-Buongiorno.

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

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

I'm showing off.

Does this look like a good meal?

So, make it.

For me, food is about gathering around the table to enjoy loved ones, share a meal, and make memories.

Tutti a tavola a mangiare!

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

♪ ♪ -Authentic Italian cured meats.

Paolo Rovagnati -- The true Italian tradition.

-For over 140 years, Auricchio traditional handcrafted provolone, made in Italy.

-Olitalia -- From chef to chef.

Not always do you have to sweat behind a stove to make a great Italian meal.

Start with an antipasto, great Italian products, and a beautiful salad to go with it, and you have it made.

A platter of cheese with seasonal fruit is simple enough to pull together.

But I take it a step further.

I add my homemade plum mostarda and some fried bread, gnocco fritto.

I enjoy a salad for dinner, and this one is easy to pull together, making it a great dish to serve for easy entertaining.

Delicious meals don't have to be complicated.

Socializing, getting together is a great thing.

Yes, around the table, but also just socializing.

I mean, a girl's thing.

The girls socialize.

We have so much to tell each other, you know?

I remember my grandmother and her friends, they would sit and talk to each other, simple things that they would do.

And so it continues generation after generation.

And I love getting together with the girls.

My role is, yes, getting together, but also nurturing them.

I need to pull out something special for them.

A quick risotto, you know, have some shrimps, bring out some good wine, and I happen to love aged port.

I decant it in front of them.

It makes them feel like a million dollars.

Cheese Plate with Plum Mostarda and Gnocco Fritto.

Mostarda, mustard, you think of only mustard.

But Italians use our fruit, cook it with sweet honey, sugar, and mustard, and it makes a great accompaniment to cold cuts, to cheeses, to roasts, to many things.

So let's begin.

We need acidity.

Let's put vinegar.

Wine.

In here, this is mustard powder.

Let's put that in here.

And it's important that it sort of dissolves.

Let's add the sugar.

Mustard seeds.

Of course they bring the mustard flavor, but also a little crunch.

And a little ginger.

And this is grated.

I would put a little bit of salt here, just a little to bring out the flavor.

And of course, a little peperoncino.

So you're getting the sweet and the savory mixture in here.

Italians, we love our vegetables, and we love our fruit, especially in season, and we preserve all of those for those winter months.

And mostarda is one of the ways to do just that, mostarda di frutta.

It's a simple way to preserve.

And here we have plums.

Here we are.

Let's put this all right in there.

And you want this to cook and become a very kind of syrupy mixture.

We'll give it about 20 minutes, mix it occasionally, and the mostarda will be ready.

Buongiorno.

Benvenuti.

You're in my library with me.

And here is where I read your e-mails, watch your videos, and give you answers.

So, here I have one from Barbara.

"I made your tomato onion focaccia today and added Kalamata olives.

All of your recipes I have tried have been a big hit with my family, especially my husband, Jim."

Alright, Barbara.

Thank you.

Let's look at the picture.

Oh, looks delicious.

Wow.

Barbara, congratulation, and I'm thrilled that Jim is happy.

So, we made the mostarda.

I'm going to show you how to make the gnocco fritto.

So, gnocco, it's a dough.

Fritto is fried.

So let's make the dough.

Warm milk.

Some olive oil.

♪ Some yeast.

And just mix that well.

Let that proof a little bit.

In the meantime, here is our mostarda.

It has cooled, and it is beautiful and chunky.

And, you know, the mostarda like this, it's great, if you have a lot of fruit, double the recipe, and it'll keep.

Mostarda like this with a little bit of acidity will keep for a while in the refrigerator.

And now let's make the dough for the gnocco.

Put the flour.

Some salt.

Club soda.

That gives it a little bit of air, little bit of a lightness.

And let's see if that yeast has proofed a little bit.

It's began to be active.

Let's put it in, and let's begin to mix.

Whenever you're making dough, have a little bit more flour close by and have a little bit more liquid like I have here, the club soda.

And so let's add flour until it's at the right consistency.

And you do want it loose.

Okay.

So, I'm going to change it to a dough hook, because I want to knead it for a few minutes.

And usually to change it to a dough hook, what I do is that I slowly raise this, and the dough sort of slides off.

