>> Ooh.

Pati Narrates: Sometimes when I travel I find the best experiences are the ones I least expected.

Loreto, Baja California Sur.

It might not be the busiest destination on the Baja Peninsula, but it is one of the oldest.

The Spanish built Mision Loreto here in 1744.

For a tiny fishing village, Loreto has a lot to offer.

I'm getting a little history.

The clams have been made for centuries.

>> Before the Spanish, as a matter of fact the indigenous left their shells.

>> Pati: A gigantic burrito.

Woah!

And something completely unexpected I found the best pizza in all the Baja Peninsula.

Mmm!

In my kitchen, I'm inspired by the Sea of Cortez.

Grilled Calamari, Cannellini Bean and Radicchio Salad.

Crunchy, Cheesy Jalapeño Garlic Bread.

Ridiculously packed with flavor.

And a to die for Spicy Clam and Chorizo Pasta.

From the bottom up, it's just one delicious mess.

♪ >> Pati's Mexican Table is made possible by: ♪ epic music plays >> La Costeña.

Taste that transcends.

More information at: mexicorico.com Over 40 years, bringing authentic Latin American flavors to your table.

Tropical Cheese.

>> Coronado Dulce de Leche Caramel, proud to support Pati's Mexican Table.

♪ Avocados from Mexico >> The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Mexbest.

>> Pati: Loreto Baja California Sur.

Just a few square miles of quiet cobblestone streets right on the gorgeous Sea of Cortez.

More than halfway down the Eastern coast of the Baja Peninsula, one of those places where everything seems to slow down.

I'm gonna give you a little behind the scenes of television production here.

This is our wonderful production crew.

Dave, Alex, Kevin and James.

When we travel together through Mexico, everything we film has been planned and scheduled way before we get here.

But my favorite food experience in Loreto was completely unplanned.

It was actually at our hotel restaurant, something so good we threw our plans out the window just so we could film it.

I think I found the best pizza in all the Baja Peninsula right here in Loreto.

This pizza is unbelievable.

Claudio.

How are you?

>> Good thank you.

Thank you!

>> Where'd you come from Claudio?

>> Italy.

>> Italy, where in Italy?

>> Italy is a boot, you know?

>> Yes.

>> Okay, Rome, Naples - >> Claud.

>> My house.

(laughs) >> Everyone in my production team was telling me about the pizza.

Dave, who is the sound guy of our production team, lived in Italy many years and all I needed to hear from Dave was "good pizza".

>> Ahh, almost 700 degrees Fahrenheit.

Okay, you can't make it at home - no.

>> (Pati gasps) Woah.

See, Mexicans love pizza, but it has to be packed with flavor.

Okay.

>> Buon appetito!

>> Mmm.

>> Good?

>> Mhmm!

Claudio, woah!

Pati: If you're Claudio, making pizza all day staring out at that sparking Sea of Cortez, it's only natural you get inspired.

Juicy shrimp and tender scallops.

>> Mmm!

This one is better than the other one.

That's the crunchiest shrimp ever!

You were right.

>> I hate to say I told you so.

>> I can hold the camera for you guys.

Hey I love this.

>> Yum, yum, yum.

(laughs) >> You know, Baja is so full of surprises and I so love that Italian pizza.

It inspired me to combine Mexican with Italian, which in Mexico we do all the time.

So I'll start with a Grilled Calamari Salad.

I love calamari because they're chewy and I adore eating chewy foods.

The important thing cooking calamari is that you pat them dry really well because they have a lot of water, and when you grill them, they let out all that water.

I'm simply seasoning them with salt and pepper.

Italian calamari with Mexican spices - upgrade.

I have my indoor grill here set on high.

I'll add some olive oil.

The great thing about grilling versus sautéing calamari that is not breaded is that all the liquid the calamari exudes goes into the grill channel, so that helps you out.

Okay, see how the calamari puffed up?

That's exactly what you want.

If we were sautéing it, you'd have the water all over the place, and instead of grilling and charring the calamari, it would be steaming the calamari.

Now I'll make my vinaigrette.

To start, I'll heat some olive oil in a pan over medium heat.

Now I'll cook 3 things in that olive oil: chile de arbol, garlic and pistachios.

I'll start by slicing 4 chiles de arbol.

We don't want to remove the seeds 'cause they're so delicious, and when they toast or fry they get even better.

I'm not starting with the chile de arbol first because the chiles, garlic and pistachios are equally delicate when they hit the oil, and I don't want any to burn.

Just look at these three ingredients.

You'll have the deep nuttiness of the pistachio, then you'll have the slowly fried taste of garlic, and then chile de arbol which is so nice and smokey.

