-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 -- -For over 140 years, Auricchio traditional handcrafted provolone.

Made in Italy.

♪♪ -Olitalia -- from chef to chef.

-The ability with which a smell, a stir, a sizzle of food can transport me to a place in time Makes me a true believer in the power of food.

Making fresh pasta is a beautiful way to connect with each other.

-I don't have to stand on the chair anymore.

-I have to stand on the chair to reach you.

My mother taught my children and their children, and that time spent together will always be cherished.

-And just like that, we have fuzi.

-Just like that.

This was a traditional Sunday dish for my family when I was growing up.

And while the sugo was cooking, we would make the fuzi together.

A slice of this no-bake cake makes for the perfect dessert that is as delicious as it is easy.

The sweet, creamy cheese is a match made in heaven with the raspberry and chocolate.

I'm cooking up a trip down memory lane.

Smell evokes memories, brings you to a place that you remember.

Food is just that.

It is memory.

It is taste.

And to evoke certain moments that I felt in my life, I tend to cook those same foods that got me there to begin with.

So never underestimate the power of food, and keep on cooking.

In classe con Lidia: formati di pasta.

We're in Lidia's kitchen, and it's pasta time -- pasta-making time.

You made it when you were this big, and now you're this big.

-Yeah.

Let's see how you did.

-Let's see how much I remember.

-Let me see your kneading skill.

Okay.

Good, good.

Let's get some flour going here.

-I don't have to stand on the chair anymore to do it.

-No, you don't.

[ Laughs ] I have to stand on the chair to reach you.

Okay.

So, make a kind of loaf and cut it in three pieces, because we're gonna begin to roll it.

♪♪ Okay.

So, always a little bit of flour.

Okay.

Let's start.

[ Pasta maker whirring ] -And you just feed it in?

-Sure.

Okay.

-And you want to guide it out.

-Spread it out here.

Put flour all over.

And now -- -Back in the machine.

-Back in the machine.

-See?

When me and my friends make pasta at school, we don't have this machine, so we have to do it all by hand.

-You actually roll it by hand?

-And sometimes it still comes out a little too thick, but... -[ Laughs ] -Tell it's getting closer.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Go ahead.

More.

-Takes patience.

-How does it feel, Ethan?

It's nice?

-It's good.

Okay.

-What do you think?

One more time?

-I think so.

Go ahead.

That's it.

♪♪ Okay.

You pull it out.

Lay it right here.

Okay.

That's it.

So, I'm looking at this.

This is kind of getting towards the end.

Let me cut that off.

-Nice.

-So let's cut it in half.

Like little squares.

You measure.

How big do I want the fuzi?

Let's go by half right here.

And then let's go by half right here.

And let's go by half right here.

Let's put some flour.

You lay on top.

Like that.

And we're gonna cut corner away.

♪♪ Get a little bit of water.

The glass.

Okay.

You take two ends, and you pinch them together like that.

Go ahead.

You are fantastic.

Got it.

There you go.

Another way is also just to pinch the two together like this.

I made already a few trays of these.

You know, when you have a lot of people, you can make them in advance, and then you freeze them, laying them out.

And then, once they're frozen, you can collect them and put them in little pouches.

Just make sure you don't pressure them one on each other, because once they're frozen, they become brittle.

They break, too.

So you can see that this was the pasta of my Sunday childhoods.

Used to make it Saturday with grandma.

She would spread it out in these pans, cover them, and leave them until the next day.

They dried out a little bit, but they recooked very nicely.

So let's keep on going, and thank you for the help.

-And just like that, we have fuzi.

-Exactly.

Just like that.

Making fuzi with grandkids.

♪♪ Fuzi con sugo di pollo.

Lots of memories.

I want to make it your family-memory go-to.

These are the porcini mushroom, dried porcini mushrooms.

If you're gonna run an Italian kitchen like Lidia, you've got to have these in the cupboard.

But you need to reconstitute them, so here I have some hot chicken stock.

And these are chicken thighs.

I'm taking off some of the fat.

Let's see.

Let me put just some oil in the pan.

We're gonna season with salt.

[ Sizzling ] ♪♪ Okay.

Wash my hands.

♪♪ While that is browning, I have some chopped liver here.

And the liver usually has just a little connecting here.

And all you want to do is just pull out that little connective tissue.

And of course you want to chop it.

♪♪ Just like that.

So, I have here the porcini mushrooms.

And we want to chop the porcini just like that.

♪♪ Let's turn the chicken around.

♪♪ And you don't want the chicken to cook now.

You just want it to caramelize the outside.

Okay.

This looks like it's... ♪♪ ...done.

♪♪ Mmm.

Olive oil.

And we'll begin with the onions.

[ Sizzling ] This is gonna perc away.

It's gonna braise slowly.

You want it to have continuous, even heat.

That's it.

Let's put in bay leaves.

I love my bay leaves.

You know that.

Always count how many you put in so you know how many you're gonna pull out.

Four is enough.

Rosemary -- I'm gonna put in a whole sprig like that.

I'm gonna put in the chicken liver.

