* HOST: When I was growing up, a trip to Baltimore's Little Italy always meant culinary adventure.

Restaurants specializing in regional cuisines, traditions from the old country and a celebration of all things Italian.

Today's show brings a North American twist to three Italian grilled classics.

Shrimp spiedini with salmoriglio.

The shrimp are crusty and smoky on the outside, moist inside.

Grilled pizza with crust grilled directly and dramatically over the fire.

That crust is crackling crisp.

This is unlike any pizza I've ever had in Italy.

And Pollo al Mattone.

Brick chicken, literally, which we will grill using a salt slab.

What I love about salt slab grilling is how moist it keeps the chicken.

Today, we're headed for a little Italy.

From the Pearlstone Campus in Reisterstown, Maryland, I'm Steven Raichlen and this is Project Fire .

* ANNOUNCER: Steven Raichlen's Project Fire is made possible by...

This is The Big Green Egg, where fire and flavor come together.

You can roast, bake, and sear with the versatility of a grill, oven, and barbecue smoker combined.

Locate a dealer at biggreenegg.com.

Fire Magic, combining style with the versatility to sear, smoke, rotisserie cook, and charcoal grill, crafted in America for over 80 years... Green Mountain Grills, wood fired pellet grills... Blue Rhino...

Truly wireless temperature starts with Maverick.

And by the following... * STEVEN: A few years ago, I hosted a barbecue show for Italian television.

I have never been in a more beautiful spot to grill in all of my life.

We crisscrossed Italy, meeting grill masters from Venice to Pisa.

And now, it's my turn to grill Italy.

Then, at a villa in Tuscany, I grilled my interpretations of their specialties.

Today, we celebrate Italian grilling and the food of Little Italy's around North America, honoring the Italian reverence for simplicity and fresh seasonal ingredients, and the American passion for big flavors, and ingenious grilling techniques.

Buon appetito!

Salute, cheers!

[fire swooshes in] * FABRIZIO NONIS: [fire swooshes in] STEVEN: Great question, Fabrizio.

And by the way, folks, Fabrizio Nonis is a famous Italian TV chef.

Honored to have you on the show.

There are many differences between Italian and American grilling, but it boils down to this.

When Americans grill, we use rubs, marinades, butters, bastes, and barbecue sauces to build complex layers of flavor.

When Italians grill, they buy the best ingredients and keep the grilling as simple as possible.

First up, shrimp spiedini.

* Spiedini is the Italian word for shish kebab.

These are beautiful wild shrimp, which I have peeled and deveined.

Now for the onion.

The idea here is you want to cut all of your vegetable pieces to the same size, so they cook evenly.

For the onion, you cut it in half first, then cut each half into six wedges and then break the wedges into individual layers.

Save the small pieces for later use.

* Now, assemble the spiedini.

So, first place a shrimp on the skewer.

Then, a fresh sage leaf.

Italians love the aroma of fresh sage.

Next, red bell pepper.

And then, Italians call these peppers "friggitelli."

They are like a Padr�n peppers or shishitos.

Next, a yellow bell pepper, and then a bay leaf.

And then, another shrimp.

The idea here is you build these with your eyes.

The spiedini should look as beautiful as they taste.

* And here are your shrimp spiedini.

They are as, as colorful to look at as they will be tasty to eat.

Now, season your spiedini with coarse sea salt, because I like those crunchy crystals of salt, then freshly ground black pepper.

And as always, we grind our pepper fresh each morning in a spice mill, then a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, squeeze between my fingers to catch any seeds, and finally a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Now, the sauce.

The sauce is called "salmoriglio."

I like to think of it as Sicilian chimichurri.

It starts with fresh basil leaves, which I'll place in a food processor, then stemmed fresh flat leaf parsley, green olives, which are going to give you a tangy salty flavor, and capers, which will add more tartness and salt, freshly and finely grated lemon zest for brightness, and hot dried red pepper flakes for heat.

Place the lid on the processor and finely chop these ingredients.

Oh man, that's incredibly fragrant.

Now, add your liquid ingredients: freshly squeezed lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and enough water to thin the sauce to pourable consistency.

Finally...salt, just a little because the olives and capers are salty, and freshly ground black pepper.

[food processor whirring] Pur�e the ingredients into a smooth sauce.

Now, taste the sauce.

Mmm, tangy, tart, herbaceous, vibrant, salmoriglio is my new chimichurri.

I'll grill the spiedini over a wood fire, the wood will impart a delicate smoke flavor.

First, you want to clean your grill grate with a stiff wire brush, then oil it with a cotton oiling cloth dipped in vegetable oil and drawn across the bars of the grate.

This not only oils the grill grate, but cleans it.

Now, take your shrimp and arrange them on the grill grate.

* This is quick, couple minutes per side will do it.

[fire swooshes in] Once, the spiedini are browned on the bottom, turn them over and grill the other side the same way.