Mmm.

It's a little sticky, but that's okay.

Let's put the hook on.

And you knead it like that for about five minutes, put it in a glass bowl, and you let it rest for about 15 minutes, and then we'll fry it.

I have a new message.

It's from Trey.

He says, "Ciao, Lidia.

HELP!"

"I need three different kinds of dips for bread, breadsticks, vegetables for an aperitivo time I am having.

What do you suggest?"

What do I suggest?

Mm.

I'll tell you.

Let's begin with bean dips.

Here, you can deviate and go on.

You can put grated cheese.

You can put a little pesto in there.

For breadsticks, a nice dip would be a cheese dip, nice Gorgonzola.

And you can have some ripe figs.

Put a drizzle of honey, and that goes great together.

And then you wanted something for a vegetable.

One of my favorites is celery sticks with Gorgonzola.

It's delicious.

I hope you have enough information here, enough ideas.

Have a good party, Trey.

The dough that we kneaded, I put in a nice oiled bowl, and it has risen perfectly.

And let's go on and work with it.

So, this is my kneading board.

My grandmother had one.

This one was made for me.

And it has the corners here so nothing will fly off.

And then, it has a lip going down which grabs the table.

And so as you knead it, the board doesn't run away from you.

So it's perfect.

Everything is contained, and it's -- For me, it's a little piece of memory, and I want to share it with you.

So, let's go and knead a little more this dough.

Cut it in four pieces just like that.

I have the pieces there, and this is here.

You see how soft it is and light.

And you want it like that, because when you put it in the oil, it puffs up, and that's the way you want it.

So, a little bit more flour.

The more flour you put, the harder the dough gets, so you don't want to overdo it with the flour, but it doesn't stick.

So it's a very simple dough to work, a very simple dough to make.

Let's cut the corners off.

♪ Flour a sheet, sheet pan like that.

The gnocco fritto that I remember were always square.

And so I'm going to continue to cut them and put them on a floured pan, and we're going to fry them.

And here I have a message from Gregory.

He writes, "Olive oil.

I see so many different kinds.

Some are dark green.

Some are yellow.

What is the difference?"

Oh, my dear Gregory, that's a big subject.

There's a few thousand different species of olive trees.

That determines a lot the color.

What also determines the color is the maturity of the olives.

The later you harvest and make olive oil, there's less aromas.

When you're picking that oil, do some testing and try something new out.

Why not?

Well, I hope that helped you, Gregory.

Have a great tasting.

Here we are, frying the gnocco fritto.

Fritto is fried, and so we're frying.

We have a nice pot of hot oil.

You just take them lightly, and you just drop them in just like that.

So I'm looking at these, the ones that I dropped before.

Some of them are ready.

Gnocco is all about that, the little belly.

And inside, it's empty.

And now the beautiful part, the payoff, the presentation.

So a nice basket of gnocco fritto.

And here is the star of the table, the cheese platter.

You know, Italy has the largest diversity of cheeses.

And cheese like the Gorgonzola, the Grana, the Piave, the Robiola, the Taleggio, these are all north and middle Italy.

And then you go down south, and you have the Provola, the provolone.

Further south, Pecorino.

So, how would I make this plate?

Let me show you.

A piece of cheese.

I'll take some crumbly cheese.

Of course, some of my mostarda.

Gnocco fritto.

And if you go to Parma in Emilia-Romagna, they'll give you a gnocco fritto, and on top, they'll drape a slice of prosciutto.

So, does this look inviting?

Absolutely.

Let's take some cheese with a little bit of mostarda.

♪ Mmm.

The complexity of the milk and then the contrast of the sweetness and of the spiciness of the mustard -- It's a marriage made in heaven.

And then this?

I mean, give me a break.

How delicious is this?

And you just bite into it.

Mmm.

And you can see the inside, it puffs up, and that's the beauty of this gnocco fritto.

Of course, I could just invite you, but I think a better idea is, why don't you make your own?

♪ -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.

I'm waiting for my dear friend Rita Jammet to call me.

She is a great restaurateur for over 25 years, and now she is a champagne producer.

So when we get together, it's all about the bubbles.

But I have some Italian bubbles waiting for her here in my home, some prosecco.