And the chicken liver brings a lot of that earthiness to the sauce.

I'm gonna put now the tomato paste.

♪♪ That's enough.

♪♪ Mmm.

Now I'm going to add some nice wine.

♪♪ Regular drinking wine, something that's left over.

And if you're the kind of person that has nothing left over, then open a bottle of wine, but a decent wine.

So, you can see the sauce is beginning to build.

Let me put in the porcini mushrooms.

♪♪ So, here is the water that is left from soaking those porcini -- dry porcini.

And we want to use it.

I think you can see here that there's a little sediment.

And I'm gonna leave just that there.

We don't want that.

Now, here I have clove powder.

Clove is a potent spice.

It really delivers a lot of flavor and aroma, and it's a great antioxidant.

♪♪ Some stock.

Let it come to a boil.

And we'll reintroduce the chicken.

You know, this is the basis of the sauce.

♪♪ Nestle it in.

Let me put some more of the stock.

Check it out.

Let it perc away.

Cover it.

20 minutes to a half an hour, and then we'll add the mushrooms -- the fresh mushrooms.

When I have time, I love checking in and to see what you all are writing in.

And so here I have Amy.

"My mother's Italian but never made her own pasta but I wanted to try.

You gave me the confidence I needed.

I used your recipes and it was delicious!

I impressed my family and myself!"

Brava!

Brava, Amy.

Okay.

So let's see the pictures.

Oh, that looks good.

This looks like somebody that knows how to make a pasta.

There's another picture.

Brava, Amy.

Keep on cooking, keep on making, and keep on perfecting yourself.

You know, practice makes perfect, like in everything you do.

♪♪ Let's see what the chicken is doing here.

Mmm.

It's percing away.

Wonderful aroma.

So let's put some mushrooms in there.

What do I have here?

I have oysters, king trumpets.

I have shiitake.

I have champignons.

You know, usually the shiitakes have a tough stem, so I usually take that off.

I have a little paper towel.

Clean it up like that.

If you buy them in the stores now, they're cultivated.

♪♪ The regular champignons.

♪♪ The king trumpet.

Great.

The base usually is a little tough of these mushrooms, so I'm trying to get them all the same size, but I do like the mushroom shape.

♪♪ Good.

And the oyster mushrooms.

Just cut the stem.

And these you do just soak in the water, shake it.

I've done that.

And I think, you know, I'm looking at it.

If they're too big, you just kind of pull it apart and you make the little strands of it.

And we'll put this right in.

You say, "Well, Lydia, this is a lot of mushrooms," but, you know, mushrooms really reduce.

And they're delicious, especially with pasta.

♪♪ Give it a good mix.

Bring it back to simmering.

Let's cover it.

And another 25 minutes and it will be ready.

Let's see if there's another e-mail.

Diane -- "I came across this picture of my grandmother, no doubt stirring a pot of sauce and meatballs.

And a picture of the wooden spoon she used and that I now use when I make my tomato sauce and meatballs!"

Oh, how sweet.

[ Laughs ] That spoon looks like it's been through a few pots of sauce.

It brings your grandma's energy to you.

Brava!

Use it and respect it.

Oh, I love the picture of your grandma.

She was tough in the kitchen.

She looked good.

I bet she did a good job.

I hope you picked a lot of other things from her, not just the spoon.

So keep on cooking.

The sauce is ready, so I am shredding the pieces in which I'll put back into the sauce.

This is a sauce you could save.

Once you have shredded it, you don't have to use it all at once.

It keeps very well in the refrigerator for a few days and in the freezer for a few weeks.

Absolutely.

That looks good.

I have to pull out the bay leaves.

♪♪ Rosemary.

And another bay leaf.

That's that.

Now this goes all into the sauce.

♪♪ Let me just make sure this gets all into the sauce.

I am going to add the pasta now.

The fuzi -- they are fresh pasta, so they cook very quickly.

These are large.

But grandma really insisted on them being small and tight.

But you do want that hole in the pasta where the sauce goes in and dresses the pasta.

You know, I always put my pasta in the sauce and sauté it.

This is a lot of sauce.

And I'm gonna just swap, put the pan here.

Okay.

That looks good enough.

Let me add some pasta water.

You know, I tell you, that pasta water is so useful.

[ Sizzling ] And this is percing away, and we are ready.

Let me get some plates where I'm going to serve it.

Hmm.

Okay.

I have my cheese.

I have my parsley.

I have some added cheese at the table.

So here it is.

You can see how it's pliable.

This is ready to go.

And now let's dress the pasta.

Take a little bit more of the sauce.

♪♪ And we are ready to serve now.

Okay.

So a little bit of cheese.

Oh!

The smells, the looks.

Brings back a lot of memories.

What grandma would do, she would put all this in a big bowl, tureen, a nice warm bowl, and bring it to the table, and everybody helped themselves.

Let me serve you, though.

You're the guests at my house, so let me serve you.

♪♪ That's... And I'm going to put just a little bit of the sauce for the last kind of decoration.

Let me put a little bit on this one.

And Lidia's -- mmm-mmm.

♪♪ Oh, of course.

