-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 -- the Italian sparkling art of living.

-For over 140 years, Auricchio traditional handcrafted provolone, made in Italy.

-Olitalia -- from chef to chef.

-The best part about gathering around the table is sharing good food with good friends.

There's a strategy when it comes to pulling together a delicious spread of Italian cheese.

The options and pairings are endless.

Are you going to taste all of them?

-You don't have to ask me.

-Feed a crowd with this classic combination.

I make it with hot sausage and a rainbow of peppers.

An easy recipe to double.

Plus, they make great leftovers.

This is one of those recipes that keeps on giving.

Fried dough filled with vanilla pastry cream topped with Amarena cherries.

What better way to show you care?

San Giuseppe would be very happy to have this zeppole.

Let's entertain with showstopping ease.

If you have the family, it's one thing, and grandkids and two, three generations.

But friends is a different thing.

Some jokes, some connection, remembrances.

And then, of course, there are the personalities when you have dinner for VIPs.

I cooked for Christopher Walken, Rita Moreno.

You can imagine this big antipasto.

When that is over, the risotto, mixing the risotto, big pot.

And then something braised or roasted, something that I can do for a lot of people.

It's not that hard.

You have to be familiar with the recipes.

Choose the right recipes, the ones that you know.

Don't test them the night of the dinner.

Test them before.

Once you have chosen that, you know, just relax, enjoy.

And if something goes a little wrong, it's okay.

You're with your friends.

Enjoy, tell them what happened, and have a good time with them.

Tagliere di formaggi misti all'Italiana.

I'm in my kitchen.

I have some friends coming and I was ready to make a cheeseboard, and guess who walks in.

How you doing, Ethan?

-Hello.

I'm good.

-[ Speaks Italian ] Okay.

Are you going to help me with the cheeseboard?

-Of course.

It's my favorite thing to make for my friends.

-I thought so.

I have a nice Pecorino.

I have a nice Grana.

I have a Gorgonzola Dolce.

I have some buffalo mozzarella, some bocconcini, some fruits.

What would you put first?

-Grab this.

-Okay, good.

So these are the bocconcini.

-I'll just go with my hands.

-Yeah.

That would be nice.

That's nice.

Okay, I have some lemon leaves.

How would you -- I mean, you know, I would... -Maybe like coming kind of like underneath some of the cheeses.

-Yeah, go ahead.

You said you were gonna help me out.

-That way there's like a little green.

-Okay.

Yeah.

-Next let's take the Grana.

Maybe over here.

-Okay.

-And then, finally... -The Gorgonzola.

Yeah, you can take it right off the paper.

That's it.

You like gorgonzola?

-I do.

-So now I have another big one, which is the buffalo mozzarella.

Here we are.

-Sometimes I put the mozzarella in the middle.

-Okay.

-It's a little empty over here.

-I have some nuts.

How's that?

-Perfect.

I have walnuts.

I just toasted them a little bit because the flavor really comes out.

You want that here?

-Yeah.

-Okay.

-That looks good.

-So now we have the fruit.

-Kind of like lay it throughout.

-That's nice.

-You still want to make room so you're able to cut the cheeses.

-Okay.

Would you like to put the honey like that?

That's a good spot for it.

And then I have some nice mostarda.

-I have a little bowl that we can put that in right here.

-Okay.

And this is mostarda di arance.

Orange mustard.

-I'm also a fan of fig mustard.

I know how you used to have that fig tree outside your house.

-Absolutely.

Fig and cheese.

-And then I also think we should take some of these.

-Okay.

Those apricots.

Apricot is always good.

How about the sliced pears?

Do you want them... -Yeah, near the apricots is good.

Remember when we were little and used to peel the pears for us so we would eat them without the skin?

-Yeah, I'm glad you remember that.

-It's a little things.

-That's what grandmas are for.

-Exactly.

-Yeah.

Lots of love.

Do you want to start tasting?

-Got to make sure it's good before we serve it to the guests.

-Are you gonna taste all of them?

[ Chuckles ] -You don't have to ask me.

And also I don't think a cheeseboard would really be complete if you don't have some bread or some tarallini to snack on.

-Taralli, crackers, grissini.

And I don't think a cheeseboard is complete, Ethan, if you don't have something good to kind of wash it all down.

-I agree.

-A little prosecco.

-A little prosecco.

-That's what I put there.

[ Cork pops ] Wow!

What a nice sound that is.

Does this look good?

-That looks delicious.

-You want me to get you one?

-I would love that.

-Alright.

Then this is for you.

Go ahead.

