-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!

-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 rosé.

A toast of Italy.

-Locatelli pecorino Romano cheese from Italy.

Handcrafted from 100% sheep's milk.

-Every dish reminds me of a different time in my life, from my childhood to motherhood to being a grandma.

And I used to go and fish for the cuttlefish.

I used to love the cuttlefish.

It just takes me back to those times.

It's Nonna!

She knows what she's doing in the kitchen.

-Definitely.

-This dish spent many years on the menu of my restaurants.

It is easy to assemble, flavorful, and filling.

My daughter Tanya really loves this one.

Food should be beautiful, crunchy, delicious, and look great.

And this chicken certainly does all that.

Do it the Lidia way with artichokes.

Each recipe tastes like a different era.

♪♪ ♪♪ Tradition.

You know, I always share the passing down of traditions with you and how important they were in my life.

Fresh herbs are so important in my cuisine, in the cuisine of my mother, my grandmother.

And, you know, my grandmother -- you're talking about a hundred years ago.

She was connected to the environment in a most contemporary way.

What she would do is all the cans that she had, whether she got her tomatoes, her beans, or whatever, she would save them and she would make the holes in them like that and turn them into pots, flower pots.

So...here we have basil.

There we go.

Just get it out.

And don't be afraid to handle it.

And we're going to make three plants out of this.

Some potting soil.

Simple as that.

Okay.

Let's make three.

Look at this.

I remember my grandmother exactly like this, getting her hands in the dirt.

I remember her hands.

Her hands -- There was always some sign of earth in her hands.

And that's where I come from, what made me who I am.

And I want to share that with you, taking this family tradition and passing it on.

Because traditions continue to grow.

Keep in mind that you are creating your own traditions with your family in making your recipes, in planting your plants.

Involve your family and create your traditions.

You have to, of course, water this a little bit.

And you can make this your tradition.

To the windowsill.

♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ You ready?

Everybody ready?

-We're set.

And...go ahead.

Insalata di seppia con patate e olive.

I grew up with this beautiful bounty of the sea and, you know, calamari.

And, of course, you can buy them like this and clean them or you can buy them cleaned just like that, and they're just as good.

And, of course, appearing on just about every menu is the octopus.

And this is the uncooked octopus like this.

And here it is cooked.

So this is cuttlefish -- seppia.

All in the family of cephalopods.

And they're delicious.

And you can buy it like this, frozen, or you can buy it also clean like that.

You want the head.

And this is the body.

The skin is off.

Something like a calamari.

So we're going to begin to cook the ingredients.

Potatoes just in plain water, in their skin.

And a little left of the celery.

Some bay leaves.

If you have some carrots.

You let it boil a little bit.

Make a little broth with some flavor.

And the clean seppia, the cuttlefish, goes right in.

You just cook it.

As I said, you can get it clean like that, so ask your fishmonger to get it all cleaned for you.

And you just boil it.

How easy is that?

And then I'll show you how to make a delicious salad.

You know, connecting with you guys is my way of relaxing and being in touch with you.

So this one is an e-mail from Kathy.

"Love learning from you.

"I know you emphasize freshness of ingredients, but I'm wondering if there are things you always keep stocked in your refrigerator and freezer."

Yes, Kathy, I have a stash.

When I do a soup or I do a dish and I have the -- the tops of the celery and I have the bottoms of the parsley and I have the green leek leaves... put it in the freezer.

When you want to make a soup, pull it all out, add some fresh carrots or some more onions, and you get that.

In the refrigerator, on the other hand, I like to keep things fresh and rotated, so the vegetables are as close to the date that I'm going to use them as possible.

The cheese I grate part of it at the time.

The rest, I keep in a whole piece so it stays fresh.

Keep on watching and keep on writing.

So everything is ready to go.

Just peeling the last potato.

It is still warm, and I kind of like the potatoes when they're a little warm.

Potatoes absorb the flavor of whatever you toss them with.

I also love boiled potatoes with vegetable salad.

Whether it's string beans, whether it's broccoli, potatoes sort of bring that comfort zone.

♪♪ What kind of potatoes?

I think Idaho, russet.

Yellow gold is also good.

