(light music) - [Sara] "Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by Sunsweet, Mutti Tomatoes of Parma, Le Gruyere AOP from Switzerland, and by... (upbeat music) - Cooking is the first kind of love you know.

It was starting when I was child with my grandmother doing fresh pasta, and now I transmit it to all the guests, is something makes specially for them.

- [Advertiser] Oceania Cruises, proud sponsor of "Sara's Weeknight Meals".

(gentle music) - Just across the bay from each other, gritty Naples and sun-kissed Sorrento are brothers from another mother joined by geography but with wildly different sensibilities, each with local foods I can't wait to try.

The best pizza joint?

Let's go.

- Yeah.

- That's right, we're on a quest to find the best pizza in Naples, the birthplace of pizza.

Oh no, you had me at pizza, then you had to have fried.

Oh, no.

- And I pried a secret technique from a 74-year-old Neapolitan pizza-making legend.

How long did that, was that in the oven?

- [Amedeo] It's only 60 seconds in the oven.

- Then we'll climb the cliffs of Sorrento to a lemon grove with a jaw-dropping view, and an aroma just as heavenly.

Ooh, that is beautiful.

What an aroma.

This farm family makes lemon cheese every day.

- [Valentina] The Fresh milk.

- From the cow.

- Yes.

We have a cow.

- From your cow.

- Yes.

- Wow.

And then it's into the kitchen with Mamma to make lemon infused pasta.

So good you'll stand up and cheer.

(everyone clapping) - [Sara] Will there be a fabulous dinner in a magical setting?

Check and check.

- Salute.

- Salute.

- [Sara] Sorrento lemons and Naples pizza, that's today on "Sara's Weeknight Meals".

(upbeat music) Between Ancient Pompeii's Mount Vesuvius and the glitzy Amalfi Coast, sits edgy Naples: a town justifiably proud of its most famous culinary export: pizza.

(upbeat music) Like thousands of others I made the pizza pilgrimage led by guide Amedeo Colella, of Naples Culinary Backstreets.

- The the most eaten food in the world has born in historical center of Naples.

- Wow.

And why?

- Why?

Probably because from hundreds of year in Naples we had the three main ingredients to do the perfect pizza.

- And they are?

- Only we are the perfect flour, and then we have the best tomatoes, and only in Naples we have the best mozzarella cheese.

- The perfect pizza.

- The perfect pizza.

- There you go.

(claps) Okay.

- Yeah.

And very close to here there is one of the best productor of Neapolitan pizza.

So I can meet there- - The best pizza joint?

Let's go.

What's it called?

- The familia is named Sorbillo.

- [Sara] Since 1935, Sorbillo has been the anchor of via Della pizza, the pizza street, in Naples.

Just look for the huge crowds waiting outside.

- Sara, can I introduce you?

Salvatore Sorbillo.

And Salvatore is the number 19 of 21 children.

(Sara speaks Italian) - All of 21, all pizza makers.

- All from the same mother?

21?

Your poor mother.

Any rate, any rate, go on, go on.

- Anyway, he will show you how to produce the dough for a perfect Neapolitan pizza.

- I'm ready, let's go.

- [Amedeo] So first of all, water.

- How much?

- Yeah, it's 800 centiliters of water.

- Okay.

- And then 3 grams of dough.

Only 3 grams.

- Yeast?

(Salvatore speaks Italian) - 3 grams of yeast, 30 grams of salt.

Oh, you add salt in the water because I know that in family, other people, they like to add salt in the flour.

Okay.

But, and then- - Yeah.

well that's very Italian.

Nobody can agree.

- (chuckles) Yeah.

- Right, I've been learning that.

- And then he adds the flour.

It's 1 kilo, 200 grams of flour.

- I just wanna let everybody know these amounts, we'll have them in grams and in cups on the website.

(Amedeo chuckles) - Oh wow.

- Okay and now we sprinkle it.

- [Sara] And what kind of flour is it?

- This is the flour, it's double zero.

Salvatore still use the same techniques, the same know-how, the same tools, the same ingredients of the grandfather, of the father.

Salvador is 74 years old, and he likes to come here every day to help the two sons to produce one of the best Neapolitan pizza.

(Salvatore speaks Italian) - [Amedeo] Now it's ready, and he goes to rest for 30 minutes.

- Okay, it has to relax.

You have to let that gluten relax, I get it, okay.

(container clunks) Oh wow, so what has happened here?

- It happens that after half an hour he divided the dough in balls and then the balls raises for 24-hours.

