-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: Meals & Memories."

-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.

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

-Authentically Italian -- Prosecco DOC.

The Italian sparkling art of living.

-For over 140 years.

Auricchio traditional handcrafted provolone, made in Italy.

-Olitalia -- from chef to chef.

-Dishes we share with others become dear to us, just like those that they share with us, because sharing is done with love.

Country-style ribs are at the heart of this guazzetto, a recipe from my childhood that I'd like to share with you.

In this rendition, I add cannellini beans to complete the meal.

It's a symphony.

One pot -- that's all it takes.

So make it.

I found the grouper, shrimps, and clams looking their best at the market and cooked them into this quick and easy tomato-based stew.

Mmm.

Delicious.

Get those pots perking.

We are cooking enough for everyone today.

Enough to share.

I recall that there was always some leftover food at Grandma's meals.

That didn't mean that it got thrown away.

Oh, no, we had it maybe next day for lunch.

But, also, you never know who's going to stop by.

You never know who's going to come and is going to be hungry.

You know, the Italian saying, "C'è sempre posto per un altro al tavola --" "There's always space for one more at the table."

And so you have to have enough in the pot, even though it was a period of frugality and maybe not enough food, but somehow the quantity was always there, especially at harvest time.

It was understood that the workers would get fed.

"Yes, I came to work.

You'll pay me, but you'll feed me also."

And of course, a little glass of wine, too, was always appropriate.

Even the neighbors -- the kids came over, and it was fine.

It was understood.

The mothers, the grandmothers connected on that level.

There was always a plate extra for whoever came by, stopped by, and was hungry.

Guazzetto di maiale con fagioli.

[ Pan sizzling ] Alright, I have the first batch of the pork round.

Just like that.

And this is one of those comfort food, pork braising with tomatoes, with beans.

That's comfort food.

Let's put the rest in.

[ Pan sizzling ] Okay.

Now, the maiale -- pork.

This is simple pork.

You can use country-style pork ribs, you can use regular ribs.

These are actually from the top shoulder.

They're very good for a sauce like that.

Okay, let's leave it like that to brown.

Let's get the celery ready.

And you know, I want sort of pieces that will stay in, because this is going to be kind of with beans and these vegetables all in there.

And it's a stew -- a chunky stew with beans.

Sounds good.

It is good.

And I want the vegetables to be a nice size so that they remain, that they don't disintegrate.

Okay.

And as you can see, all these bits and pieces in here are great to make the sauce.

So we will continue to do just that.

Let's put in all of the vegetables -- the carrots, the celery, the onions.

[ Pan sizzling ] And I will begin with the seasoning.

Let's put the bay leaves in there.

Some thyme.

Some salt.

Dust the vegetables.

But I'm measuring.

I'm not oversalting anything.

So, let's put a little peperoncino, a little spice, to all of this.

Okay.

[ Spoon clangs on pan ] Let me add some wine, just to kind of loosen up all those little bits and pieces.

Okay?

The wine -- whenever you cook with wine, good wine, decent wine -- doesn't have to be the best.

So, regular wine that you drink, or that you have left over that you didn't finish, is great.

So white wine, because although with pork, red wine goes okay, but it changes the color, whatever.

I want the brightness of the tomatoes.

So, I think the alcohol has dissipated.

And of course, we want the flavor and the acidity of the wine.

Let's put back the meat, the pork, all these juices, as well.

Let that cook a little bit.

[ Spoon clangs on pan ] The tomatoes -- here I have San Marzano tomatoes.

What is good about San Marzano is that it is thin-skinned, a lot of pulp, not too much juice, and not too many seeds, so the sauce is sweeter.

And I always get the whole one, and then I squash them with my hands.

Or you can have a food mill and squash them.

And then you make your marinara.

You add them to your sauces.

So, I think we are done at the base.

I'm going to add the tomato.

And you know how I am.

I like to slosh all everything, so make sure I don't lose anything.

Okay.

And you're saying, "Gee, Lidia, you're putting a lot of water."

But keep in mind that the pork has to cook now, and then we'll add some beans to this.

So you need that liquid, you need that sauce.

And bring it back to a vigorous boil.

And then you lower it a little bit and let it perk away, because, you know, each cut of meat is different and cooks a little different.

So, with a fork, just go in and you test -- test a piece.

And when the meat, it sort of detaches from the bone, then it is done.

Alright, it's bubbling.

I'm going to lower it just a little bit to simmer.

And in about an hour, an hour, 20 minutes, we'll add the beans, and dinner is done.

Welcome.

You're in my library with me.

This is that special place that I read all of your e-mails, photos, whatever you send me -- I read it and then I answer.