[ Video call ringing ] Okay, here she is.

She's calling.

Rita, how you doing, Rita?

-Ciao.

Ciao, Lidia.

-Come stai?

-Oh, bellissimo, grazie.

Bellissimo.

I'm so happy.

-Listen, I know you have some bubbles there.

I have some bubbles for you, too.

You have the French bubbles.

I have the Italian bubbles.

How's that?

-Perfect.

Perfect.

-Okay.

Salute.

-Cheers.

Salute.

Cheers.

Santé.

-It's always so wonderful to see you, because, you know, you have that energy, that passion, that love for food, for beverages, for restaurants and sharing.

You know, women in the restaurant business, it wasn't always easy.

-Definitely.

Definitely.

Actually, I've been so inspired by you, because single-handedly, what you were able to accomplish.

-Also, we are very much part of getting involved in women's organization.

-Yeah.

-It's all about women being in the industry, helping women to get forward in the industry.

-So, it's all about showing, you know, that it can be done, empowering them, and guiding them.

It's very gratifying helping the next generation, and you impact people's lives.

Amazing.

-But I think what's behind is our passion for what we do.

-Definitely.

-Let me -- Let me get that glass.

That sounds better.

-Yes.

-But have you been cooking lately something?

What's cooking in your kitchen today?

-Recently, I came across your -- your recipe of honeydew granita.

It was delicious.

-And it's simple.

-It's so simple.

-It's just making a simple syrup.

And then you take the honeydew, ripe, lemon, and you put it in the processor, and then you have this slush, if you will.

And you put it in the freezer, and you keep -- as it begins to form the crystals, you begin to scrape it.

But actually, we also do a slush, if you will.

Granita, you take granita like that, and you put champagne or prosecco.

We call it sgroppino, between drink and eating with a spoon.

And we serve it after a meal.

So next time you make my granita, mix it a little bit with a champagne and see how that does for the end of the meal.

-Absolutely.

-Cheer to that?

-Cheers to that.

-Salute.

Roasted squash and carrot salad with chickpeas and almonds.

You know, one of those kind of not-enough-time, kind of lazy, "I want to relax" kind of meal.

There's nothing better -- a nice selection of cheese and charcuterie and then this great salad.

And you're looking at this, "This salad?

This is all kind of vegetables."

Yes, roasted vegetable and escarole salad.

So, get yourself some squash, whether it's delicata squash, whether it's acorn squash or butternut squash, whatever you like here.

With the carrots, peel them, cut them.

The important thing about this is that you cut it about the same size so that they cook at the same time, the vegetables.

That looks good.

Let's put it in the bowl.

And this roasting vegetable technique, I'm going to toss it with a green salad.

And it's going to be a great complement for the cheese board and the charcuterie board.

But these vegetables like this can be a great side dish to anything else that you have.

So, let's dress these vegetables before we put them to roast.

Salt.

Oil.

Some pepper.

♪ And let's mix.

So, I want to give it some flavor, flavor of the wild, let's say -- fennel.

Fennel always evokes in me that kind of open space, a Sicilian side -- countryside.

And here you have the fennel seeds.

You can buy fennel seeds all the time.

You'll find them all the time in sausages, whatever.

But I use the powder.

So, you take these seeds, if you have a spice mill, you grind it just like that into powder, and you put it just like this.

So, you mix it well.

Everything is coated.

And you have a baking pan, so just like that.

Spread it.

Give it a chance for every piece to kind of cook and caramelize.

You heat your oven at 425 degrees and for about 20 minutes, and it is done.

This one is from social media.

George.

"Blue cheese intimidates me.

How can a serve it in a way that I will like it?"

Blue cheese -- in Italy, Gorgonzola -- has a mold in it that actually breaks down the cheese and gives it a lot of flavor.

You can serve it many ways.

I like my cheese with polenta, so making some nice, warm polenta, and then I put Gorgonzola, and that's a whole meal.

You can bake it, bake cheese, but blue cheese gets stronger as it gets cooked and baked.

To anything that you can add the blue cheese without cooking it is the best.

Keep on trying, because it's a delicious cheese.

It's one of my favorite cheese.

So enjoy and thank you.