- 24-hours?

- 24 hours.

- [Sara] Okay.

- [Amedeo] This is the standard of Sorbillo family.

- Yeah.

(Scraper scratching) - Which means that they developed a lot of flavor.

The more time you let it rise- - During this time, yeah, the dough has to develop great flavors.

And now he's starting preparing the Neapolitan pizza.

Now he wants to add the ingredients.

The pizza Margarita is the pizza with the three colors of Italian flag; the red of tomatoes, the green of basil, and the white of mozzarella cheese.

(light music) And then olive oil.

And pizza Margarita is ready.

- Wow!

That was speedy.

And just like that, it's done.

(plate clanking) (light music) That is gorgeous.

How long did that, was that in the oven?

- Oh it's very, very fast.

Only 60 seconds in the oven, very, very fast.

- Wow, I can't believe that!

Oh, that is just a thing of beauty.

Wow!

- [Amedeo] And now the best we have to eat it.

- I'm ready.

Ooh!

Ooh!

You, you, you.

Fantastic!

Yes!

Oh, you have to have some too.

Gentlemen share.

- This is the real original Neapolitan pizza, protected by UNESCO.

Great.

(light music) - [Sara] In the Quartieri Spagnoli, a big surprise.

- You never had a pizza like this.

This is pizza fritta, yes.

- Do you mean fried pizza?

- Fried pizza, yes.

- Oh no!

You had me a pizza, then you had to have fried.

Oh no!

- You can find pizza fritta everywhere in Naples.

We fry everything, even the sole of the shoes.

- The sole of the shoe.

- So we fry also the pizza.

And let me introduce Antonio Bove.

- Ciao.

Buongiorno!

- Ciao.

- Best pizza makers of pizza fritta in Naples.

- And what are the ingredients that go in there?

- Yeah okay.

In the dough, they are the only very poor ingredients.

Ricotta cheese.

This is (speaks Italian), that is like a fat with salami and with ham, and then tomato sauce and provola cheese and pepper.

And then you close the pizza with another disc of dough.

- Double crusted - Dough, double crusted.

And then you fry in sunflower oil, and a few seconds of frying.

- Oh my goodness, look at that.

- Yeah.

(chuckles) - Wow.

Wow.

Hmm!

Hmm!

Oh, that is delicious.

(light music) The specialty at Pizza Da Attilio is star shaped pizza with a cheese-filled crust.

- We are in Attilio Pizzeria that is here since 1938.

- Wow.

- And when I go to Pizzeria, I always choose the table that is closer to the mouth of the oven.

- The mouth of the oven.

- Yeah.

By the way, Attilio (speaking in Italian) pizza.

(Attilio speaking Italian) - Great.

- I'm excited, yay.

- Oh, great, oh!

- Oh, great!

In the center is like a Margarita with sausages.

So all the ingredients of the lasagna, the typical plate of carnival.

And this is why- - Love it.

- Let's serve a Pizza Carnevale.

Carnevale, with a lot of ricotta cheese.

Every corner- - Has ricotta cheese in it?

- [Amedeo] Yeah, there's a ricotta cheese inside.

(light music) - Hmm, hmm.

That's ridiculous.

I don't know which one I like the most.

It's yours 'cause we're here.

This is the best pizza.

- Oh, Sara, chin, chin.

(glasses clinking) - Chin, chin to you.

And you need some wine, but there we go.

(laughs) (Antonia speaks Italian) Thank you.

- Grazie.

- Yes.

- Thank you Sara.

- Thank you.

(glasses clinking) (light music) (upbeat music) If you wanna see the Amalfi Coast you'll probably visit the jet set island of Capri and the treacherous, breathtaking Amalfi Drive.

(light music) But if you want to taste the Amalfi Coast, it's lemons you want.

The Nunziata family has been growing them for generations at their Agriturismo Vigliano on a spectacular point near Sorrento.

And as Luigi Nunziata pointed out they are not the first to grow them here.

- The lemon was born here 2000 years ago in the Roman period and in Pompeiian city where the people cultivated the lemon like a flower.

- [Sara] So they were just so beautiful they used them for decoration.

- Of course, exactly.

- But they didn't eat them?

- No.

- [Sara] Sorrento Lemons are the oldest and most important lemon group in Italy.

The Femminello type named for the female protrusion opposite the stem end.

Whatever, they smelled amazing.

- Do you want smell a real lemon flower?

The Zagara Bianca.

- Ooh, that is beautiful.

What an aroma.

- Of course.

