-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.

Locatelli Pecorino Romano cheese from Italy -- Handcrafted from 100% sheep's milk.

♪ -Olitalia -- From chef to chef.

-You can make big flavor in any kitchen with just a few ingredients.

Let me show you how.

This is a very complex and satisfying vegetarian sauce that can be served in so many ways.

Here I dress a bit of soft polenta.

Skillet gratinate are one of my favorite one-pot meals.

Here, I pair pork, eggplant, and zucchini with provolone cheese.

Make your kitchen work for you.

"Tiny Kitchen, Big Flavor."

I'm a chef.

I always get asked, "Lidia, how is your kitchen set?

Did you set it up?"

And I did.

I'm filming in my kitchen.

I had enough space.

I put the right equipment, the big table.

I have it all.

But it wasn't so in the beginning.

When we first came in, we lived on the fourth floor of an apartment house, and I couldn't understand for the life of me why in America the kitchens were so small.

In Italy, that's the center.

Forget about the living room.

We didn't have the playroom.

We had the kitchen, and that was it.

And so this little kitchen that we ended up with on the fourth floor, the stove was in one corner, and the refrigerator on the other, and the washer and that.

And the table was against the wall, so somebody had to be the delivery from the stove.

Usually that was my mother, next to the stove.

The boys, the men were next to the refrigerator.

Pass the soda, pass the wine.

And I was destined to be near the sink for the dishes.

So a tiny kitchen shouldn't be the end of your cooking.

Make things happen.

You can do it.

Plan it on two burners or one burner just as well.

You can make a great meal.

Mushroom ragu.

Tiny kitchen, big kitchen, but we want big flavors.

And this is one of those simple ragu preparations -- mushroom ragu.

Lots of it.

And we'll begin with some onions.

Let's get the onions in there.

Let's put some olive oil.

Let me put some butter in here.

♪ Dough scraper just helps you so much.

Collect everything you have on your cutting board.

Here, I have some shallots.

Try to get the larger one.

And usually, you know, the good thing is, you cut it on one side and the other.

Then you stabilize it like this in half, and then you go across.

The onions take longer to cook than the shallots.

The shallots cook quicker, and they're good because they disintegrate in the sauce and give you that really good oniony flavor into the sauce.

Add a little bit of salt, and I'm going to cut the mushrooms.

For this ragu, any mushroom.

One kind of mushrooms will be fine.

But if you can mix it up a little bit, the better the ragu will be.

You have some oyster mushrooms here, which are beautiful.

And the oyster mushroom usually are attached to a stem, and usually the stems are a little bit tough.

So make sure that you cut that off.

This is a delicious mushroom -- a king trumpet mushroom.

Very good.

A little expensive, but very good.

Absolutely.

So how would I cut this?

Like this.

Like this.

Okay.

Mushroom really cuts down.

It's a lot of water because that's what mushrooms are.

And they cook and retract.

But that's where the flavor is.

When you cook them and the water comes out, the flavor really comes out.

I'm gonna put a little bit of salt to season it, and I'm going to put a little bit of stock, here I have.

Chicken stock or whatever stock you have.

If you don't have stock, water is fine.

And I'm going to let it slowly release the water, and I'm going to put a cover here so they cook out.

And what am I gonna add to the mushrooms?

First of all, this sachet.

I have bay leaves, sage.

I have rosemary, and I have thyme.

So a nice selection of different fresh herbs.

And just you roll it, roll it, roll it, and you can just tie in itself and throw it in.

And as this kind of steeps and cooks and simmers, it will release its flavors through there.

So let's put that in.

Let me give it a mix.

To add more mushroom flavor, dried porcini.

I couldn't think of a kitchen with dried -- Italian kitchen, that is, without dried porcini.

So you get the dried porcini, and you soak them in hot water or hot stock.

You pull them out, kind of strain them a little bit.

Just like that.

And this will add a real punch of flavor to whatever you're cooking.

So let's add the mushrooms right in here.

And I'm gonna save this because I'm gonna use that, as well.