You could see the ends of the bay leaves char, that releases a bay leaf smoke, an herbal smoke that'll further flavor of the shrimp.

You can baste the spiedini with a little bit of the salmoriglio.

As an American, I just can't resist adding extra flavor.

* [fire swooshes in] To check the shrimp for doneness, a little squeeze, they feel firm.

They're ready.

Transfer the spiedini to a wire rack over a sheet pan.

You see me use this wire rack a lot.

It keeps the bottom of the spiedini from getting soggy.

And here are your wood grilled spiedini.

* I'll drizzle a little sauce over them.

* Then, take a shrimp.

The shrimp are crusty and smoky on the outside, moist inside, nice sweetness from the peppers and onions.

And then, you've got the salty tang of the olives and the capers in the salmoriglio.

By Italian standards, this would be pretty complex.

By American standards, it's simple.

I say, it's right on the money.

[fire swooshes in] Right?

So, the first thing, I'll take the onions here.

I'll chop them.

I'll take the celery.

I'll chop it.

[fire swooshes in] Pizza was born in Italy, of course, and most of it is cooked by live fire in a wood burning oven.

Eyes popped and jaws dropped the first time, I prepared pizza for Italians, the Raichlen way, directly on the grill.

* For the last half hour, I've been smoking the vegetables for the sauce.

Onions, shallots, garlic, celery, green bell pepper, and tomatoes.

Smoke the vegetables at a low temperature until darkly burnished with wood smoke.

[fire swooshes in] Now, chop the vegetables for the sauce.

Onion.

Your onion goes in hot olive oil.

Next, the shallot.

Make a couple crosswise cuts.

Then, thinly slice the shallot.

Next, the garlic, the smoked celery, then the pepper.

And I'll just cut the flesh off the core and seeds.

* And it's certainly smelling like an Italian kitchen.

When your onions, peppers, and celery start to brown, add a tablespoon of tomato paste and you want to fry the tomato paste in the oil.

That will concentrate its flavor.

* Then, deglaze the pan with dry white vermouth.

Then, the tomatoes.

Tradition would call for peeling the tomatoes, but I like the smoky skins, so I'll leave them in.

Once, the vermouth boils, you can start adding your tomatoes.

And drain these tomato juices into the pan with the smoked vegetable juices and add these juices to the sauce as well.

Next, add thinly slivered fresh basil, thinly slivered fresh sage, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper.

Stir these in, then simmer the sauce until thick and flavorful, about 20 minutes.

[fire swooshes in] Now, take a taste.

Mmm, great depth of flavor, complex, nice tinge of smoke.

That's a sauce that would do an Italian grandmother proud.

Next, the pizza.

This pizza dough has risen twice.

My recipe is on our website, but feel free to use your favorite pizza dough or even dough from your local pizzeria.

Now, instead of rolling it in flour, we're going to stretch it in extra virgin olive oil.

So, you take the dough, lay it on the sheet pan, oil it on both sides and then gently stretch the dough out in the oil.

A lot of oil is very important, so it won't stick to the grate.

Now for the grill.

I've set the grill up for direct grilling.

One side is medium high.

One side is medium low.

You'll cook the dough on this side, assemble the pizza on this side.

And brush your grill grate clean and oil it with our cotton oiling cloth dipped in oil drawn across the bars of the grate.

It's very important to oil the grate well, you do not want that crust sticking to the grate.

Now, the fun part.

Grab your pizza dough at one end and drape it on the grill.

Grill the pizza until the bottom crust is brown all over and you see I keep moving it, so it will brown evenly.

Once, the pizza is browned on the bottom, turn it over and assemble the pizza on the cool side.

So first, our smoked tomato sauce.

* Next, black olives.

* For a salty tang, capers and anchovies.

* Then, an American touch, chopped jalape�o chilies for heat, dried oregano, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and finally a few shavings of pecorino Romano cheese.

Then, slide the pizza back over to cook the underside.

* Once, the pizza crust is browned on the bottom, transfer it to a pizza peel and slide your pizza onto to a cutting board.

Now, that's what I call a pizza puttanesca.

You can hear how crispy the crust is.

* Let's see.

Mmm, that crust is crackling crisp.

The tomato sauce is smoky.

You've got the salty tang of the olives and anchovies, the heat of the jalape�o.

This is unlike any pizza, I've ever had in Italy.

Pizza puttanesca.

You might not find it on a menu in Italy.

You'll certainly find it on my grill.

It's a Raichlen twist on an Italian classic.

[fire swooshes in] So, the steps are going to be first, I'm going to spatchcock the chicken, right.

[fire swooshes in] Pollo al Mattone is a dish, so beloved by Italians that two great food cities, Florence and Rome claim its parentage.

The name, brick chicken literally, does little to suggest its deliciousness.

Yet, the brick is essential for crisping the skin and keeping the meat moist and tender.

I have a twist that adds even more flavor.

Grill the chicken under a salt slab.

* Step number one: spatchcock the chicken.