- [Sara] But you know what, I'm baffled.

How can you have flowers and fruits on the same tree?

- Yes, here we have the fruits, the flower, and the little lemon too.

Because it's a very slow maturation.

From the flower to have a good lemon we wait 10, 12 months, more long than Sicilian and Calabrian lemon.

- [Sara] Why?

'Cause it's colder here?

- [Luigi] Yes, because it's cold.

And with the covered pergola the light don't go on the lemon trees.

- Well, but I know yours are better.

- [Luigi] Yeah (chuckles).

- Okay.

Who needs those Sicilian lemons anyway?

- Yes.

- These lemons are famous for their juicy pulp.

It's tart, not bitter, with hardly any seeds.

They're especially prized for making Limoncello because of their skins.

Do you spray them with pesticides?

- No, no pesticide.

We spray only green copper.

- Green copper.

- Copper.

And paraffin oil.

- Paraffin oil.

- And we use a good bugs that kill bad bugs.

- Oh, I like that.

Good bugs killing the bad guys.

- Yes, of course.

(chuckles) - Yeah, all right.

We need lemons to cook with and it took all my strength to pick these guys.

I'm not sure farm work is in my future.

Oh, oops!

It isn't easy.

(Sara groans) I didn't have my Wheaties this morning.

There we go, okeydoke.

Next up, lemons and homemade cheese.

Who knew it could be this easy.

(light upbeat music) The Nunziata's farm is one of the most spectacular points in Sorrento overlooking the Mediterranean, and on a clear day, Mount Vesuvius.

Somehow this little farm on a cliff packs in not only lemons but chickens and cows.

And from them came the fresh milk for the cheese I made with Luigi's sister Valentina.

I'm here with Luigi's sister Valentina.

And we are gonna make lemon cheese.

Tell me how you say lemon cheese in Italian.

- In Italian, the lemon cheese is caciotta.

- Caciotta.

Okay, where do we start?

- We start to the fresh milk.

- [Sara] From the cow?

- Yes, we have a cow.

- From your cow.

- Yes.

- Wow.

Okay, so that's full fat, okay.

- Is very rich milk.

- Very rich milk.

Alright, so we start by heating it.

- Yes, we put the milk in the pot and keep on a warm temperature.

Is 35 to 36 degree.

- 35 to 36 centigrade is like, like our body temperature.

- Yes, yes.

- Alright.

- It's ready.

And after we had a rennet, two little spoon.

- Two little spoonfuls.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- Okay.

(light music) - All right.

So then you need to stir it a bit.

- Yes.

- To get the rennet in there.

- Yes, and after this process, we leave the milk for 20 minutes.

- You just let it sit there for 20 minutes.

- Yes.

- Okay.

So after it's set for 20 minutes, what happens?

- The milk become solid.

- Yes.

- And the liquid part, now we separate it.

- Yes, okay.

- Okay.

- [Sara] We would call that curd and whey.

- This is cagliata is the name.

- [Sara] And the liquid part?

- The liquid part we use after for to make ricotta.

- You make ricotta out the whey?

- Yes.

- All right, so how does this become cheese?

What's next?

- The next step, we broken with the hands.

- [Sara] Ah, with our impeccably clean hands.

Yes, okay.

- Yes, yes.

- Oh, how cool is that?

It's a miracle!

- Yes, is a miracle.

- It happened!

- Okay.

- Okay.

After this we separated the liquid part, okay, from the solid.

- So you use that as a strainer, I see.

- Si.

- Yeah, okay.

(light music) Wow, so look at how much liquid it gives off.

- Yes.

- It's almost like equal parts.

- Yes.

Si, si.

And now I peel the lemon.

- Oh, so you're using, that's what bartenders use.

- [Valentina] The important thing is not cut the white part.

- [Sara] The pith, 'cause it's bitter.

- [Valentina] Si, it's perfect.

- It's perfect, so that's the right amount.

- Si, now- - [Sara] So now you mix it.

- [Valentina] Yes, we mix.

- I love you use your hands.

- Yes, I like.

(giggles) - Italians use their hands.

- Yes.

- It's the best tool in the kitchen, right?

- We need to- - Feel it.

- Sensation to the feel.

- We do, we need to feel it.

- [Valentina] It's ready to go in the bask.

- That's it.

- Si.

- That's it?

- Si.

Si.

- We just made cheese.

- It's very simple.

- Oh, that was exciting.

(Valentina chuckles) - And now we put in the basket.

This is a typical shape of a caciotta.

and put inside for dry.