So I'm gonna make a little hot spot.

You know, I like my hot spot, especially for my tomato paste.

Put the tomato paste right there and let it kind of just get a little toasty here because when you toast spices or something like a tomato paste, it really adds another dimension.

It brings another dimension of flavor.

And then you mix it all together.

To this, I will add the liquid of the mushrooms that I soaked.

And be careful because mushrooms, even the dried mushrooms, have a little bit of dirt or whatever, and you can always find it on the bottom.

So always leave a drop like that and toss that away.

And I will add some Marsala wine.

Marsala wine comes from Sicily.

It's a fortified, aged wine, and it goes very well with the mushrooms.

So let's add Marsala.

I think half of this will suffice.

So basically this is the sauce.

We'll let it cook for about 20 minutes like this, and then we'll make a little polenta to go with it.

Buongiorno.

Welcome to my library.

This is where I read your e-mails, watch your videos, and answer you.

So here's an e-mail.

It's got a picture from Lori.

And she writes that I inspired her in making the stuffed mushrooms in the pictures she sent.

Let me take a look.

Oh, those mushrooms look good, Lori.

Very nice.

Thanks for writing in, Lori.

The sauce is just about ready.

I think it's time to cook the polenta.

And we're gonna cook instant polenta, so polenta that will take about 8 minutes.

And I'm gonna put some oil in the water.

a little bit of salt, and I'm gonna go get some bay leaves.

My little bay leaf tree.

My beautiful bay leaf tree.

Three leaves is fine.

Oh, another one came off, so I'll put four leaves.

Put them right in.

That gives a lot of flavor to the polenta.

Dry bay leaves are okay.

You just have to be careful because dry bay leaves, they crack into little pieces, and they're dangerous.

So make sure that however many you put in of dry leaves, you pull them out.

And we're gonna slowly put the polenta in.

And this is instant polenta.

A pioggia.

"Like the rain," it says in Italian.

And you mix, mix, mix, mix because you don't want it to form the grumoli as we say, the little lumps.

This way, as it's coming in, as it's flowing, you are breaking it apart.

There we go.

And you mix, mix, mix.

The polenta, you know, it's like a porridge.

So it gets denser and denser.

And as you can see, it begins to plop, just like a volcano, like lava.

Zoom, zoom, zoom!

Zoom from the heat from the bottom.

For the mushrooms, I think I like a nice just dense polenta.

A nice mound.

You know, I come from Friuli-Venezia Giulia all the way up north, and we are called polentoni.

Polentoni -- That means that we eat a lot of polenta, and we do.

Like the Tuscans are called mangiafagioli.

They eat a lot of beans.

Okay.

So I'm gonna continue to whisk it on and off, and we're gonna be ready to eat.

Here is another e-mail.

Mary writes, "What's the best way to clean mushrooms?"

Well, it seems simple, but it's a good question, Mary.

Mushrooms usually are pretty clean.

The important thing is, you cut off the stem and wherever the dirt is.

And then you take a paper towel, and you lightly wet it.

You sort of clean the stem, and you clean the cap.

Do not soak them in water.

Don't give them an opportunity to take in, to absorb the water, because then they become very watery.

Thanks, Mary.

I'm checking everything is done.

The polenta is ready.

The mushroom ragu.

Let me pull out the sachet.

So I'm gonna flavor the polenta a little bit.

Let's do the butter.

And sometimes if you dress the polenta just like this -- butter and some cheese, it could be the main course itself because it is so delicious.

You can just put on top maybe a nice piece of Gorgonzola or something, and it could be a meal in itself.

And you know what?

Polenta also keeps well.

If you don't use it all, you put it in a little Pyrex, cover it with Saran Wrap, put it in the refrigerator, and it's good for the next day or the day after.

Just like that.

And I have the sauce, which looks delicious.

And I'm gonna plate it for you.

I am going to mound it in the center, just like that.

The aroma of polenta just takes me right back to my childhood.

Well, the smell of polenta does it every time for me.

Grandma used to cook it often.

It was inexpensive.

