Lidia's Kitchen

LIDIA: Buongiorno!

I'm Lidia Bastianich.

And teaching you about Italian food has always been my passion.

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

So what does that mean?

You get to cook it yourselves.

For me, food is about delicious flavors... Che bellezza!

...comforting memories, and, most of all, family.

Tutti a tavola a mangiare!

ANNOUNCER: Funding provided by... ANNOUNCER: 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.

ANNOUNCER: Grana Padano -- authentic, Italian, rich in tradition, yet contemporary.

ANNOUNCER: Locatelli Pecorino Romano cheese from Italy.

Handcrafted from 100% sheep's milk.

ANNOUNCER: Authentic Italian cured meats.

Paolo Rovagnati, the true Italian tradition.

ANNOUNCER: And by... LIDIA: In Italy, dessert isn't always the focus of the meal, but when we make it, we make it just right.

Layers of sweetened ricotta, aromatic bergamotto marmalade, crunchy nougatine, and toasted almonds create this unique parfait.

What do you get when you combine a delicate, fluffy meringue, almonds, and a tart shell?

This light and airy sweet treat.

La dolce vita.

The sweet life in Italy.

As a young girl in Italy, in Istria, dessert wasn't a big part or a must-have at every meal.

Now and then, we had a treat.

Probably the most defining dessert of my childhood are crespelle.

Palacinke.

Thin pancakes, if you will, with jam most likely that Grandma made.

And a lot of times, this, with a glass of milk, was dinner.

Certainly, the holidays were big for desserts, and there were a lot of baked desserts -- cookies filled with dried fruits, with dried nuts.

Easter.

The egg breads with raisins.

And then there were the sort of dessert, al cucchiaio -- spoon desserts.

And also ricotta.

And ricotta was sometimes served with some jam, most likely that Grandma made and some chopped nuts on top, and it was delicious.

Or sometimes she would take the time to turn it into a cheesecake.

If we were lucky, we would get a bomboni now and then -- some candies.

So life was sweet, after all.

Bergamotto and ricotta parfait.

I'm in the beautiful, breezy Gulf of Squillace.

And today I'm gonna show you how to make a delightful and easy spoon dessert.

Italians love their spoon desserts.

That means that you eat it with a spoon.

It's easy to assemble.

So, a parfait of ricotta and bergamotto, which is one of those delicious citruses that is basically only in Calabria.

Get yourself a nice setting, and in it, I'm gonna put underneath -- You could put a little bit of sponge cake if you have, just like that, on the bottom, or even crumbled cookies or savoiardi.

You know, you can crumble them like you do your tiramisu.

You can put that at the base.

And next goes, of course, the ricotta.

And the ricotta is just plain ricotta.

You just drain it.

And you use it right in as the base.

So, you can be thinking of an ice-cream parfait or an ice-cream sundae.

That's the idea here.

It's just made with ricotta, just like that.

The next step here is some bergamotto jam.

And as simple as that, just -- You can see that the -- the jam just glides down and acts like a delicious dressing syrup.

And it has this intense lemony flavor, but this perfume that is quite unique.

It is like lemon, but it's better.

So, here we are.

Now I can build it up.

Torrone is one option to make that crunchiness in it.

Just like that.

Or toasted almonds.

That's another option in between.

Just like that.

And then we move up with some more ricotta.

And you can see how easy this is to make.

You just need the right ingredients.

You know, I continuously tell you Italian food is about the ingredients and then the restraint and simplicity of preparing them.

So, I'm going back to some more of the bergamotto jam, just like that.

And I put certainly enough on the bottom ones, so I think we have enough here.

Here we go, just like that.

I will put some more of the toasted almonds right on top here, just like that.

Here I have a nice orange supreme just to kind of accent the flavor of the citrus.

And maybe a torrone or two.

As you can see, I am kind of developing this as I go along.

Now, maybe just a little bit of honey to finish it off.

Just like that.

Like that.

Mmm.

And I'm gonna make a little quick one for me here because I want to just combine the flavors and tell you about -- I don't want to spoil those.

Those are so beautiful.

I want to leave them for you.

A little bit of the jam.

Mm-hmm.

Little piece of torrone.

Little piece of orange right here.

A little toasted almonds.

Let's see.

What am I missing?

Oh, a little bit of honey, a drizzle of honey.

Okay.

So, you can see you can make a beautiful parfait, but you can make it in a simple dish like that for your guests.

Or you know what?