I'll make myself another one.

Okay.

-What, is this the gorgonzola?

-Gorgonzola with the mostarda.

Yeah?

-Mm-hmm.

Very good.

And I think I can have my party.

And just like that, between a grandson and grandma, a beautiful cheeseboard is created.

Salsiccia e peperoni in padella.

Onions, peppers, sausages.

An Italian marriage made in heaven.

Who doesn't love that?

So I just punctured the sausages so that the skin doesn't rupture, so you have a whole sausage.

a little bit of oil.

And let's put these sausages to cook.

[ Sizzling ] Let's cut the onions now.

And you can use white onions, you can use red onions.

I always tell you, my recipes are kind of a guide for you -- yours to keep and yours to change.

Absolutely.

So, here, these are the peppers.

Plenty of peppers.

And the more color you have, the better it is.

You know, a lot of times I get asked, "Lidia, why don't you use the green peppers?"

And by all means.

But what these peppers will give you, they'll give you a sweetness, and they have a meatiness to it.

And what this keeps is the color.

The green usually changes, whereas the yellow, the red really keep the color.

Okay.

So I have a lot of peppers here, but this is one of those recipes that keeps on giving.

Sausage and pepper for dinner.

Next day could be a sausage and pepper sandwich.

Could be a breakfast.

Sausages, peppers, some scrambled eggs.

Absolutely.

So I use the traditional pork sausages here.

You can have turkey sausages, chicken sausages, vegetable sausages.

Just keep in mind the cooking time.

If you have chicken sausage or turkey sausage, it'll take a little less to cook than pork sausages.

I want to get a nice color on them.

One exploded on me, but that's okay.

Maybe I missed that one talking to you, you know?

Everybody makes mistakes, including Lidia.

So don't fret if in your kitchen your sausage explodes or you do some other mistakes.

Don't fret.

It's okay.

Okay.

This looks nice and caramelized.

Let's put the onion right in.

Well, these Italian sausages are pretty spiffy.

Look what they did to me.

But that's in the kitchen.

What are you going to do?

Let me just crack some garlic.

Alright.

So I'm looking at this, there's a lot of caramelization on the bottom, and I want to deglaze that.

I'm going to put a little bit of wine.

Whenever you're browning something and those little bits and pieces stick to the bottom, those are flavor elements.

At this point, let me put the peppers in.

Alright.

I'm going to put some peperoncino, spiciness.

Put some salt.

And I'm gonna add just a little bit of the tomato paste.

Okay.

I like a little bit of tomato in my sausages, onions, and pepper, but I don't want to make it wet because that's another dish.

That's pizzaiola, if you will.

But tomato paste, you see, it sort of gives it the flavor of tomato and a little bit of color.

And I'm going to let this cook just like that.

In the meantime, let me chop some basil, just kind of cut it in strips like that, which we will add at the end just for the aroma, for the flavor, but also for color.

Let me put back the sausages right in.

Mm.

And they will cook together now.

So I don't want to add any more liquid because I like the sweetness of the peppers when they cook and the intensity of the sausages.

And I'm gonna cover it.

Gonna lower the flame.

Nice and gentle, cook all together.

I want the flavors of the pepper to penetrate in the sausages, the sausages with the peppers and a little tomato and submerge.

And I'll let it cook like this about 10 minutes.

Ten minutes at a low flame.

Everything should be ready.

We'll add the basil and we'll enjoy.

Welcome to my library.

Here is where I receive your e-mail, read your questions, and I answer them.

So here is an e-mail, and it is from Becky.

"I see you cooking with salt and red pepper but not too often with black pepper.

How do you know when to use which?"

Becky, that's a good observation.

I come from a region of Italy, which is north and Venice, where black pepper is king.

But I fell in love with peperoncino, with red pepper, which is basically the pepper seasoning of the south of Italy.

So, which one do you use when?

Usually a recipe will follow that rule when it comes to classics.

If I do a calf's liver Veneziana, which is a liver with lots of onion, bay leaves, and black pepper, I use black pepper.

But if I make a brodetto -- a stew of different fishes -- and I want some zest to it, I will add peperoncino because it fits in.

But I am of black pepper origin.

And when you're cooking or adding black pepper, remember to always add it at the end.

That's why you see the pepper mills on the tables.

Peppercorn is basically a seed, and it has tannins.

And if you cook pepper for a long time in a stew or braise it, it will release those tannins and it will become a little bitter, the sauce.

So if you do choose to use black pepper, which is delicious, always add it at the end to your dish.

Look at me.

