small ones, because they were sweeter, right off the plant.

And there is something when you eat, cut, or cook into this freshness.

The aromas, the crunch, the sound, the feel.

So it's not about how I can transform or make something else of that food, it's just how I can exalt it and give thanks to these gifts of nature and feed the best to the family and to the friends.

Shrimp and melon salad with basil mint pesto.

Today, it's a fresh day, and I'm in the garden, after all, so I'm going to make a shrimp salad.

I have some salted water boiling.

Let me get some bay leaves to give it some flavor.

Two.

I have fresh bay leaves in my garden, as you can see.

These are shrimp.

Let's put it right in.

Okay.

Kind of just give it a mix.

And I have some beautiful honeydew melon and some cantaloupe.

And the melon is simple.

You just take off the seeds, just like that.

Scrape them right out.

Okay.

So, how do you go about cutting a melon?

Let me show you.

Simple.

You can make melon balls, but, you know, with melon balls, you do have some waste.

And you know how I am about wasting.

I want to use everything, so I am going to make it into cubes.

And you go around just like that.

Going to cut it just like that.

And in it goes.

I'm looking at the size and I'm making them a little bigger because the shrimps are a nice-size shrimps.

And, again, cut it.

Just in slices, like that.

Mm-hmm!

Okay.

So, you can see this, in itself, the freshness of it.

So, I'm looking at the shrimps.

This is cooked for me.

I'm going to just fish it all out, and I'll put it right in the ice water.

Let it cool.

Just like that, okay.

So, now, I'm going to clean up and we get to make the pesto.

Benvenuti to my cozy library and a place where you and I share information.

You ask, I answer.

This is a familiar face -- Carter.

I think you sent in a video about chickens, as well.

Let's see what Carter wants.

-Ciao, Lidia!

I am currently in a friend's garden, and it's incredible.

And I'm curious, for someone who lives in the city and has much less space, if I want to start a garden of my own, what three things would you recommend that I start with?

Thank you.

-I think if you're in the city and you're in an apartment, windowsill is your only outlet to sun or if you have a terrace.

And herbs are the first thing to go to.

So your favorite herbs, get a little plant, its own little vase, and take care of it.

I have here, actually, a pot of planted cucumbers.

The plant has really expanded.

It is hanging and has yielded fruit already for me.

So consider that.

Tomatoes are the same.

You know, a good plant of healthy tomato will yield some tomato for you if you take care of it.

Peppers, peperoncinos and all of that, they will do well.

So, you know, take two or three things.

I think peperoncino, a tomato, a cucumber and some herbs -- sage, basil.

And you got yourself a beautiful array.

You can make a salad, cucumber, tomatoes.

So good luck to you, Carter.

Thank you for writing in again, and enjoy your garden.

I hope you get a good one.

Keep me posted.

Let me know how it's doing, okay?

Well, we're ready to make the pesto.

Basil.

Nice leaves of fresh basil.

Some mint.

And, you know, usually half and half.

Some lemon, lemon juice in there.

Let's see.

There's a pit here.

There's a pit here.

Okay.

Sometimes it's best to use a strainer right underneath or squeeze it in a little bowl and then use the juice.

Let's put this back on.

Let's put some salt in here.

Let's give it a whirl.

I think that's enough.

Some celery.

And, you know, I like to use the leaves of the celery and everything.

And so I'm looking at the chunks.

You know, the celery could be a little on the chunky side.

Mm-hmm.

And I want to put some lettuce in there.

Let me open it up.

These leaves are more appropriate, and they'll look nicer.

The outside leaves are a little greener and you can certainly use it for another salad.

Do I have enough here?

Let me just toss it a little bit.

I think I have enough.

Let's add the shrimps in there.

I think this needs a little bit of salting as a whole.

Now... ...let's take the dressing.

And you know what I tell you all the time about the dressing?

Save some because you don't want to overdress your salad.

You can always add, but taking it out is problematic, once you have put it all in.

Does this look good?

Fresh, nice.

So, let's plate it on this beautiful plate.

And I have some basil right here that I'm going to decorate it with.

I'm looking at the salad.

Okay, maybe I can make a frame.

And let's see.

And now, let's just kind of let it flow right into the plate, just like that.

Mmm!

Okay!

This looks good.

Oh!

I forgot Lidia.

Got to taste.

I think just like that.

And then I saved some basil.

A little basil will be just the decoration on top of it all.

So, here we are.

Inviting.

It's beautiful.

It's fresh.

So, let's bring it to the table.

And easy.

It's actually an easy setting.

So, here I go for the tasting.

Melon.

Mmm.

Mmm.

Wow!

I didn't know it was this good.

[ Laughs ] I can just sit here and enjoy.

So, I'm going to finish this.

I may go for a little more.

Make sure you make it.

Some of my favorite time in the kitchen has been teaching my grandchildren to grow into confident cooks.

And these days, even though they are living on their own, that doesn't mean they stop asking for my advice.

Sharing recipes.

Peaches in white wine.

Hi, Lorenzo.

-Ciao, Nana.