So, here is a photo from Jim and Elizabeth.

Let's see what they want.

"Your show inspires me.

I saw you make beef guazzetto and told my wife that I could imagine how it would taste just by watching you make it.

I like to make it and put it in the fridge overnight.

It is much better heated up the next day."

And you are right.

In the refrigerator, it rests, it absorbs, and it is great the next day.

Okay, so let's look at the image.

You sent me two.

Pasta with beef guazzetto looks great.

Cavatappi, nice grated cheese on top.

It looks like I made it.

Absolutely.

Good job.

Oh, and here you serve it -- Is that polenta underneath?

I hope it is, because I like it with polenta.

Beautiful job.

Bravi, tutti adue.

Enjoy cooking, and keep on cooking Lidia's recipes.

Thank you for the photos.

There's another e-mail.

Olivia and Savannah sent in this video.

So, let's see.

-My name is Olivia.

-My name is Savannah.

-And I'm six years old.

We wanted to know, what did you bring to school when you were my age?

-Ciao.

-You are the best.

I love you guys.

You look great.

You are simpatica, and you're inquisitive.

When I was your age, I was in Italy in school.

The sandwich that you brought to school was usually something that was left over from the day before.

Could have been, like, a braised vegetables.

And when Grandpa felt good, he would cut a few slices of prosciutto for me or a little cheese and fruit.

I loved it.

It was delicious.

I really appreciate you sending me the video.

You are so adorable.

Keep on cooking with your mom and grandma and whoever you have around you.

So, grazie, Signorinas Bella.

Beautiful.

This is just at the right spot.

Let's see.

The meat is soft.

It's off the bone.

And so it's time to add the beans.

Just drain them from the can.

Now, could you put chickpeas in here?

Of course.

Or black beans?

Yeah.

Sort of completes the whole meal.

I'm going to pick up, and I'm going to let the beans absorb some of the sauce.

This looks delicious.

I have some bread here.

There's kind of a slang.

That's pucciare.

"Pucciare" means "to dunk."

With a sauce like that, you need some good bread, and you dunk.

A little bit for Lidia.

And then we do for you.

For you, for you.

So... always with a little plate here.

A little rib with some meat on it.

And here is some more meat.

So, now I'm going to collect some of the vegetables and the sauce.

And just make it happen.

Just like that.

[ Up-tempo music plays ] ♪♪ Let's make another.

♪♪ And you know, I am sort of delicately piling it up for you.

But, at home, you just bring this big pot on the table with a spoon or ladle, and let everybody just help themselves.

So, you can see how this is a great dish to make for yourself, your family, and you still have some left over and then to bring it to your neighbors.

Now, this one looks good.

A little bit of parsley.

That's nice.

And that's nice.

And where's Lidia's plate?

Ay, ay, ay!

Piece of meat and vegetables.

Now I'm going to make my own little plate here with some good bread so I can tell you how good this really is.

Pucciare.

That's number one.

Let's try the sauce.

Pucciare.

Mmm.

♪♪ Delicious.

I can cut it with a fork.

That's where you want it.

♪♪ Delizioso.

Buonissimo.

The flavor of meat being braised in a tomato sauce, the cannellini beans, the carrots, the celery -- it's a symphony.

One pot.

That's all it takes.

So make it.

-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.

"Sharing Recipes: The Art of the Sandwich."

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 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, is 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.

Una brazzo.

Mwah.

Zuppa di pesce alla Matalotta.

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 it 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.

These beautiful, big olives.

They're so meaty.

And they will bring a lot of flavor to this dish.

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.

This looks good already.

Welcome to my library.

I'm here, I'm reading your questions, and I'm happy to answer them.

And 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, congratulations.

And I'm thrilled that Jim is happy.

Here I have another photo.

And Devon writes, "I served 23 years in the Marine Corps, and being in the kitchen has been very therapeutic for me.

Here's a picture of my cioppino."

Let's see his cioppino.

Oh, Devon, it looks great.

Ah, you're fantastic.

It almost looks like mine.

It does.

Congratulations.

And, yes, cooking is very therapeutic.

And I have great admiration and gratefulness for the service people -- people like you.

Thank you very much.

And your cioppino looks fantastico.

So, here we are.

The sauce is delicious.

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.

OK. Let's make the next plate.

♪♪ OK. ♪♪ 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.

♪♪ There's no better place to share than to share at the table and share food.

When I was a child, and in today's world, the basic of sharing is all about food sharing.

-[ Speaking Italian ] [ Singing in Italian ] [ Singing in Italian ] [ Singing in Italian ] -Salute.

[ Speaking Italian ] -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 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.

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

-And by... ♪♪ ♪♪