But whatever she had, even a little bacon, rendered bacon, on top of polenta with some cheese was delicious.

Now let's put the mushroom on.

I always use my little plate.

And here is the mushroom sauce.

You see?

Diverse mushrooms.

Delicious.

And again, so you don't dribble all over the place.

And you don't have to smother the polenta with the sauce.

You put whatever is left or whatever you have extra on the side, on the table.

And as they're digging into the polenta, they can add some more sauce.

And, of course, Lidia.

Mm-mmm!

And a little mushrooms.

And these are the plates for you.

Put a chunk of cheese at the table and let them grate some additional cheese.

There's some in there.

Now, I have to taste this.

Fantastic.

Just like silk.

And with this, a nice red wine with character.

Just the polenta.

Just like us polentoni.

We have character.

Mm.

You have to make it because it is so delicious.

Some of my favorite times 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 advice.

"Sharing Recipes -- Spiced Fruit Compote."

Here I am, a concerned grandma.

You know?

When your child or grandchild has a little sniffle, and I'm waiting for a call.

[ Computer chimes ] Here she is -- Julia.

How you doing?

-Hi, Nonni.

I'm good.

How are you?

-All right.

How are your sniffles?

I understand you had a little cold.

-They're getting a little better.

But I wish I had you to come take care of me.

-Ah!

Don't do that to me.

You're tugging at my heart now.

-[ Laughs ] -How are you taking care of yourself, I want to know?

-I just make some tea and take a lot of vitamins.

-What did I always made for you when you had the sniffles and the colds?

Do you remember?

-You used to make the compote with all the fruit.

-That's a great idea for you to make.

And I'll tell you, you know, it's very simple.

Compote is any fruits that you have.

And sometimes it's a great use of fruit that's sort of overripe or even for dried fruits or the combination of any of those.

You put them in a lot of water.

You know, it's like almost making a big pot of tea.

And what I usually put in there is the rind of a lemon, and I put the juice of a lemon.

Don't put the pith because the pith will make it bitter.

And you let that cook, and maybe 1/4 of the liquid consumes itself.

And by then, you'll see the beautiful color of this compote.

So nice and hot like that.

Strain it, put a little bit of honey in there.

You can add intense flavor -- cinnamon sticks, anise, even that ginger that's in syrup.

And that will really take care of those little sniffles that you have.

-It reminds me of coming over, like, late in the wintertime, and you would just make it, even if I wasn't sick.

And then we would sit down at the table with Nonna Mima and play cards.

-And we drank compote a lot of times.

Now, if you do not overcook it, you can eat that fruit.

It's delicious.

Or put it on top of cereal.

-Or yogurt in the morning.

-Absolutely.

Your roommate will appreciate it, as well.

-She will.

-Love you.

-Love you, Nonni.

-All right.

Bye-bye.

Take care of yourself.

-I will.

-Skillet gratinate of pork, eggplant, and zucchini.

Skillet gratinate.

Everything happens in this one skillet.

Great.

It's delicious.

And you don't have to wash any pots more than this one here.

So a fillet of pork is always a good choice.

It's easy, it's tender.

And I'm cutting on a slant.

♪ And...okay.

So this is it.

And putting a piece of plastic wrap on the meat before you pound it keeps it from tearing.

You want to use the flat end of this mallet.

♪ Okay.

All right.

Two.

♪ Okay, we did our pounding.

Here it is.

And we're gonna sauté this.

Let's put some butter.

Some oil.

A combination of butter and oil will leave the meat soft.

We need a little bit of flour.

And lightly dredge the meat in the flour.

Yes.

So salt them all.

Just a little bit.

Dredge on all sides.

Shake off the excess flour.

You don't want too much flour.

♪ Whenever you put anything in oil or fat and fry it, always away from you.

We're finished with the flour.

Eggplant.

All right, let's cut this.

And, well, you know, I like a little bit of the skin, but maybe just here and there.

The skin is not all that thin.

And you can do it with a potato peeler or just like I'm doing it right here.

Let me cut it on a slant.