Red bliss potatoes, skin and all, would also be good, cut in half.

Okay.

♪♪ So, this is the body of the cuttlefish.

And I remember we used to have long strips of it, and I loved those long strips.

My grandmother didn't have the patience to cut it smaller.

She would do the long strips, but I remember them and I still love them, so I'm going to do just that.

This is the head.

The tentacles are very, very good in a salad just like that.

I know those of you that like fried calamari.

We used to make fried cuttlefish, as well.

Of course, they have to be raw and cleaned and cut into strips and then floured the same way like you do calamari, and you fry them.

And then, of course, there's the black risotto.

I'm sure if you travel to Italy you had the black risotto.

It is the cuttlefish ink.

And it is delicious.

♪♪ So let's do a little bit of red onion.

And I'm gonna cut this onion in half and the cuttlefish in strips so the sizes sort of fit together.

This is a great dish as an appetizer, as a main course in the summer, but also for a buffet.

So... ♪♪ Most of the people, the celery leaves, they say, "Ohh..." But they're delicious in salads, especially in fish salad.

♪♪ Let's do the Gaeta olives.

They're pitted.

These are preserved in brine.

Cut them in half.

Just like that.

Could you use different olives?

You could.

You can use cerignola.

You can use the green olives.

But the Gaeta olives really go well with cuttlefish.

Okay.

♪♪ Now let's do some parsley.

♪♪ Okay.

That's how easy it is.

It's time to dress this.

Let me just toss it like this.

So let me put some salt.

Peperoncino.

Mmm!

I like that.

Some oil.

Extra virgin olive oil.

And vinegar.

Red wine vinegar.

Balsamic vinegar has its place, but when you do seafood salad like this, you need a good white or red wine vinegar.

-Hi, Nonni!

-Hey!

Ciao!

Ciao, bella.

Que bella.

-Thank you.

[ Speaking Italian ] You came.

Did you smell what I'm doing?

-I did.

It smells delicious.

-Yes.

This is one of my favorite.

Look at this.

-Mmm!

-Look at this.

Oh.

[ Chuckles ] -Bite it.

Bite it.

-That was good.

-It's Nonna!

She knows what she's doing in the kitchen.

-Definitely.

I like the olives.

-You do?

-Mm-hmm.

-Give me the big spoon.

Let's see.

Yeah.

That's good.

We will present it.

Look how beautiful it looks.

Now, a little bit for me and a little bit for you.

-That's good.

Thank you.

-Alright.

And if I give you food, maybe you should give me a little... -A little wine?

-A little vino.

Good white wine.

And so, tell me, were you excited to come and visit Grandma?

-Very excited.

-You haven't been here in a while.

-No, but there's always food involved when I come.

-[ Laughs ] Alright.

Taste it.

Let's see what you think.

-Mmm!

This is a good one.

-Thank you for the visit.

-Thank you for the food.

-Next time is your turn.

-Mm-hmm.

Penne Rigate con Salsiccia, Funghi e Ricotta.

Skimming through my cookbooks -- and I have a few -- it's always fun.

It gives me new ideas.

And this is a nice recipe.

Penne rigate with sausage, mushroom and ricotta.

My daughter Tanya really loves this one.

Penna rigate is a nice pasta with the little stripes on it, which is good for the texture.

So you put some olive oil, sausages out of the casing, a little bit of onion, lots of different mushrooms.

You know, could be button mushrooms, cremini, oyster, shiitake, chanterelles.

Whatever you can get.

I like them a little bit on the thick side so that they have a bite when you eat the pasta.

Cook a few minutes, and then you add some tomatoes, peperoncino, of course, some fresh thyme.

And let it cook with a little bit of chicken stock.

Let this simmer, and this becomes the sauce, and it's a delicious sauce.

In the meantime, you cook the penne, and when they're cooked, put them right in the sauce.

Toss it together with the sauce.

Mix in the fresh ricotta which you have drained.

You don't want a watery ricotta.

And the ricotta just gets mixed in.

The ricotta doesn't cook.

Just gets mixed in in the last few minutes.

And then you sprinkle it with some good grated cheese and the parsley, and you have this hearty but delicious pasta dish.

