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 sparkling art of living.

-For over 140 years, Auricchio traditional handcrafted provolone.

Made in Italy.

-Use the recipe as a roadmap.

It will give you a place to start and it will bring you to a place that's delicious.

Think of this recipe as a template for any hearty winter vegetable soup.

Let your senses guide you.

You can, and should, vary the seafood in this olive tomato stew based on what is fresh at your market.

Make the recipe work for you.

I give you the instruction to a recipe, and then at the end I tell you, "But, you know, you can change it.

You can make it your own."

So you say, "Lidia, at which time am I ready to do that?"

Well, you have to feel it, and sometimes you will make a mistake.

So if you follow my recipe and it comes out pretty good, second time will come better.

It turns you into a better executor of that recipe.

But now you don't have the eggplant that Lidia said, you don't have the anchovy that Lidia said.

Can I change?

Well, that's when it comes in.

You have to kind of learn the elements that you want to add and keep it in symphony, keep it in harmony.

Keep it in what you like, the combinations of flavors you like.

For me now, the best way to cook is I go to a market or I open the refrigerator and when I see something, "Oh, I'm going to make this, this, and this into this."

And, you know, just combining the elements like that, that's when you know, "Okay, I'm pretty good at it."

Things are perking in my kitchen.

Bubbly, bubble, bubble.

And I love long cooking techniques.

But, you know, when you have a recipe like a minestrone like this, it's a guideline.

Feel comfortable with it.

You can change.

You can change the beans.

You can change the vegetables.

First, let's start with a pestata and the pestata of pancetta, bacon, but if you're a vegetarian, you don't have to use pancetta.

You can just go on with the vegetables and the soup will be good.

Some garlic, and let's make the pestata.

So you want the pestata to really be like a paste, so to disintegrate and give flavor to your soup.

Let's put a little bit of olive oil just on the bottom.

Let's render this down while we make the vegetable pestata.

These are sage leaves.

Sage give you a lot of flavor, and they're good in soups.

I like it.

So let's put that in.

Onion, celery, and thyme.

Lots of thyme.

So let's make a pestata out of the vegetables.

Mmm.

The aroma, it reminds me a lot of my grandmother.

You know, soups, yes, they take a lot of sort of ingredients in the assembling of it, but once they're bubbling away, they're such a venue for so many different things, and then you freeze them, and you have it for weeks to come.

So here we are with the vegetable pestata.

And you want to give it just a little bit of cooking time, and then we'll build up the soup.

And now we use the tomato.

These are peeled tomatoes, San Marzano.

Squash them just like that.

Put them in.

This soup takes about five quarts of water.

I'm going to go in a minute to the sink.

In the meantime, let's assemble all the basic ingredients.

Here I have cannellini beans.

Cannellini beans, dry ones.

So you take the dry cannellini beans, fill this up with water, leave it overnight.

The next day, you drain it.

So now they're ready to cook.

Let's add them all in.

This is split peas.

I love split peas.

I just washed them.

And what they will give to the soup is that kind of very mellow, almost velvety texture because they disintegrate into the liquid.

So let's put that in.

So now let's do some seasoning here.

Bay leaves.

I love my bay leaves, especially in soups.

Peperoncino.

Salt.

The heat, full speed ahead.

I'm going to go get the remainder of the water, and we'll let this cook for a good half hour to 40 minutes before we add the next vegetable.

Welcome to my library, cozy and comfy.

Here is where I read your messages, your videos, and I answer.

And here I have a video from Caitlin and Jeff.

They wrote in saying, "We fell in love with your show the past couple of years and followed your guide to cook while taking classes at Pennsylvania State University.

Here's our video question."

-Hi, Lidia.

I'm Caitlin.

This is Jeff.

And today we're making chicken piccata meatballs.

-And our question for you is, do you have any unique takes on traditional meals that you like to make?

Tutti a tavola a mangiare.

-Tutti a tavola a mangiare.

-Oh, I could kiss the screen.