This looks so beautiful, I can see them transforming.

The deeper red of the chile de arbol is just blooming.

Now we'll add a gorgeous lemon.

I'll just slice it in half, drop it in there, so it'll be lemony, smokey, a little spicy.

Now I'll take out the pistachio, chile de arbol and garlic.

I'll turn off the heat and leave the lemons in there so they can continue to flavor the oil.

I have my grill, still over medium-high heat.

I'll add a bit more oil and grill a small head of radicchio.

I'll cut it in quarters, add a little more oil to them now that I cut them, and some salt.

Pepper.

We're going for this charred, rustic taste, transforming the ingredients that we're using.

I have 2 endives, an ingredient my mom loves.

She made a lot of endive salads when I was growing up.

I'll add some oil, salt.

I don't want to completely cook and soften them all the way throughout, I just want to char the outside, but I want the inside to still be firm and crunchy.

Mmm, how good does this look?

We'll build that vinaigrette.

The base will be this olive oil.

I'll squeeze this transformed lemon in here.

Oh!

Look at all the juice.

We'll add 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, salt, the pistachios, chile de arbol and garlic.

Then I have some cannellini beans, about 1 cup.

I'll let them sit here in this super tasty vinaigrette so they start marinating in there too.

We'll just add all this calamari.

This really is Italy and Mexico coming together.

I'm gonna chop a little cilantro.

And here we go!

Little bit of everything.

Mmm!

Mmm, mmm.

It's spicy, it's feisty, but then it wraps your mouth with that cooked lemon flavor and the crunch of the pistachio, and the calamari are chewy but nice and charred on the outside.

Look at the radicchio, bitter but now the bitterness has been tamed by the grilling and vinaigrette, and the cannellini beans are just like a smooth, earthy layer.

From the bottom up it's packed with Mex-Italian flavors.

>> Pati Narrates: Loreto.

Being a seaside town, there's no end to delicious plates of the catch of the day.

Walking around this part of the Baja Peninsula, you see a lot of signs with this word "superburro".

What is a superburro you ask?

Take a gigantic flour tortilla, fill it with at least a pound of meat, and what have you got?

It's a superburro!

I see the donkey, he's wearing the superman suit, and he's going like this, so I'm going to see if it's like this.

Her family has been running Asadero Superburro for 15 years.

>> Ah, so this is something your dad started.

>> Yes.

>> She makes her own flour tortillas.

I see we're making a really big tortilla.

This is a very thin skirt steak, but it comes marinated.

Okay!

Super juicy.

>> Monterey Jack!

Three things: fabulous meat, cheese with personality melted until it crisps, and your flour tortilla.

Chicharon, chicharon.

>> Guacamole.

>> Woah.

Mmm.

Mmm!

This really is a burrito like no other I've tasted.

Your dad would be so proud.

>> Gracias.

>> Pati: Pizza from Italy.

Gigantic burritos.

Both delicious, but they're just new cravings here.

To really understand Loreto, we need to go back in time.

We need to go to the beach.

This is so beautiful!

This is the chocolate clam, named for its gorgeous color.

They have been made for centuries, like before the Spanish came right?

>> Yes, before the Spanish, as a matter of fact, there are different concheros - concheros are where the indigenous left their shells, they ate their clams.

>> So chocolate clams are just from this region, right?

>> Oh it's a treasure of Loreto definitely - yeah, because only this kind is on this side in front of Loreto.

If you somewhere else, you'll get a different flavor, and sizes and colors.

>> People have been cooking these clams here for thousands of years.

One of the oldest techniques is still one of the best.

Our cooking area is right here on the beach in a small patch of gravel.

He's teaching me the method for burying them.

You only want to see just a tiny bit of the top, and then you stop.

They're topped with a dried out herbal bush, and lit on fire.

It's very interesting, as you move through the Mexican republic, you find regional cuisines that bury and cook food, but it's the first time that I see the fire on top.

Also what will let them cook is the hot rocks.

>> Exactly.

Okay Pati, ready to try?

>> (laughs) Yes.

>> Grab one, just go like this, and voila.

>> It's charred!

What's in the sauce?

>> Mayonaise, mustard, some jalapeño juice, salt and pepper.

>> Mmm.

Mmm!

It's very smokey and very meaty.

>> I'm glad you like it.

>> I love the taste.

>> Here is an old paper plate.

>> And it's an edible plate.

>> Definitely.

(laughs) >> Mmm.

It doesn't get more bare bones than this.

It's the clams from the region, the food of generations, and there's a reason why people continue to do it.

>> Exactly.

>> How delicious!

>> In keeping with the fabulous Mex-Italian theme, I'm going to make the most extraordinary Spicy Clam Chorizo Pasta.