Thank you, George, for your e-mail.

Ah, that looks good.

Just like that.

Mm-mmm.

Let's add the chickpeas and just spread them around.

I just want them to get a little crunchy, because the chickpeas are cooked.

I'm going to put a little bit of oil just -- just to bless the chickpeas, and then I'm going to put balsamic vinegar.

Mm.

That's going to really bring another dimension of flavor.

That's good.

Let's put this back in the oven, and about 10 minutes, just until everything is caramelized, and it's going to be ready.

I also like a little crunch at the end, so I'm going to toast some almonds.

And yes, you can toast the almonds in the oven.

But I want it close by, because, you know, they get sometimes burned so quickly.

So this way, I can keep my eye on it.

So, a nice pan like that.

Let's spread them out.

Gives you so much more flavor.

So, escarole.

I love escarole.

I certainly use it a lot.

It is a sort of fall, winter vegetable, but you have it year-round.

It's inexpensive.

I'm going to take out the tougher parts because -- And then I can make a soup out of this.

I'm going to use just the inside, the soft part of the escarole, for the salad.

So, I'm going to put it in a bowl.

♪ So, this is the basis of the green part of the salad, escarole.

Now, if you don't have escarole, you can use other salads.

And I'm looking at this, and this is toasted enough.

Let's check the vegetables.

The vegetables are nice, crispy, just the way I like it.

So we let them cool just a little bit before making the salad, although the escarole is a resilient salad.

Now, with all of this, you have all those goodies on your table, you need to pay attention to some bread, too.

We have breadsticks.

We have taralli.

And here we have carta di musica.

And carta di musica is sheet music.

Usually you just take it like that, and you can bring it to the table just like that.

We have a nice selection here, so they have a choice.

And you know the ricotta salata, which we're gonna grate over the salad.

And I think I'm set to make the salad.

So here we are, the escarole.

Nice.

Beautiful.

Let's put the vegetables.

♪ The chickpea, the garbanzo, is nice and crispy.

The vegetables, look at this, how beautiful.

Now the dressing part.

Oil, of course.

But this is already dressed with oil, so I need it basically for the salad.

And balsamic vinegar.

That's the acidity for this salad.

♪ Now let's plate it.

♪ ♪ Let's grab some of those vegetables underneath.

I am going to put on top of this some ricotta salata.

This is ricotta salata.

So, you all know ricotta.

But when the herdsman were up in the mountain, in order to preserve the ricotta, they would salt the ricotta.

And the salt would dry some more.

And salt is a preservative, as well.

So we have salted ricotta.

And this is a brilliant invention.

And dry ricotta is really good, because it's between the fresh and the sort of dry cheese.

Delicious.

And I'm going to put some toasted almonds.

It's not the end yet to this wonderful dish.

Okay.

Just like that.

And the almonds just add that little kind of last taste, crunch.

And that is our beauty.

So, now I'm going to make my own little plate here.

Okay.

A little ricotta salata.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

A little toasted almonds.

Let me taste.

Let me taste and let me tell you.

♪ The crunchiness of the salad, the sweetness of the vegetables.

The ceci have its kind of nuttiness.

So it's delicious.

And with this, I thought, you know, a nice beer would go just fine.

I have my glass.

I hope you get your glass.

Now...

I got it done.

I don't do this too often.

But I wasn't going to go look for the opener.

And in the kitchen, they would, you know, chug it down.

But I'm going to be a lady, because you out there deserve it.

And I don't like froth or foam on my beer.

I'm going to put just a little bit.

And everything delicious.

I want to invite you.

Salute.

Tutti a tavola a mangiare!

♪ Meals and cooking, sometimes it becomes too structured.

It doesn't need to be that way.

You can set up family-style.

Just put those pots full on the table.

Let everybody help themselves.

Another time, you want to, of course, plate it and individualize it.

But cooking shouldn't be pressure.

Yes, you know, you're planning.

You're having guests for dinner, and there's that -- But relax into it and make it simple and cook simple.

Little sandwiches in the backyard could work wonders.

-[ Singing in Italian ] ♪ -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... ♪ 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... -Grana Padano -- authentic, Italian, rich in tradition, yet contemporary.

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

♪ ♪