(light music) - [Sara] Can we eat it right now?

- [Valentina] Yes, you can eat, but we prefer to leave for five minutes and the caciotta continue to- - Lose the liquid.

- Lose the liquid.

- So it gets more concentrated.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- [Sara] Oh, how sweet.

- Yes.

- Oh, my goodness, they're so pretty.

(light music) - (Valentina speaks Italian) - Oh, that's beautiful.

So now we must taste right?

- Yes.

- Okay.

- [Valentina] I like.

- Mm.

Oh, that is so fresh.

Wow, I've never had cheese this fresh before.

- Mm.

- Yum.

Your cow did a good job.

- Thank you.

- Thank you Mr. Cow, Mrs. Cow it would have to be.

(Valentina chuckles) - This is gonna go so beautifully with our salad, with our pasta.

Yay, thank you.

- Thank you.

(light music) - [Sara] Luigi And Valentina's mother Ida is the real expert when it comes to cooking with lemons.

She's lived on this farm most of her life.

Who could be better to show me how to make handmade pasta with flecks of lemon peel right in the dough.

Since we're in Sorrento today we're gonna be cooking with lemons.

And I have two very able co-chefs.

Well, you're the chefs.

Valentina and her mom Ida.

And I'm so happy 'cause I'm gonna learn how to make lemon pasta from the experts.

So where do we start?

- We start with the flour.

We put on the pastry board.

The name of this pasta is scialatielli, and is the typical pasta, handmade pasta of this area, and to Amalfi Coast.

- And the whole Amalfi Coast.

Okay.

- Yes.

- So we put, this is the usual, this is the mom, we don't measure anything.

So I'm gonna try to figure it all out.

I'm gonna guess that's about four cups.

Oh, and we're making, what do you call that in the middle?

- Fountain.

- A fountain.

- Yes, a fountain, because is inside we add the different ingredient.

- And this is semolina flour.

- Yes.

- I recognize it 'cause it's yellow.

Two, two spoon.

- Two spoonfuls.

- Two spoons.

- Two spoonfuls, okay.

About two tablespoons.

- And we add the fresh eggs - From your chickens?

- Yes.

- Ooh, happy chickens.

(eggs cracking) Oh, that's new, okay.

And right into the fountain.

Oh, look at how beautiful that is.

That looks like a lemon.

A dark lemon.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- [Valentina] And we add butter.

- [Sara] At room temperature.

- Yes, yes.

- So it's soft.

Okay, and I'm gonna say that's a tablespoon.

- After this, we add a glass of milk at the room temperature.

- Look at that, happy little bathtub swimming around.

- Add the, our dry caciotta, is homemade cheese and we use like a Parmesan.

- Parmesan.

It provides salt and flavor.

- Yes.

- That looks like about three tablespoons.

- Yes.

And after we make the pepper and salt to taste.

- To taste?

- Yes.

- [Sara] Okay.

(light music) And black pepper, that's nice.

I like that.

- Yes.

- We have now- - Finally we add the skin of the lemon.

- The star of the show.

- Yes.

- So the lemon zest.

Okay.

I just love lemon.

It has wonderful essential oil.

So we're gonna get so much flavor in there.

Okay.

Wow.

I just rub it, you know.

- Yes.

(chuckles) - Whoop.

Very nice, very nice.

Okay.

- We are ready to mix.

- So I see what she's doing.

She's mixing it in the fountain and she's slowly moving in the flour.

That's how you mix it in, by slowly moving in the flour.

Oh, now we're using our hands 'cause we're Italian.

(Valentina chuckling) - We must use our hands.

- We like this.

- And we love these tools.

Okay, so you knead it a little bit until it's smooth.

- [Valentina] We work for about 8, 10 minutes.

(light music) - [Sara] Can I try kneading for a minute?

Because, so you just go like that.

- And add the some flour when you feel- - When it gets sticky.

- Si.

(speaks Italian) - [Sara] When it gets sticky we add some flour.

Am I, is it okay?

- Yeah.

- Good.

Okay, you come back in.

(chuckles) Let the expert back in.

Yeah, she's fast.

- Yes.

(light music) - [Sara] Can I touch it?

- Yes.

- Yes.

(Ida speaks Italian) - [Sara] It's quite firm and quite elastic.

So now what happens?

- Now we leave the dough for 10 minutes, okay.

- So the gluten can relax.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- [Valentina] And start to make a sauce.

- The sauce.

What goes into the sauce?

- Sauce is very easy.

And we add extra virgin oil.