Turn it on its back and using kitchen scissors make a lengthwise cut along the backbone on the right and then the left.

Spatchcocking enables you to grill a whole chicken flat.

And sing a paring knife, cut through this bit of white cartilage above the breastbone, snap the chicken out to expose the breastbone.

Then, run your thumbs along the inside of the breast bone to loosen it from the meat.

Now, snap the breastbone away from the cartilage, lift up the breastbone and pull it out away from the meat.

Just trimming it like that.

Then lift up and pull out the cartilage.

Next, make a slit in the skin between the thigh and the rib cage.

Now, tuck the end of the drumstick through the slit.

Turn the bird over, tuck the wing tips under the wings and there's your spatchcock chicken ready for seasoning and grilling.

Now, make the herb rub.

It starts with coarse sea salt into which you will grate fresh lemon zest.

Lemon zest adds a bright flavor.

Next, add a freshly ground black pepper, finely chopped fresh garlic, chopped fresh rosemary, chopped fresh thyme, and hot pepper flakes, and mix the ingredients for the rub with your fingers.

Now, turn the spatchcock chickens over and season the meat side with the rub.

* Then, drizzle the chicken with extra virgin olive oil.

Now, turn the chickens over and season the skin side of the chicken the same way.

And again, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

Pretty simple so far.

Clean my hands.

And now, to the grill.

I'm using a Kamado style cooker.

It's set up with the heat diffuser plate and as always, we'll brush the grate clean and oil it with a cotton oiling cloth dipped in vegetable oil drawn across the bars of the grate.

Now, arrange your spatchcock chickens skin side down on the grill.

One here and one here.

And now, the cool part.

Place a salt slab on each chicken.

The salt slab compresses the meat and keeps it from drying out.

Close the grill, adjust the vents to obtain an internal temperature of about 400 degrees.

Cooking time about 40 to 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, let me show you the pepperoncini vinaigrette.

It starts with a Dijon style mustard.

* Next, white wine vinegar, a pinch of salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

Whisk these ingredients together to dissolve the salt crystals, then work in extra virgin olive oil.

* It's about four parts olive oil to one-part vinegar.

* Now, add thinly slivered black olives, drained capers, chopped fresh chives, thinly slivered pepperoncini, those wonderful pickled peppers and finally quartered cherry tomatoes.

Stir the ingredients to mix.

And here you have a very simple flavorful condiment to serve with the chicken.

Speaking of the chicken, it's been about 25 minutes and you can see the chickens look beautifully bronzed on the bottom.

So take off the salt slabs, one, two, and then take off your chickens.

* Transfer them to a wire rack.

* Then, place the salt slabs back on the grill and you'll finish cooking the chicken on the salt slab.

So, it will flavor the meat side of the chicken.

Then, take your chicken, turn it over, place it back on the grill.

Mmm, beautiful.

And you'll finish roasting the chicken on the salt slab.

Close the grill, you need about another 15 minutes.

[fire swooshes in] Whoa.

Check out that salt slab chicken.

It looks amazing.

I'm sure it's done, but just to check, you can wiggle that drumstick.

You can see it moves freely.

* So, I'll lift a leg, just going to carve it off right here.

I'll cut myself a little piece of wing.

Then, a couple of grilled hot peppers.

Finally, a spoonful of your pepperoncini vinaigrette.

Mmm.

* Take a taste.

Mmm, that skin is so crisp, it crunches when I bite into it.

The meat is moist, scented with rosemary and thyme.

What I like about salt slab grilling is how moist it keeps the chicken.

And of course, the salt slab imparts its own salty flavor to the meat.

Take a little of the vinaigrette.

Mmm.

I love the piquancy of those pickled pepperoncini peppers.

I hope you've enjoyed our show on Italian grilling.

Thanks for watching.

See you next time.

For recipes and more live-fire cooking, visit stevenraichlen.com.

You can also follow Steven Raichlen on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Steven's book, "How to Grill Vegetables," and the classic, "Project Smoke," can be ordered online at stevenraichlen.com, or call this phone number for ordering and customer service.

ANNOUNCER: Steven Raichlen's Project Fire was made possible by...

This is The Big Green Egg, where fire and flavor come together.

You can roast, bake, and sear with the versatility of a grill, oven, and barbecue smoker combined.

Locate a dealer at biggreenegg.com.

Fire Magic, combining style with the versatility to sear, smoke, rotisserie cook, and charcoal grill, crafted in America for over 80 years... Green Mountain Grills, wood fired pellet grills... Blue Rhino...

Truly wireless temperature starts with Maverick.

And by the following... STEVEN: I'm going to show you how to make a grilled pizza puttanesca with a fire.

That's a sauce that would do a grand... Whose idea it was to light that smoker so early?

Wait, no bay leaf?

What comes next?

Got confused myself here.

Red bell pepper.

And here are your grilled, sorry.

Wrong camera.

Whoa.

As my father used to say, "You couldn't have been a doctor?

* *