Let me put a little bit of sauce.

So let's bring it to the table.

One, two.

I chose a little bit of red wine.

This requires a little bit.

It's a schioppettino.

I like it.

It's kind of vibrant, it's fruity, and it has a nice acidity, and I think it's going to go great with this fuzi dish.

And I'm going to put a little bit of cheese here just like that.

So let me taste it for you.

Mm.

♪♪ It's amazing, the aroma, the flavor.

Just takes you someplace special.

To me, this is dear to my heart.

These are memories, especially with people that love you, with good food, and food connects it all.

So I'm going to be connected, and I'm going to disconnect with you.

Delizioso!

Torta a forma di mattone al cioccolato e ricotta.

I have here some melted chocolate.

I'm going to make the ricotta chocolatey, and I'm going to make a brick cake out of it without even baking it.

So, a little bit of vanilla in the ricotta, some fine sugar because you want to incorporate it right away.

Let me mix a little bit.

Smooth, smooth.

That looks good.

Let me just collect it all in there like that.

Okay.

So let's see how the chocolate fares in here.

Just let's test it first.

It's blending in nicely, and that's what you want.

♪♪ Some more.

♪♪ Okay.

That's what you do to chocolate when it sticks to your finger.

All right.

And this is chocolate ricotta.

Let me whip up the cream.

It's almost there.

Let's add this.

Let's roll this in.

This makes it fluffier a little bit.

That's the filling.

And the layers of the cake will be shaped in here.

Line it with the plastic paper.

I'm going to make three strati, three layers, and you gauge yourself.

You use one third of the filling each time.

On the bottom, just like that.

Okay?

Layer it in.

♪♪ Now, let's put the savoiardi right in there.

This is a little shorter, so I'm going to cut it a little bit.

Let's put some jam.

I have raspberry jam.

You can put any jam you like.

Try to get all the corners.

Let's go with the ricotta.

♪♪ Italians, we like our dessert.

We call it dolci al cucchiaio.

With a spoon, nice and soft and creamy, but not necessarily overly rich.

Just smooth and nice and creamy.

So let's put the savoiardi again.

Squeeze it in because it'll fit right here.

But let's put the jam on.

Let's...

So just two layers of jam.

Okay.

And now the rest of the ricotta.

♪♪ ♪♪ And, you know, you say, "Oh, the savoiardi are crispy and all of that.

How is this going to work?"

Well, the savoiardi are going to absorb the moisture from the ricotta, from the jam, and they're going to end up just fine.

There you go.

Perfect fit.

And then you just seal it well.

♪♪ Here it is.

You put it in the refrigerator.

Overnight is best.

And then, it's going to be great.

We'll just invert it, plop it out, and enjoy it.

Let's see if anybody else wrote in.

Stewart -- "I have to watch my sugar intake these days.

What can I enjoy to satisfy my sweet tooth while staying healthy?"

Well, it's a choice that you have to make.

Even if you're making dessert of your own, just diminish the sugar use and no extra added things.

But fruit?

Fruit will always do.

Baked fruit.

Sugar is all a level.

You get used to a certain level, and kind of we tend to increase a level, and the more we eat sweets, the more we want to eat sweets.

So you have to back down.

So, thanks for the question, Stewart.

Stay well.

The chocolate ricotta brick cake is ready, so let's take it out.

Here it is.

Wow.

Just...

There we go.

♪♪ So, let me cut a piece, I think, for myself, and then I'll give you the whole loaf.

Let's go right through it.

Voilà.

Should we put a little something on top here?

Decorate it?

Let's get some whipped cream going here.

Okay.

First of all, of course, a little bit for Lidia.

That's good.

This is not pre-planned, so this is what you should do sometimes.

Just go for it.

What else do I have here?

You know those delicious chocolate with the hazelnuts in it?

I could put one on top.

Okay, so here.

Now we need to present it.

A nice large spatula like that.

Just like that.

And I think it's ready.

Now maybe some mint.

Like that.

Maybe we could put a little chocolate right here and maybe another one right here.

Another little piece of mint maybe on this side.

There we go.

And, of course, a little espresso.

You know, Grandma Rosa loved her coffee.

Her friends, you know, the neighboring kind of courtyards, in the evening, they would sit there and sip away at their coffee, but they also liked their grappa.

Now, I like my caffé corretto.

And what does corretto mean?

Putting a little grappa in the coffee, correcting it.

So let's go and taste here, because that time has come.

♪♪ It's good, simple, straightforward.

Chocolate, the jam, the sponge of the savoiardi.

It really is delicious.

A little coffee.

I'm going to take a sip of my caffé corretto, and then I'm going to go back and continue eating my dessert.

But in the meantime, I want to invite you.

Let's have some cake and espresso together.

Tutti a tavola a mangiare!

♪♪ Ahh.

The food that you cook is part of your roots, part of who you are, the flavors that you come from.

When I make the fuzi with chicken, my roots go straight to that courtyard with Nonna Rosa, and I am stable.

Lidia in that courtyard with Grandma and Lidia that is today.

[ Singing in 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 our additional products, call one 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...