So I have five scaloppini.

I would need five pieces of eggplant, just like that.

Zucchini.

The same way.

Of course, you wash them first.

And we'll do it on a slant, too.

I have -- Let's see.

Let me check the meat.

And at this point, you don't have to thoroughly cook the meat, the pork.

You want it to get a little crust.

You want the flour to cook a little bit.

And then we'll finish cooking it in the sauce actually.

Some delicious provola.

Fresh provola.

You see it's soft.

It's delicious.

[ Bird squawking ] You see we're in my garden?

You hear the -- the birds.

I think that's a blue jay that's looking for some food, I guess.

Let me just make a little more.

You never know if I might need it.

I think that the meat is done.

Let's pull out the meat right here.

Yeah, and you can see it's nice and tender.

I'm going to do the same with the vegetables.

Let me just season them with a little bit of salt.

And let's put in the eggplants.

Okay.

Could you make more pieces?

I guess.

You know, whatever your skillet will hold.

You don't want to crowd it because if you crowd in all the frying...

I want to get the little crisp coating on it, the crust.

So I don't want to put the zucchini in now.

I'll give the zucchini its time.

So here's the eggplant.

Mm-hmm.

So the eggplant is just about cooked.

I don't want it to fall apart on me.

And we'll do the same to the zucchini.

I am gonna need a little bit more oil.

Let's put the zucchini in.

So nice.

Fairly high heat.

I'm looking for some color and some of the flavors to really build.

So, okay, I think we're really getting there.

Let me put the zucchini.

Okay.

So here we are.

Now we continue with this pot.

And the sauce.

The sauce goes right in there, so...

Okay, let me put some vino.

So what I'm doing is, I'm building the sauce here.

Peperoncino.

Little bit of salt.

And let's bring this to a boil.

So let's put the meat in first.

One.

Two.

It's a little hot, but I-I can handle it.

Okay.

The zucchini right on top of each.

I cut it on the slant, so one slice will do.

Will cover my piece of meat, just like that.

Okay.

Then the eggplant goes on top.

Just like that.

Okay.

I think I want the basil in now.

You can really maximize the flavor of basil, just like that.

Mm-hmm.

Now the cheese.

Take just a little bit of the sauce and put it on top to give it some color.

Just a little bit like that.

♪ And a little bit of the grated cheese to sort of finish off this beauty.

♪ Okay.

Covers.

Everything will finish cooking, and the cheese will melt.

I'm gonna clean up, and we're gonna be ready for dinner or lunch or whatever you're serving.

So let's see.

Patty wants to know what my favorite cooking utensil is.

First, my wooden spoon.

My spider is an absolute necessity.

And tongs.

This way, I have everything under control.

Of course, you have to have a good knife in the kitchen.

A sharp knife.

But they're simple, straightforward, and they're my favorite items.

Let me unveil this beauty.

Look at this.

The cheese has melted.

Everything is cooked.

You have some delicious sauce.

I want to take one for myself.

Let's see.

Which one?

Maybe this one.

This one is not as big.

Look how this is delicious.

So let me put it on my little plate here.

Okay.

And, of course, I would like some of the cheese, which was mine, right back on here, just like that.

And, of course, I would like -- Ay-yi-yi.

Che delizia.

I would like some sauce, and that's for me.

So I am going to go right for it.

So I want a little piece of eggplant, too.

I want a little piece of basil.

I'm gonna have a mouthful here.

And you see how this provola really melts.

Let me taste.

Mmm.

You have the meat, you have the delicious tomato-y sauce, and then the mellow eggplant, zucchini, basil, and then the melted provola on top.

So I'm talking and talking, but I really want to invite you.

Tutti a tavola a mangiare.

I know you're all bombarded with super-modern equipment, but in the kitchen, you really don't need all of those.

You have a simple stove and a sink, the technique, and the desire to cook, you can cook a great meal in simple settings.

[ Singing in Italian ] ♪ If love is bothering you and hurting you, sing!

I'll drink to that.

-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.

♪ ♪