♪♪ Rollatini di pollo con provola e carciofi.

Did you know that "chicken" is the most-searched food word in the Internet?

Given that you always need new recipes.

And I have some for you.

A nice chicken breast stuffed with artichokes.

Artichokes -- Everybody -- "Oh, how do you clean it?

How do you do this?"

Canned artichokes or frozen artichokes are perfectly fine for this.

They're cleaned, and you just have to drain them just like that.

And we will chop them up.

And not too thin.

Artichokes like this are really delicious.

They're nice and tender.

You can make them for frittatas.

You can make them for pasta dishes.

And I'll use these artichokes to stuff the chicken breast.

And I will also use it as a topping.

So let's do half -- we will do for the stuffing.

And let's start with the topping.

Some onion.

♪♪ ♪♪ Okay.

I'm holding the onion, and then with the tip, I go almost to the end, not all the way to the end, so that it's held together in the sense.

And then I go the other way.

So you get the little dicing.

Okay.

This is for the topping.

Let's do the tomatoes.

And this nice Roma tomato.

San Marzano.

Nice, fresh.

You want a pulpy tomato, firm.

Hold them on two ends, and then you dice them.

What's important with tomatoes is that your knife is sharp.

Otherwise, you're going to be squeezing the tomatoes rather than cutting them.

♪♪ Now let's dress this.

Salt.

Do I put a little peperoncino?

Eh.

Yes.

No.

Whatever.

But yes for Lidia.

Okay.

Vinegar.

Wine vinegar.

And olive oil.

Okay.

This is a delicious salad as it is, but on top of a nice, crunchy, stuffed chicken breast, it'll be delicious.

Okay.

Now we begin with the stuffing.

We have the artichokes.

Let me chop some parsley.

♪♪ Always keep the tip of your fingers away.

Your knuckles are the protector.

♪♪ And here I have the cheese.

I have provola here.

So, provola is in the mozzarella family.

It's a pulled cheese.

It's not an aged cheese.

And it cooks well because it hasn't broken down into a cured cheese.

And usually you'll find them like this.

And what keeps this mozzarella sort of aging but not dry is there's a wax covering, and you can just grate it just like mozzarella.

♪♪ So I'm looking here, as far as seasoning.

Maybe a little bit of salt.

Just a little bit.

And some grated cheese.

And there's no tools like your hands.

There we go.

So it's as simple as that.

Could you put a little prosciutto in here?

Could you put ham?

Could you put other cheeses if you don't have provola?

Yes to all of that.

I always tell you.

You can handle my recipes with what you have.

The stuffing is ready.

♪♪ A nice, large chicken breast will give you a good one portion.

So, whenever you're butterflying meat, I use a hand right on top of it.

It gives me a good sensation of where the knife is going.

And you don't want to cut all the way down.

So I go with the tip of the knife just around... and voilà.

And chicken is tender already, so I use the flat side of the mallet rather than the dental part.

I want it all the same thickness, so when I roll it up, it all kind of falls into place.

And I'm looking, you know, which side, how am I going to roll it up.

You know, let's do it this way.

So, this way, the fine part comes on top, and I can seal it with the toothpicks.

Keep in mind that this will be breaded and then we will fry, so you want to seal so that the stuffing doesn't run out on you.

Could you make them smaller?

You could.

They're kind of maybe a little harder to keep together, but absolutely you could make them smaller.

This is like sewing.

You will say, "Why don't you spread it, Lidia, all over?"

I guess you could do that, too, but I like it when you cut into it and it oozes out.

You spread it, it sort of becomes like -- like a jelly-roll situation.

I'm doing it with two toothpicks.

But if it takes you three toothpicks, just remember how many you put in, so, this way, you know how many to pull out.

And here we are.

I'm going to clean this up, wash my hands, prepare the dredging station, and we're off ready to go and fry it and then enjoy.

You have questions, and I hope I answer them for you.

So this one is... "Thank you for the Chicken Parm Light video you posted.

I decided to make it, and it was fantastic!

I added a little red wine to the fresh tomato sauce.

I've attached a few pictures for your review.

Keep the great ideas coming!

Derek."

So let me see the photo first before I praise you.

Looks great.