I'm going to have to change for dinner.

But it's okay.

It's all about cooking.

So let's see.

I think we are there.

Everything is nice and shiny and glazed, and that's that.

So let's think about Lidia, since I deserve this time... Heh.

Let me get the funky one here.

The one that gave me all that trouble.

I'm gonna get even.

I'm gonna eat it.

So, a little pepper.

Okay.

That's Lidia.

Now, for you guys, a platter for everybody to enjoy.

Let me sort of start with some of the sausages.

The rest are okay.

And you just pile them on a plate.

Let the goodness flow.

Mmm-mmm-mmm.

Imagine everybody is at the table and you come with this tempting platter of delicious sausage and peppers.

So here we are.

It's ready to deliver.

Okay, now let's... Mm-hmm.

A little onion, a little peppers.

[ Blowing ] It's really good.

After it gave me all that trouble, it's really good.

So a little Schioppettino.

Schioppettino is a red varietal from Friuli.

It's fruity, and it's going to go just great with this.

Delicious Schioppettino.

Mmm.

Goes good with the sausage.

And the last minute I'm going to add the basil, because when you introduce it to heat, it changes, it becomes black.

So put it on at the last minute just like that.

Bring it to the table, and everybody's gonna... Zeppole di San Giuseppe.

You got to keep your guests happy.

And of course, dessert will do it every time I have some milk warming here to make the pastry cream.

Let's get some fresh vanilla beans.

Zeppole di San Giuseppe is delicious.

It's one of my favorite dishes.

So clear out the bean itself like that.

Let's throw that in there.

Okay.

We'll let that steep a little bit, get the flavor.

And the pastry cream is all about egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and of course the warm milk to bind the whole thing.

Four egg yolks.

♪♪ Okay.

We got all the egg yolks.

Let's add the sugar to this.

♪♪ Okay.

Let's add the cornstarch.

And of course you have to make the pastry cream before because you want to chill it.

Overnight is fine.

But, you know, as long as it's in the refrigerator for three, four hours, it should be fine.

And I'm gonna temper the eggs now.

Tempering is just slowly adding some of the hot milk.

Because if you say, okay, put it all together, the eggs would curdle.

You would get frittata -- scrambled eggs.

And slowly you bring the temperature of the eggs up.

Now we will add this to the milk.

Okay.

Moderate heat, not too hot.

You don't want it to curdle on you.

Let me get the vanilla beans.

The shell, actually, of the beans.

Okay.

And you slowly cook it and almost bring it to the boiling point, but not quite boiling.

So the pastry cream is nice and dense.

Let's whisk in some butter, just two pats of butter, to give it that kind of smoothness and that shine.

And once it's all well whisked and shiny, let it come to room temperature.

And once it's at room temperature, pass it through a sieve, then put it in a bowl, cover it tightly with a plastic wrap so it doesn't form a skin, and put it in the refrigerator to chill.

Overnight is best, but three, four hours, it will happen.

Okay.

We let this chill, and our zeppoles are next.

I have some time, so let's see if there's any new e-mails.

You know I love them.

Let's see what Deb says.

"We are a small group of friends who have been getting together every Sunday to cook a meal from one of your many cookbooks.

We do feel like part of your family.

I have attached a few pictures from our most recent meal.

Osso Bucco.

It was delicious as usual.

You have been an inspiration to all of us.

We even sing the songs from your shows and miss your mom so much."

So do I.

But she's with us.

"Thank you for sharing your love, food, and family.

You are the best!"

Mamma mia, this glorious e-mail you're sending me, Deb, it really kind of enlightens my heart.

And, yes, we all miss Grandma.

So let me click here.

I want to see you, ladies.

I want to see what you're up to.

Oh, the osso buco looks good.

Mmm!

Look at those ladies go.

Oh, you have some guys in there, too.

So keep on cooking.

Thank you very much.

And that osso buco looks great.

Brava!

Brava!

The oil is heating.

The pastry cream is cooling.

Let's get to the zeppole.

Simple dough.

Water boiling, some butter.

The oil is protesting.

I guess we got a drop of water into it.

[ Oil popping ] But we won't let that stop us.

But you got to be careful not to get water in hot oil, for sure.

Some sugar.

Pinch of salt.

Let the butter melt.

And then we'll add the flour right in here.

It's important that you get to cook the flour until it pulls off the sides just like that.

♪♪ And we let it chill a bit before we add the eggs.

Let's get the eggs ready.

Four eggs.

And what's important is to add the eggs slowly, one by one, to this warm dough.

Okay.