You can even put it out there and let them make their own.

That would be fun.

So, let me taste this.

Mmm.

Mmm.

It's delicious.

The simplicity, the milkiness of the ricotta, the acidity and the intense perfume of the bergamotto, and then, of course, the crunch of toasted almond and of the torrone.

This is a great, simple recipe where you can capture the flavors of Southern Italy at home for your next great summer party.

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 -- chocolate anise biscotti.

[ Line ringing ] Julia, Julia, Julia, you're here.

JULIA: Hi, Nonni.

LIDIA: How are you doing, cocca?

JULIA: I'm good.

How are you?

LIDIA: All right.

How's school?

JULIA: It's good.

I'm waiting for a care package from you, though.

LIDIA: Oh, you miss home, huh?

JULIA: Yeah.

LIDIA: You couldn't wait to leave.

Is that the way it works?

JULIA: I knew I would miss you guys a little bit.

LIDIA: I was gonna make you some biscotti.

Are you okay with biscotti?

JULIA: That's more than okay.

LIDIA: So I was thinking of a chocolate anise biscotto.

JULIA: I love that.

That sounds really good.

LIDIA: So the biscotto is flour.

It's butter, baking soda, baking powder, eggs, some sugar, and in this case, cocoa powder, almonds, anise, anise seeds, also.

And you make it into a nice compact dough.

And biscotto -- You know, "bis" means "twice."

So this cookie's actually cooked twice.

You make like a jelly roll.

Roll.

You bake it.

But it's not that hard bake.

You take it out.

Once it cools off, with a serrated knife, you cut the biscotti, and you put them back and toast them again.

And that's when they become croccante.

You know, a little crunchy in your mouth.

I am preaching all -- telling you all of this, but I bet you -- All you want is to get them, don't you?

JULIA: Yeah, I do want to eat them, but that sounds like a lot of work.

LIDIA: Well, it's really not.

And these, you don't need to worry about it.

I'm gonna send it to you in a tin container, and it will last.

It will last for a few weeks without any problem.

Julia, do you make coffee in your room?

JULIA: Yeah, we make coffee in the morning, but I have to hide the cookies from everyone else because if not, I'm not gonna be able to dunk them in my coffee or crumble them up and put them in my yogurt, because I like to do that.

LIDIA: Send me some pictures of you enjoying them.

A lot of love is gonna go into making them.

And they're gonna be shipped with a big red bow of love.

JULIA: I'll always be the baby.

LIDIA: Yes, you're still my baby.

Okay, cocca.

Love you.

JULIA: Love you.

LIDIA: Ciao.

I am here in the beautiful Tyrolean Alps in Bolzano and with my dear friend Martin.

We're enjoying what's typical, very Italian caf, but this time, we're gonna have affogato.

MARTIN: Good combination.

LIDIA: Yeah, good combination.

And I'm gonna enjoy some of these wafer cookies.

Oh, delicious!

Oh, explain.

Tell me, Martin.

MARTIN: Thank you.

Yeah.

This is affogato.

LIDIA: Affogato.

MARTIN: Yeah, affogato.

It's a combination of the hot espresso, good ice cream -- vanilla ice cream -- a combination whipped cream, and a crumble of wafer.

LIDIA: And the crumble on top -- This is a form of kind of finishing, almost, a meal because Italians don't do big desserts at the end of the meal.

MARTIN: No, no, no.

LIDIA: I am going to taste it.

MARTIN: Yeah, taste it.

LIDIA: Dig in a little bit.

MARTIN: Oh, it's beautiful.

LIDIA: Mmm!

MARTIN: Beautiful.

Mmm!

You feel the coffee.

LIDIA: The intensity of the coffee.

You know what I love?

The warm and colds.

MARTIN: Yes, me, too.

LIDIA: You like that?

MARTIN: Yeah, the sweet and the bitter of the coffee.

LIDIA: Ah, and you know this crunch of these wafers on top... MARTIN: Yeah.

It's great.

LIDIA: It's light.

It's crunchy.

It's creamier.

And you know what?

It's not too sweet.

MARTIN: No.

LIDIA: I think we're gonna finish this, and then we're gonna take off for the mountains?

MARTIN: Of course!

Yeah!

LIDIA: Thanks, Martin!

MARTIN: Thank you!

LIDIA: Crostata di mandorle.

What can be better than cooking outside?

Only in Italy.

I have everything I need around here.

The chickens are here, the fruit is here, and I'm gonna make a wonderful tart -- an almond meringue tart.