Look at them, look at them.

How adorable.

Just reminds me of my grandkids.

Do I switch traditional recipes?

Yes, all the time.

One of the classics that I've kind of switched around is bread and zucchini lasagna.

Instead of the pasta, I put all bread.

I made the sauce... ...and I layered it with thin zucchini and cheese, just like a lasagna.

Give it a try.

That would be a good thing for you to make.

Good luck with your education, and keep on cooking.

And, tutti a tavola a mangiare!

Bravi!

[ Soup boiling ] Ah!

I told you I'd be bubbling.

So we'll lower it a little bit.

The peas are kind of disintegrating, and that's what you want.

And to this we will add now the carrots.

And, again, you know, I want it about the same size so they cook at the same speed.

Now, I wanted to -- to show you, to take you through all the steps, but you could do all this preparation before.

Alright, so let's add this to the bubbling soup.

And the Savoy cabbage, I just de-core.

And we'll shred it like this.

You know, it looks like a lot of vegetables, and there is, but vegetables, once you really let them cook, they lose a lot of volume because of the water.

So let's put this in.

If you don't have Savoy, could you put regular cabbage?

Absolutely.

And so now let's do some kale here.

This is a little tough, so I'll leave it out.

If you're -- If you have young kale and you want to use the stems, by all means.

This is all washed, of course.

You know, I also like Swiss chard in soups like that.

So here we are, and you let this cook for a good half hour.

And we'll prepare the squash.

Now, the squash takes the least amount of time to cook.

So let's do some cubes of squash.

Just keep in mind that a soup like this, Lidia style, nice and velvety and full of vegetables, and the vegetables are nice and mellow, full of different flavor, takes about two hours in total.

But at the end of the two hours, look at the gift that you're getting.

And not just for one meal.

You can go for several days, for several meals.

So I'll finish this, I'll add it on, and then we will taste it.

Okay, another e-mail with a photo.

"I made a large pot of Minestrone!

Take a look!"

I will take a look, Esther.

We will all take a look.

And it looks delicious.

That's a potful.

You're going to have here two or three meals, for sure.

And when you put it in the freezer, don't forget to mark those containers with what's in them and the date.

Enjoy.

Alright, look at this pot of goodness.

I think I did a good job.

You can do it.

Let me first taste and see how the seasoning is in here.

Salt.

Always taste like this.

At the end is when you can, "okay, it needs a little salt, a little peperoncino," and even though I have cheese at the table, I'm going to put some cheese in it now so it really flavors and melts.

Mmm.

I think we're ready to serve.

One, two.

Okay.

Now, you know how I always use a little plate so I don't dribble all over the place.

And, you know, maybe pick up the vegetables first so that you build up and you get enough vegetables.

You can always add the liquid part of it, but you still want to be able to recognize all the vegetables.

You don't want them to completely be disintegrated.

Let's go to the next.

Okay.

Mmm.

Delizioso.

Let me put a little bit for -- for Lidia here.

Alright.

I'll let that cool.

That looks pretty good.

Nice and steamy.

And some good bread.

Some good crusty bread -- crostini, taralli, which are from Puglia, this delicious little crunchy.

And, of course, some Grana -- grated Grana, but also a few chunks of -- let's say that you want just this for the main course and for the food.

You want some chunks of cheese.

You grate some cheese, and voil, we go on, just like that.

You see?

A good meal, and makes you feel good, as well.

So let's taste this big minestrone.

Mmm!

It's delicious.

The soup is great.

It just kind of warms the soul.

You get the beans, then you have the squash, the little sweetness.

Then you have the kale, a little bit of bitterness.

Different flavors and textures that makes this soup, mmm, delizioso.

-Salute!

-Salute!

-It always brings me such joy to connect through food.

My friends are everywhere, from Italy to New York.

We always end up discussing all things delicious.

Hi, guys.

Today we're going to Florence.

And just around the corner from the Uffizi, there's this great, wonderful super sandwich shop, All'Antico Vinaio.