I'm gonna grate some lemon zest to put in the dough.

It just gives that extra special Italian flavor.

Naples is known for its lemon desserts, all kind of lemon desserts.

So let's put that in.

And you can slide one egg at a time.

And let the egg incorporate thoroughly in the dough before adding the next egg.

♪♪ ♪♪ Okay.

♪♪ Now we are ready to fry it.

So a spoonful like this will do.

And just plop it in.

Frying temperature, 360 degrees.

♪♪ ♪♪ Let's check these babies out.

So we'll keep on frying them like that.

And you want them nice and golden.

You don't want them brown.

Give them time to cook from the inside out.

And they puff into these beautiful zeppoles.

Look how they puff up.

So they become fluffy inside and the dough is cooked.

Because if you have temperature too high, it seals, it doesn't give it a chance to expand and to become the nice zeppole that it should be.

And don't be concerned if it's not exactly the round zeppole that you want.

You know, when we were kids and Grandma was making the zeppole, we had fun because we would look at the zeppole and figure out which animal it looked like because it had all these kind of pointers.

For us it was fun.

It's one of my favorite desserts.

So I will keep on frying them.

I'll let them cool.

Then we'll stuff them.

We'll have some.

Let's see what people are writing in.

I'm curious.

Michelle -- "What Italian dessert do you suggest I try to make (try being the key word here, as I might not be the best baker) to impress my Italian in-laws?"

Don't underestimate yourself, Michelle.

And you know what's an easy Italian dessert recipe?

Cheesecake.

Ricotta, of course.

Good, fresh ricotta.

Drain it.

Some grated orange peel, some sugar, eggs, and a little flour just to bind it all.

As simple as that.

Get yourself a good recipe.

And you bake it in a springform.

Let it cool.

Don't put it in the refrigerator.

It is best when it is at room temperature.

And your in-laws will be impressed.

Go for it, Michelle.

Dessert is coming, and I've been filling this Zeppole di San Giuseppe.

And you remember how I told you that when we were kids we had the zeppole, and we would pick the one that looked like an animal.

Now, I have one here.

Now, does this one look like a chicken or what?

As kids, you had to have a little imagination, but it was lots of fun besides being delicious.

So here they are.

They've cooled.

The way to fill them is just gently slice them in half just like that.

And you see you have plenty of space to put the cream.

And it's best to fill them when you're ready to eat.

Filling them before, the dough gets wet.

So here we are.

Here I have the pastry cream.

It's easy to fill.

With the point and everything.

You put it in a glass, you fold the top over the glass rim.

You put your cream and then you tighten it and you tie it with the plastic wrap right here.

Okay.

And voilà.

Voilà.

Mmm-mmm.

Okay.

You can close it like this, you know?

But I thought a little bit of chocolate with chopped hazelnut.

You can enhance your Zeppole di San Giuseppe.

San Giuseppe would be very happy to have this zeppole.

Okay.

So let's close it.

But you can do, you know, if you like something else, you like peanut butter, whatever you'd like you can put in here.

And you make like a sandwich just like that.

Beautiful.

This one is for Lidia.

Right here.

Now, traditionally, the Amarena cherries are put on top of it.

So a little dab of the cream so the cherry would kind of nestle in there.

And sometimes, you know, you're piping things and it doesn't want to get off.

Notice, you go down and you cut it off that way.

Here.

Let's do the Amarena cherries just like that.

Now you can put powdered sugar if you want.

I think there's enough sweetness here, there's enough of everything.

The Amarena cherry is the tradition here with the zeppole.

Here we are.

Where's Lidia's?

Now, all of these goodies.

This right here.

It looks beautiful.

It's very nice and easy process.

Not hard.

And really Italian.

Let's see what's happening here.

There you go.

Now, I am going to eat this, and you're gonna watch me.

What can I tell you?

You have to make your own.

Let's take a bite.

Mmm.

It is so delicious.

The whole thing, even though it's fried, the whole thing is so light.

So, tutti a tavola a mangiare!

Fill your table with deliciousness like this.

A recipe for a good dinner with friends is good friends.

You need that.

They're happy that they're relaxed in your home.

Then of course you need some good food.

And a little music on the side too.

But once you have all those elements put together, sit yourself down at that table to enjoy the meal and to enjoy your friends.

That's very important because they want your food, yes, but they want your company too.

[ Singing in Italian ] -[ Speaking Italian ] Non piangere sul latte versato.

-"Don't cry over spilled milk."

Just keep on going and forge ahead.

-What's gone is gone.

-The food from this 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 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... ♪♪