Good job, Derek!

And I like that you took the liberty to make the sauce a little bit your own with the red wine.

You have promises here.

Absolutely.

Keep on writing.

So we're ready to bread the chicken.

What's important is that you set yourself up right.

The oil is hot.

This is vegetable oil.

You have your dredging station.

I'm just going to add olive oil.

You know, vegetable oil has a higher smoking point than olive oil, but I do add a little bit of olive oil just for flavor -- just like that.

Okay.

And this is sort of pan frying.

This is not deep frying.

So the chicken will be out of the oil at some point.

So let's whisk the eggs.

A little salt.

And I like to add just a little bit of water when I'm whisking my eggs, even for the frittata.

It loosens up the white part, the albumen.

And you want to whisk it well so that everything is incorporated.

So let's start with the chicken.

Flour it first.

And nice and gentle.

Just like that.

♪♪ Okay.

It is ready to go.

Let's put it in one corner.

Okay.

Next.

♪♪ Just pressure it a little in.

♪♪ ♪♪ You want to... sort of checking the fire.

Not too high.

You want it to fry, of course, but you do not want it to overheat because you don't want to burn the breading before the chicken is done.

And let me just clean up a little bit here.

♪♪ Okay.

That's good.

Maybe we can use a little turn here.

♪♪ That looks nice.

Okay.

The temperature seems to be right.

Not too high.

-[ Cellphone dings ] Uh-oh.

Something is buzzing here!

Let me see who it is.

Ethan.

"Thanks for the butternut squash recipe!

Here is a photo of how it came out!

It was delicious!

Grazie mille, Nonni!"

Oh, that's the greatest reward, is when you get these kind of texts.

That butternut squash looks great.

I think that's beautiful, that you kind of carry on what I love and my passion and share it with your friends, and it's going to be part of your life forever.

Love it.

Love it.

So let's finish the sauce.

Now, I made the sauce.

Of course, I would like some green.

I didn't add the green right away because of the acidity.

The vinegar would oxidize it right away.

I tell you all the time.

I have my garden out there, but if you have a windowsill, you can do your own herbs.

Okay.

Let me check on these.

One more turn.

See the cheese is melting out, which is great.

It's not burnt because I controlled the temperature very low.

You always want the bubbles.

The bubbles are coming.

That means the water in the food is evaporating because it's cooking.

So, here is the salsa condimento.

Have a little bowl at the table like that.

Just like that.

And I'll leave that for later.

Let's see.

You keep on sending them in, because I read them all.

You know I answer them, too.

Brad.

"When you're cooking for the show and you plate it up, you always make your little plate, so who gets to eat the other plates?

I'll be glad to pop in and help out there when you need it!"

Thank you.

Brad.

Here it is.

The chicken is cooking, but the guys that are gonna jump like lions on it -- here they are.

Just look at them.

Look at them.

Look at them.

They're all looking and smelling and smiling.

And here are the producers, the directors.

And they all eat it, Brad.

You got it?

Alright.

I think the chicken is done.

Okay.

Let's drain it.

And let's rest it a bit.

Okay.

The oil -- you always put it aside and you let it cool completely before you discard it.

Let's get the plates.

Let's remove the toothpicks.

Here's another one.

Okay.

Mmm!

One... two... And, again, this is a full portion, a generous -- a Lidia kind of style portion.

And present it with the sauce.

And you don't have to overdo it because you have the additional sauce on the table.

♪♪ One.

Two.

And how about Lidia?

♪♪ That's Lidia, and that's a big one, so let me... ♪♪ I'm just gonna do half for Lidia.

And you can see the cheese is coming out.

And this is the way we love it.

And, of course, a little bit of the salsa.

Mmm!

Now let's taste this.

It's a big bite, but I'll manage.

I will manage.

Mmm!

Delicious!

Cheese is melting.

Crunchy.

Acidity.

It's all there.

And, of course... Tutti a tavola a mangiare.

And I would so love it if you would enjoy it with me.

Salute.

♪♪ -[ Singing in Italian ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Buon appetito.

-Tutti a tavola a mangiare!

-So, how was the cook today?

-Very good.

-It was beautiful.

-Beautiful.

-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...