I have 5 dozen little neck clams.

They're tiny, they're cute, they're adorable!

Just look the colors, they're really briny.

I have my casserole set over medium-high heat, and I'll add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

So I'll just cut my chorizo a little smaller because when the chorizo cooks in the pan, it wants to stick back together.

Anything that gets chorizo added to it gets a boost of flavor.

When you add chorizo, you really add a rainbow, a palate of flavors.

As it fries, I'll cut about 1 cup of white onion.

And I need to take my chorizo out because it's already brown.

That is what we want, these crispy bites of bold flavor.

I'm gonna add a couple more tablespoons of olive oil, and then in this delicious fat I'll start browning my onion.

This is also a newish dish at home.

I started playing with the idea of chorizo and clams together in some spicy tomato sauce the moment I got back from Baja.

I'm gonna add 5 garlic cloves and 3 chiles de arbol.

Now that this softened, I'll deglaze my pan which is how I get all the flavor from the pan, and I also want to create some liquid for the clams to cook in, so I'll open a beer and pour 1 cup, and raise my heat to medium-high.

1/2 a teaspoon of salt, we just want this beer to start simmering, and the moment I start seeing a strong simmer, which is right now, I'll add my 5 dozen little neck clams.

I'll reduce the heat to low, and now the clams will steam in that deliciously flavored beer.

I have salted boiling water, and I'll cook 1 pound of spaghetti for about 10 minutes.

After 6 or 7 minutes the clams are ready, and they are all open!

The ones that just don't open you have to discard because you don't wanna eat those.

Some clams may have already fallen out of their shells which is fine because they're gonna go in your sauce.

Now we're gonna raise the heat to high.

I'll add a 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes, and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste so it's even more tomatoey.

Then I'll add 1 teaspoon of honey.

The honey really gives it an incredible sweet edge.

Now that it's starting to simmer and bubble, I'll reduce the heat to low, cover and let this season and thicken for about 10 minutes.

To go with this pasta, I'll make some Garlic Jalapeño Cheesy Bread which will be yum.

To start, I'll mince 2 cloves of garlic and a jalapeño.

We'll add 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, and we'll just mash it with a fork.

Then I'll add 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, and here I have 1 cup of grated muenster cheese, and 1 cup of grated Oaxaca cheese, and 1 cup of Cotija cheese which is nice, salty and stronger.

Baguette, nice and crusty.

I'll cut it in half so it fits nicely in my baking sheet, and then I'll cut slices, but I'll slice just 3/4 in.

We'll take that jalapeño garlic butter and spread some in between the slices, so when this melts, the butter will go into the mushy soft side, but also the crust.

So now we'll do the same thing with the cheeses.

Just like you can play with the flavors in your butter, you can play with the kinds of cheeses.

How incredible does this look?

And it's not even melted!

My oven is at 450 degrees, and I'll put this in there for about 20 minutes.

I am shelling about four-fifths of the clams which is 4 dozen out of the 5 dozen clams.

You can see how much it is, it's not much at all because these clams are tiny but packed with flavor, but that's why you wanna get 5 or 6 dozen, because you want a lot of that clam flavor and I'm saving these ones in the shells because they'll look so pretty.

It smells so beautiful and delicious.

Now I'll finish the sauce.

I'm gonna put back the chorizo we browned, and then add the clams I quickly shelled.

It'll be a very chunky sauce.

Then I'll add the pasta, the clams still in their shell, and their juices.

Ah, just look at this!

Here we go.

Fresh cilantro.

Look at this cheesy bread!

Mmm.

Mhmm!

So ridiculously packed with flavor.

The outside is so crunchy, but inside it's so buttery and has that fresh bite of the jalapeño and garlic.

Mmm.

Mmm.

The tomato sauce is so rich in flavor, but it's very light in consistency, and the clams added a lot of that briny taste to the sauce, but it's not overpowering, and the chorizo infused everything with that Mexican seasoning, and the chile de arbol gives it an extra kick.

It's so much fun when I put the Mex and Italian together in my kitchen.

It's one delicious mess.

>> Pati: For recipes and information from this episode and more visit patijinich.com, and connect!

Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest @PatiJinich.

>> Pati's Mexican Table is made possible by: ♪ epic music plays ♪ >> La Costeña.

Taste that transcends.

More information at: mexicorico.com A tradition of authentic Latin flavors and family recipes.

Tropical Cheese.

>> Coronado Dulce de Leche Caramel, proud to support Pati's Mexican Table.

♪ Avocados from Mexico >> The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Mexbest.

Proud to support Pati's Mexican Table on public television.