So, let's begin with the crust.

Some flour, sugar, pinch of salt.

Let me mix this up a little bit.

Okay.

Let's get the butter in.

So, you want the butter to be nice and cold.

And let's just begin a little bit of kind of blending it in.

Egg yolks.

That gives it richness.

And now I need to get my hands in there.

You know, there comes a time when there's no substitutes for the hands.

This is the time.

Just put a little bit of cold water.

Let me get just maybe a drop more of water.

And now you collect everything.

And this is the dough.

And you don't have to really mix it, mix it, mix it, because as you're rolling it, it will combine even more, and the butter will melt even more into the flour.

Take some plastic wrap.

Put it in the refrigerator to chill -- two hours.

And thereafter, anytime, you can roll it and make your pie.

I'm gonna clean up, go check on the chickens, and see what else is out there.

[ Rooster crows ] Hi.

Buongiorno.

Here I am in my library doing some research, but also checking on you guys, checking on your e-mails.

So here is a question from someone who has ties to Istria.

Now, you know, I was born in Istria.

Istria's a little peninsula that now is part of Croatia right across from Venice.

So she says... "Do you have any insight on how to make it?

Tips or tricks?

Especially when it comes to the dough?"

Strucolo basically means that you have a dough, you have a sheet of dough, and you envelop something, like, into that dough, like a jelly roll.

Like strudel.

Strucolo can be baked or boiled.

There's two doughs that I can recommend.

One is a regular pasta dough, not too thin, and you roll it out, and then you put in it, if you like, stuffings like ricotta and spinach.

Also, you can put sweet stuff in.

You roll it up like a strudel, and then you tie it.

You're tie it in a cheesecloth.

And you boil it in salted boiling water.

And when it's cooked, you let it chill.

You cut it in slices, and you drizzle with, if you want, butter and sage, if you want savory.

But if you're gonna go on the sweet side, butter and sugar and cinnamon.

Then another dough that I have for strucolo is gnocchi dough.

And the gnocchi dough is a potato dough, and you proceed the same way.

I hope you make this one for your mother-in-law and send me pictures.

I'm curious to see.

[ Chicken clucking ] A mulberry tree.

Oh, these are some of the fruits of my childhood.

And we loved them.

We ate them early in the morning or late at night so they were cool.

During the day, they get hot, but they're delicious.

This is a juicy mulberry.

One more.

Now let's get to the pie.

This is the filling.

I'm gonna work this through until it's nice and stiff, so bear with me.

This is the meringue.

It is egg whites with a pinch of salt and a bit of sugar in there.

Okay, I think we got there.

Get everything off the whisk.

Slivered almonds, slightly toasted.

Just fold them in.

And, yes, there's a lot of it.

That's because, you know, that's all you have, is the egg whites and the almonds.

So just a little fold like that.

Just a little bit of lemon rind for freshness.

Okay.

So, we collected everything.

Let's put the filling in.

And here, I rolled the dough in advance, then buttered and floured the tin with some parchment to make this tart shell.

So here is the filling.

Here I have Lori.

Lori was wondering if she could substitute coconut milk in panna cotta recipe.

Or half coconut and half cream.

Substitution is such a common practice in cooking.

You don't have one, you substitute the other.

So in making panna cotta, it's simple -- the milk and heavy cream, which you bring to a certain temperature.

You melt some gelatin in there.

The gelatin coagulates and keeps it firm, just like when you make Jell-O.

So could you, instead of regular milk and cream, substitute coconut milk or half-and-half?

Absolutely.

Make sure -- Just make sure you have enough gelatin.

You have enough to pull that jiggly texture all together.

Panna cotta is known for that.

Try it and let me know.

Now, let's see.

One more question from Connie.

What my favorite Italian cookie is.

My favorite cookie is a simple cookie.

I like ricotta cookie.

So it is flour and butter and sugar and the whole thing and ricotta that binds it.

And it leaves the cookie very tender and soft.

And I love ricotta, so, Connie, make some ricotta cookies and enjoy.

Throughout the peninsula, Italy's really known for its nuts.

And in Puglia and in Sicily, almonds really reign.

You really wait for the almond in the fall, and that's when we would harvest it.

And then we would peel it off, and you have the almond in its shell, and that would be saved for the winter.

Let's do the lattice top.

That's the 1/3 of dough that I had left behind.

So, let me just cut.

So it's -- And... this might be enough.

Just like that.

Five.