And my dear friend Tommaso Mazzanti is behind it all.

He makes these sandwiches that at any time of the day, there's a line around the corner, waiting to get in.

And he's now even in New York.

So let's go to Tommaso.

Tommy, how are you doing?

-Ciao, Lidia!

How are you?

-Alright.

How are you doing?

-Very, very good.

I'm in Florence now.

-And I see you have your masterpieces in front of you.

But, first, this place, the All'Antico Vinaio, how did this idea come about?

-My mother and my father opened the first All'Antico Vinaio in 1999, and now I have 13 shop.

-But I want to explain a little bit more.

The bread, the schiacciata, is so crispy and so good.

And it's so fresh and still hot when you make the sandwich.

-This schiacciata is very, very typical to Florence.

We have a bakery in the shop.

When it exited the oven, it's so good.

-The next great thing of your sandwiches, of course, it is the cold cuts and the meats.

But it is the spreads.

Instead of mayo, Maionese, or ketchup, you do it the Italian style.

-We prepare every spreads every day in the kitchen.

We have a little bit, about 30 sandwich.

-What is that one?

-Inferno.

-"Inferno" means "hell."

What's in there?

-Roast pork, andouille, vegetables fried -- zucchini and eggplant and arugula.

-Oh, fantastico.

Oh, I can just take a bite.

What's the next one?

-Is the best-seller of All'Antico Vinaio is a Paradiso -- is a Paradise.

Mortadella, stracciatella, and pistachio creamy.

-This is my kind of sandwich.

-[ Chuckles ] -So, we went from hell to heaven.

I'll stay in heaven.

How's that?

Alora, Tommy, wishing you much continued success.

And maybe we'll have a sandwich together.

I'll bring the wine.

How's that?

-Grazie, grazie, grazie, grazie.

-Ciao, ciao.

Un abbraccio.

Mwah.

Matalotta traces back to Sicily.

And in Sicily, they all cooked Matalotta-style.

But what it really came at the end is that you can use any fish.

Anything they caught, they cooked it this way, and it is delicious.

So, here I have some grouper -- a nice firm fish.

But you can do if you have monkfish, you can do halibut -- any fish that's a nice big piece and that you could kind of put it in chunks and doesn't break down on you.

Let me put some olive oil here.

Okay.

There you go.

Nice chunks.

So, you know, like a zuppa di pesce.

Italian zuppa di pesce -- everybody loves it.

And it's any fish that you got.

But this is -- call it Matalotta.

So, let me just season.

You know, whatever this fish, meat, or whatever -- before you begin to cook it, always season it with salt.

This way, the salt goes into it.

Okay.

And just lightly flour it to sear the fish.

But also, you know, the flour, it also then slowly breaks into the sauce and makes the sauce denser and creamier.

Okay.

So, here we are with the fish.

I am waiting for the -- I want it to be nice and hot so that we get a crust right away, so it doesn't begin to stick to the bottom.

So, you don't want to smoke the olive oil.

Never.

Any oil.

You don't want to smoke it.

But you want to bring it up to temperature, as high as it gets.

I'm feeling it right here, and it's hot.

And once you put the fish, do not begin to fidget with it.

Let it form a crust underneath.

So I'm going to leave it just like that.

And we will begin to cut the vegetables.

Not too fine -- you know, nice, nice pieces.

I think, nice kind of chunks of the onion, because I want it to sort of live with the fish.

In other words, to swim with the fish in the sauce.

[ Pan sizzling ] Okay, so, let's see.

And just keep in mind, we don't need to cook the fish now.

We just need to give it a nice searing.

And going to let it a few more minutes.

Let's cut the celery now.

And again, the celery, little pieces like that so they're crunchy with the fish and the onion.

So that's that.

Let's begin to pull out the -- the fish.

[ Pan sizzling ] Lowering a little bit the fire, let's put the onions in.

[ Spoon clanging on pan ] [ Pan sizzling ] And so now we're building the flavors here.