Our production.

- You made it?

- Yes.

- This doesn't get more homemade than that.

I'm gonna call that a tablespoon and a half.

- [Valentina] And we add the butter.

- That's about a tablespoon.

Oh, and of course, some lemon.

- Si, some lemon, lemon is everywhere.

- [Sara] Oh it is.

That is wonderful.

It's interesting that you have oil and butter.

- Yes, we use oil, olive oil, always.

(light music) - [Sara] It's not a very complicated sauce.

Very simple, simple.

- But is the good ingredient.

- Of course, homemade.

- It's very important.

- And where did you get the butter from?

- The butter is very easy to make.

- You made it?

- Yes.

- This is your butter?

- Yes, is my butter.

- [Ida] It's okay.

- Okay, done?

Do we add any juice?

Later.

Okay, so turn it off, okay.

So do you think the pasta's ready to roll out?

- I think yes.

- Okay, all right, let's do the pasta.

We're gonna roll this by hand?

- Yes, yes.

My mother cut the dough in the little piece and the after use the rolling pin to make a- - Roll it out.

- Roll it out, yes.

- Okay, so it's thin.

Oh, it did, it relaxed, the gluten relaxed.

- Yes.

- Okay.

(light music) - [Valentina] In this process, we add some flour.

(rolling pin clunking) - Wow, look at that.

- You can see the lemon skin in the pasta.

- Yes you can.

That's beautiful.

Lovely.

Yes, okay, I see it's very thin.

Okay.

- [Valentina] And now we start to cut it.

- To cut it.

I help you, Mamma.

(pizza roller cutter whirring) - And we add the semolina for separated.

For keep- - Ah, So it doesn't stick when it goes in the pan, you toss it with semolina.

I get it.

(Valentina speaks Italian) - It's my, is little, and my mother is.

(Sara laughs) - The bigger.

- 'Cause you're the baby bear, and she's the mamma bear, that's why.

She's one diesel mamma bear though.

(whoops) - Yes.

- Go Ida, go Ida!

- Go, go.

- Go, go.

- Okay, now we're gonna cook this in plenty of boiling, salted water, right?

- Right.

- All right.

- [Ida] Right.

- Okay, I help you, Mamma.

(light music) (everyone cheering) (everyone clapping) - Ida, to Ida.

Okay.

I just wanna explain how we finished the pasta.

So we put the pasta in the pan with the sauce and we added about a third of a cup of lemon juice.

And then we added some more of this wonderful grated, aged, what's the name of the cheese again?

- Caciotta.

- Caciotta.

- Caciotta.

And that was it, and that's all we did.

Is this local wine?

- Of course.

- It's from the area?

- This wine is Falanghina.

Is a wine around Vesuvius area.

- Okay.

- It's a white one.

- Here we go, yes.

- And the red one is a Piedirosso.

- But you recommend white wine with pasta?

- [Luigi] Of course.

- So Luigi, what are these lemons?

- This is simply sliced lemon only with the sugar on the top.

- I'm supposed to eat that like that?

- Of course.

- Wow.

- With the skin too.

- Because it's- - It's organic.

Okay.

I'm scared.

(Luigi chuckling) - Oh, it is organic.

- [Luigi] Yeah.

(chuckling) - Mm, mm, it's not bitter at all.

- No.

- It's delicious, okay.

- It's fresh.

- We must eat.

(light music) And this is the aged cheese.

- Yes.

- And let me guess this is lemon marmalade.

- Lemon marmalade.

- [Sara] Made from your lemons.

I like it, so sweet and salty.

- Yes.

- All right, shall we have a toast?

- Yes.

- What do we say?

- Chin chin.

- Chin chin, salute.

- Salute.

- Chin, chin.

- Salute.

(glasses clinking) - [Sara] This is a tight-knit family who has lived here for generations and who could blame them?

It's a slice of paradise we can only dream of.

Italians say (speaks Italian), "At the table one does not grow old."

That's another reason why I'm not leaving.

I am Sara Moulton, thanks for joining me on "Sara's Weeknight Meals".

For recipes, videos and more, go to our website: saramoulton.com.

"Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by Sunsweet, Mutti Tomatoes of Parma, Le Gruyere AOP from Switzerland, and by... - Cooking is the first kind of love you know.

It was starting when I was child with my grandmother doing fresh pasta and now I transmit it to all the guests, is something make specially for them.

- [Advertiser] Oceania Cruises, proud sponsor of "Sara's Weeknight Meals".

(light outro music)