-How are you doing?

What are you up to?

-Working, and, you know, doing all that fun stuff.

You know, I invited a few people back to my place just to, you know, hang out.

It was a bit last-minute, but I made peaches in white wine.

-Was it a hit?

-It was a very big hit.

-You put peaches and what else?

-I put some mint, sort of, like, macerated that inside, as well, and some pitted cherries.

-And white wine, right?

-Yes.

The recipe called for a spumante, but I didn't have that lying around, so I just used white wine.

-If you wanted to spruce it up a little bit, you could put a little bit of peach schnapps in there if you have it.

And the rest sounds great -- peaches, cherries, mint.

And if you let it macerate, that's a great drink.

-Could I use frozen peaches, if I don't have any ripe ones lying around, or if they're out of season?

-Absolutely.

Just be careful of the syrup or however they're frozen.

Usually, they're frozen without the syrup.

So, yeah, give it a try.

-Could you use, for example, cherries and syrup, if, you know, you don't want to go through the trouble of, like, you know, pitting them?

-Absolutely.

Let's say that cherries are not in season.

You could use a little bit of the Amarena cherries and its syrup.

You know, the syrup is sweet.

It has a color, and will really bring color and sweetness to your drink.

-You know, I never thought of that, but that sounds amazing.

And I remember, when we were on the Amalfi Coast and we had this same thing.

I think it was literally just peaches, you know, sitting in white wine.

I could be wrong.

-Yeah, you're absolutely right.

Those peaches, they are so aromatic that they just let out all of the flavors that were in season in the white wine.

But think of the Bellini -- peach puree in with the Prosecco.

And that's a Bellini, you know?

So the invention of a Bellini goes back to a tradition.

-Yeah, I mean, you really can't go wrong with a Bellini.

-My grandfather used to do peaches almost as a meal like that.

Nonna, this would be your grandfather, right?

So this would be my great-great-grandfather?

-Nonna Mima's father.

He used to take beautiful peaches, ripe peaches in red wine.

And he let them macerate there for a half an hour.

And that was his dinner.

-Wow, that is so cool.

You know, it feels really good to be, you know, doing something that my -- my great-great-grandfather used to do.

What would you serve with this?

I'm curious.

-You know what I would serve with this?

A nice roasted chicken with some nice roasted potatoes and a nice salad.

-Sounds delicious.

-Lorenzo, enjoy the city, entertain your friends, make good dishes for them, and I'll be waiting for you to come and chop over at grandma's.

-Ciao, Nonna.

I love you very much.

And I'll see you soon.

-Grandma is there whenever they need you.

Whether they need a product, whether they need a recipe, whether they need a hug, it's always grandma.

Grandma is ready.

Mezze rigatoni with raw tomato sauce.

No chef can top the flavor of nature and the good freshness in season.

So today I'm going to make pasta salad tossed with beautiful tomatoes, some mozzarella, some pesto.

1, 2, 3.

So I have the water cooking.

I cut already some of the tomatoes.

And what you want to do is that you want to cut small pieces of tomato, not too small, because you want to really feel them, but you do want sort of for them to mingle with the pasta, shall we say.

This is an heirloom tomato.

Do -- Do you need to have an heirloom tomato?

Whatever is beautiful, whatever is in season, you can do plum tomatoes, cherry tomatoes.

What's important when you cut tomatoes is that you have a sharp knife.

But if you don't have a sharp knife, a serrated knife will take you a long way without you squashing your tomatoes, if you will.

The tomato's nice and juicy.

Some salt.

Little peperoncino.

Just like that.

A little bit of oil.

Just like that.

Okay.

I'm going to toss this.

And I'm going to let this sort of marinate a little bit.

Here, I have some salted water boiling and these are mezze rigatoni.

So here we go.

Let's just... Let's bring it to a boil.

The tomatoes are marinating, and we'll get to the pesto next.

So here an e-mail from Jen about my garden.

"Your garden is beautiful, and I'd love to know what vegetables you grow in the summer and if you have an indoor herb garden in the winter.

Which herbs do you grow and use most often?"

Thank you for the compliment.

I work hard in my garden, and I love it.

I am in the northeast here, and you have a growing season.

Spring, you plant, you harvest into the summer, and then fall, it's all finished.

So, I have eggplants, I have tomatoes, I have cucumbers, I have Swiss chard, I have beets, I have radicchio, I have celery, I have cabbage -- I have a few of each -- and I love having the diversity of my garden.

In the house, as far as herb, my bay leaf tree.

I roll it in every winter, but I do put it in a sunny spot in the house.

The other herbs, whether it's rosemary, whether it's thyme, whether it's sage, it's very difficult to bring them from the outside in.

You can begin growing them inside, and they get used to, acclimated to, the inside.

You might have success with basil, with sage, and all of that.

So, I love my garden.

It's one of my favorite things to do.

And then, I love to reap all the results and the products and the gifts that I get from my garden.

Jen, you know, do you have a garden?

Start planting one.

Keep me posted.

Let me know.

Send me pictures.

Thank you, Jen.