Some bay leaves in and Cerignola olives.

And the capers.

[ Pan sizzling ] A little bit of wine.

[ Wine boiling ] We add wine for its flavor and acidity.

And olives have a salinity.

Also capers.

So you have to be careful.

Always think about the ingredients that go into your dish and how are you going to season them.

A little bit of salt, just like that.

We always have time to add it at the end.

And peperoncino.

You know, I like my peperoncino nice and spicy.

And once the alcohol has evaporated, we'll go into putting the tomatoes.

And so these are peeled tomatoes.

I like San Marzano tomatoes.

Why are they good?

They have a thin skin, they have a lot of pulp, few seeds.

Seeds are tannin, and they're bitter, and it has less juice.

Few juice.

Juice is acidity.

And you don't want the tomato acidity in your sauces.

And we'll bring this to a boil.

And then we will add the fish -- in this case, the grouper.

So, you see, I cooked it, but you can see here that it's still raw, and that's the way you want it.

So, the vegetables have cooked, and they'll have to finish cooking yet, because we'll add the fish, we'll add the grouper, but also clams and shrimps.

Fish needs to cook quick.

Fish is quick cooking.

High temperature.

What I'm doing is I'm pushing all the grouper aside because I'm going to add the clams, and I don't want the clams to break the grouper.

So let me put the clams on the side.

Right in here.

That's it.

We want them to open.

Let me cover them like this.

Increase the heat so that they really come out.

Here, I left the tail on the shrimp.

And the tail, of course, is decoration.

You can remove it or you can leave it, and your guests will realize that the tail is to be removed.

So, here we are.

The clams are slowly opening.

I'm going to add the shrimps right in there.

Okay.

I don't want to mix it too much, because the grouper will flake apart.

So... And sometimes, you know, when I don't want to mix things, get in there, and really spoil, what I do is I just take it by the -- by the handle and I go like this.

I don't want it to overcook, but I want the clams to open.

Let's put the plates right here.

So... Alright, this looks like it's ready to be served.

Let me get a little plate for Lidia.

Also, you know that I use a little plate underneath so I don't dribble all over the place.

Mmm.

Okay.

Let's make the next plate.

Okay.

And now Lidia's plate.

Let's go for Lidia.

So, shrimp, a little bit of the clam, and...

Okay, Lidia is set, too.

So... let me bring it to the table for you.

Look how beautiful.

Alright.

And I am all set.

So, should I have a clam, should I have a shrimp, should I have a little grouper?

But let me taste.

So, let's start with a clam.

Mmm.

Delicious.

Let's cheer with some Friulian white.

Salute.

And as I say, every single time, Tutti a tavola a mangiare.

There's plenty for all of us.

Mmm.

For me, the transition from an apprentice cook, shall we say, to a cook by myself, really came when we came to America.

My mother worked late hours overtime to make money, and she would leave all the elements for me, when I came from school, and steps.

But I was already kind of flying on my own a little bit.

"Okay, maybe I'll add a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

Maybe I'll add some porcini mushrooms."

And so I did.

And when I got the sign of okay at the dinner, "Mmm.

This is good," ah, that gave me confidence, and I went on and on and on.

And you build confidence and ultimately you become one of those cooks, or chefs, that can combine elements, and it just comes naturally.

Keep on trying.

[ Singing in Italian ] And I have a fish proverb.

Let's see if you can demystify it.

-Let's go for it.

-[ Speaks Italian ] -You shouldn't fish -- or, you shouldn't do anything, rather, um, if you have, like, nothing to show for it?

Something like that?

-Okay, but... [ Speaks Italian ] Useless to fish... -If you don't have -- -...if -- if the hook doesn't have any bait.

-Right.

-So if you have nothing substantial to work on, forget it.

You know, we have a lot here, and what do we usually tell them at our table?

-Ah.

Ready?

Tutti a tavola a mangiare.

-You heard the guy.

-[ Clicks tongue ] -Come and eat with us.

-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...