Otherwise, we'll cut some more.

Just make sure that it touches the bottom shell.

Once it cooks, that's where it will bind, stick together.

So, let me just smooth out this meringue a bit.

And the pie is ready to get into the oven.

So, a preheated 350-degree oven for about 45 minutes, and the pie will puff up, and it'll look beautiful when it's done, when you pull it out.

And then it will settle in.

It's delicious.

It's beautiful.

And it's easy to make.

All right, here.

Look here.

I have another question, from Paul.

So let's go to the link titled "Wedding Cake."

PAUL: Hi, Lidia.

It's Paul from Towson, Maryland.

I'm making a cake for my sister's wedding.

Any suggestions?

LIDIA: Oh, Paul, great intentions.

But it's not the easiest.

What I can remember as a child -- When someone got married, the tradition was to make sponge cakes.

Just very, very light.

Lots of eggs.

And sponge cake because you're gonna rise it very high.

So it's very light.

It was decorated with royal icing.

So it could be as simple as that.

I remember from my days in Walken's Bakery, the most popular one was sponge cake with strawberry and pineapple filling, and then whipped cream on top.

That sounds good.

Simple, and it was delicious.

So, Paul, you know, try some sponge cake.

You got to make your sponge cake, and you make layers of strawberry, pineapple between each one.

And then some simple whipped cream and decorate your cake.

And good luck.

Have a good time at the wedding.

The breeze is blowing.

I am in my friend Pietro's garden.

The tart is ready to be served, and we're gonna enjoy it.

So, let me cut a piece for you and a piece for me.

A serrated knife because this is a touchy pie.

The crust is touchy, the meringue.

Everything kind of crumbles, but it's okay because it's delicious.

So just kind of go in a saw motion.

You see?

Let's just loosen it up.

And it's always good to loosen.

We have the parchment paper underneath, so we are safe.

That's one piece.

And maybe a little cherry, those beautiful cherries.

Even though we don't have a cherry in there, just put a little decoration like that.

A little bit of mint is delicious with this.

Mmm.

Now let me decorate my piece, the bigger piece.

Again, cherries -- two.

Just like that.

Some mint for me.

Just like that.

And mine looks good, yours looks great, and we're gonna taste.

Of course, the tip of the pie is the best part.

Mmm.

Simple and delicious.

In other words, simply delicious.

The almonds are crunchy.

The dough is crumbly.

What can I say?

Take the next plane and come and join me.

Tutti a tavola a mangiare!

Italy boasts one of the largest repertoire of different desserts, and if we were gonna break it in categories, there is the cioccolatini, there is the croccatini, there is the dolce al cucchiaio, which means the spoon desserts.

Then, of course, Italy's known for its ice creams.

All kinds of ice cream flavors with the fresh fruit.

You can't beat that.

Then there's a whole line of the baked sweet breads -- panettone, colomba.

Now, these are all kind of focused on holidays.

And then, of course, there's the fried desserts.

You're talking about cannoli.

You have to fry the shells.

And if you go into a pasticceria, in Italy, it is common, if you go visit somebody, to bring either a cake or a tray of little ptisserie.

If you're in the north, you'll bring them a sachertorte.

And you know Sicily -- and they're famous for their wonderful almonds, they have the best in all of Italy -- is known for its almond paste.

Pasta reale.

Marzipan.

And so it kind of varies where in Italy you are.

But desserts and sweets packaged nicely, tied with a bow and the whole works -- It's nice to receive.

It's always expected when you go visit somebody.

And then in return you usually get a good espresso and a little grappa on the side.

You know, Grandma loved her sweets, so she's gonna sweetly sing us to the table.

[ Erminia and Lidia singing in Italian ] [ Singing continues ] ANNOUNCER: The food from this series makes Italian cooking easy for everyone and showcases simple-to-prepare recipes that require fewer steps, fewer ingredients, and less cleanup, without sacrificing flavor.

The recipes can be found in Lidia's latest cookbook "Lidia's a Pot, a Pan, and a Bowl," available for $29.95.

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

ANNOUNCER: 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.

ANNOUNCER: Funding provided by... ANNOUNCER: 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.

ANNOUNCER: Grana Padano -- authentic, Italian, rich in tradition, yet contemporary.

And by... ANNOUNCER: Olitalia.

"From chef to chef."

ANNOUNCER: "Lidia's Kitchen" studio provided by Clarke, New England's official Sub-Zero and Wolf showroom and test kitchen.