Let me cut the mozzarella now.

Of course, nice, freshly handmade mozzarella.

All about freshness.

And you can see that this is a mozzarella that, you know, has a nice texture.

It's not that really hard mozzarella.

So, I would, you know, not cut it too small.

Just like that.

And let's throw it in there.

Let's cut.

Okay.

Let me check on the pasta.

Hmm!

It's perfect.

And I'm going to fish it right out and put it right in here.

The fact that it's warm, it's okay because it warms up the tomatoes, melts up a little bit of the mozzarella.

I never rinse my pasta.

You can drain it.

That's okay.

But do not rinse it because you want that little stickiness to the pasta.

That's where the sauce will adhere.

So let's make a quick pesto.

Garlic.

Basil.

Parsley.

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

A little bit of peperoncino.

And... let's get going with the oil.

Don't be afraid of the oil because you have no condiment in here and you need to dress all of this up.

Let me just mix.

Let me see how this is.

Mmm!

Let's put the pesto... Mmm!

This pesto looks good.

Let's give this pasta a mix.

So... Alright.

And now the grated cheese.

And that goes on just before you serve it, the last minute.

A little bit of grated cheese kind of binds the whole thing because there's -- you have a lot of juice on the bottom from the tomatoes.

Alright.

I'm just going to give it a minute to all settle together.

I'm going to clean up, and we'll be ready to serve it.

So, here is an e-mail from Bev.

"I always check my pasta with a taste test to check on doneness, as I don't like it too al dente.

How do you know when the pasta is just right?"

So, you know, whatever you like is what's right.

If you're tasting it, then, you know, at the moment, taste it more than once as you're getting closer to the doneness that you want.

I like mine al dente.

I'll test it.

One, I'll pull one out, and I'll give it a bite, and I know exactly how much more.

Maybe another minute or two.

You might have to taste two, three times to get to the doneness that you like.

So, keep on tasting and, you know, try the al dente.

Us Italians really believe in that.

It's good.

It gives you kind of a bite to the pasta.

Thank you, Bev.

Alright!

This is so delicious.

The freshness of the tomatoes, of the pesto.

Everything is raw, and yet, it seems cooked into a sauce.

Let me plate it now.

We're ready to go to the table.

And you see how juicy it is?

You know, the tomatoes have let their sauce, and then it combines with the cheese.

And, as you notice, I just use a little plate to follow me.

And you see?

There's a drop there, so... And, you know, sometimes people tend to really kind of position food.

I like food just to flow where it might and the plate looks kind of more natural, I think.

So, I have a little bit left for Lidia and maybe a little refill.

Let me put a little piece of mozzarella.

Now, let's put some juice here.

Okay.

I am going to, now, officially taste.

And tomato and the sauce.

Mmm!

Deliciously fresh.

I like it.

It's kind of just warm.

The pasta kind of warms everything up.

So, this looks beautiful, nice and fresh.

Here we are.

And, of course, it needs just a little bit of decoration.

I have here some beautiful basil to kind of refresh the flavor of the basil inside And what would I drink with this?

Well, I would drink a lot of things with this, but I think a nice Sangiovese.

I happen to have a glass right here, and it has a lot of body, a lot of flavor.

And, here, the freshness of the ingredients are intense and a good glass of Sangiovese will do it right.

So, tutti a tavola a mangiare!

Salute!

So, my message to you is simple.

Get to know your neighbors, your farmers.

You know, I was in Rome and doing research, of course.

And Romans use a lot the heads of fennel.

So there was this big mound of fennel heads, and there was this vendor, this older man, and his hands, the crack of his hands were full of dirt.

That morning, he was in the dirt before he came.

The hands were really hands of a farm-working person, and I said, "He'll know exactly what to do with this fennel."

So I said... [ Speaking Italian ] "Sir, how do you cook this?

Do you have a recipe?"

He looked at me, and he almost smirked, and he said, [ Speaking Italian ] What does that mean?

"Cooked fennel is not worth a dried fig."

For him, it was all about the raw fennel, the crunch you get when you eat raw fennel.

So, here you go.

As a chef, I wanted to cook.

He says, "No, appreciate it as it is in its natural state."

So, grandma has been following us, and she will escort us to our beautiful table.

[ Singing in Italian ] -Okay.

Rub your hands like that.

Just like Nonni.

That's it.

Just like -- okay.

Now we're gonna make noodle and gnocco.

Okay, Julia.

Roll it, roll it.

That's it.

All the way.

So, what you need is a big pot of boiling water.

So there's salt in there, and we'll just plop them -- -Look.

-That's a perfect one, Julietta.

That's a perfect one.

Can you roll another one for me?

Are you hungry?

-Yeah.

-Yes?

Are you very hungry?

-Yeah.

-And what's your favorite food?

Gnocchi.

-Gnocchi.

-Gnocchi.

-Gnocchi.

-Gnocchi.

You bring the new dish to the table in a warm platter like this, and they'll disappear in no time.

[ Speaking Italian ] -Love you.

-I love you, too.

-The food from the 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 creation 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... And by...