-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: Tradition to Table."

-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.

-It's the Italian way.

Prosecco DOC rosé.

A toast of Italy.

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

-I cook and live by the seasons.

It's just what feels natural to me.

This risotto is all about the technique.

Fava, scallions, asparagus.

The flavors are of spring, or whatever the season is at your home, you can change that.

Warm-roasted fruit over cold ice cream is my favorite dessert.

It's easy to make with any fruit in any season.

And sometimes, I even eat it for breakfast.

What a glorious tart.

The leeks and the scallions, with the crunchy crust -- it's perfect for appetizer, for brunch.

It's delicious any way you put it.

Trust me, let the seasons guide you in the kitchen.

Think seasonally.

♪♪ ♪♪ The season that is most vivid in my mind, of course, is spring.

You have winter -- everything is sort of dormant, and then spring comes.

And the first thing that we did, we went foraging.

March, April, depends on how much rain, depends on how much sun.

The wild herbs, the wild asparagus.

Till this day, it's almost like a pilgrimage.

I go to Istria and go foraging for those wild asparagus.

So, the questions I get a lot is, "What makes a good recipe, a good cuisine?"

What makes sense to me.

Choosing the right ingredients is the base, and what's important about that is staying in the season, because the best ingredients are when nature decided to give it to you with the climate wherever you are.

As a chef, I have technique, but an ingredient, if it's not at its best, I cannot remake it.

Okay, going to the kitchen.

See you there.

♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] Everybody ready?

-And good.

-Risotto con asparagi e fave.

Risotto, like pasta, carries the flavors.

And this risotto certainly carries spring.

Favas -- wonderful spring legume, and you can find them in the market.

And it's easy to open them and shell them.

So, you can just cut it like that, just open it, and here you go.

You find the fava beans.

And this is a fun thing to do with the family.

The kids will love it.

But, you know, there is a process to fava.

So, you have a pot of plain boiling water and you have some water with ice.

You see, it has another shell here that we have to peel off.

Let's just dump the whole beans right in there and give them a quick boil a few minutes and then put them in an ice bath.

And like that, and you just squeeze them out like that.

Now, is that fun?

That could be fun for the whole family.

I have the knife, but you can just snip it off with your nails and squeeze it out.

And you keep on going.

It takes time, but then you get your rewards.

Okay, I think this is enough.

You have to sort of just blanch the skin, and then, when you throw it in the ice water, it detaches and it's easy to pull off.

And, so, I am jumping from process to process to expedite it for you.

But first, you shell all the pods.

Then you blanch all of the beans.

Then you let them soak and cool a few minutes.

And then you peel them again.

I'm going to keep peeling them and when I have them all done, we'll go to the risotto.

Lidia here again.

And not behind the stove.

I'm reading your e-mails and I love it.

So, this one is from Daniel.

"I recently made your farro risotto.

I planned to use the leftovers for farotto cakes in the same way that you made your risotto cakes.

However, the farotto would not stick together."

Yeah.

Purtroppo.

"I tried binding it with egg and more grated cheese, but that was an epic fail.

Any suggestions?"

The farro is not as starchy as the rice, hence it doesn't have that stickiness.

So it's crumbly.

So suggestion is, you turn it into a frittata.

You sauté whatever your farotto is, whisk a few eggs, some cheese, and you have a nice frittata with flavored farro in it."

Okay, Daniel?

Give it a try.

Keep me posted.

Thank you for writing.

Who doesn't love risotto?

You know, rice is the one food that feeds the largest amount of people on this planet.

For a risotto, you need a short-grain rice.

But just to give you a quick comparison, this is the short-grain rice.

You see it -- plump.

And this is your long-grain rice.

This is the rice that you use at home regularly.

So, let me start with my risotto.

You need a nice thick pan.

Cast iron is great.

Let's start with shallots.

Now, do you use shallots?

Do you use onions?

It's the same family.

Shallots disintegrate better and bring a little bit more flavor to your dish.

And my knuckles are always up front.

Just in case I get too fast with my knife, my knuckles stop me from chopping my fingers.

And scallions here.

I'm going to use the white part.

Then the green part I'm going to use towards the end as a refreshing element in the risotto.

Okay.

So, here is the white part.

Everything goes in there.

I'm gonna put a little bit of salt on the shallots.

And at this point, I'm going to toast the rice.

Make sure you toast it first.

You seal off the outside.

You coat it here with the oil.

So we have formed a little capsule out of each rice.

That's the idea.

Now, rice is 96% starch and it doesn't have a lot of flavor, so you have to fill it with flavor.

And one of the elements is putting something with acidity and flavor.

Wine or prosecco DOC, which kind of elevates this risotto.

We want the alcohol to evaporate and we want the acidity and the flavor of this Prosecco DOC to enter into each rice.

To continue pulling out the starches, you need stock.

2 cups of liquid.

And that needs to be hot.

It needs to be at the same temperature.

And the more flavor you have in it, the better your risotto.

In this case, spring asparagus.

And this all you save for soup.

Makes a great soup.

That's it, like that.

Very simple.

At this point, the addition of liquid.

Hot, as I said.

Just enough to cover the rice.

What happens is that it's pulling the starch out.

And this is when a risotto really gets creamy.

I'm going to use the bottom part of the asparagus for the flavoring and I'm going to leave the top to put in towards the end to kind of be crunchy, look good.

Let me finish chopping this.

So, this will be the last-minute decoration.

Let's get everything ready.

And I have the favas.

Now I need to salt the rice.

You want sort of to coax those starches out.

The combination of starch chains that composes that rice kernel is why short-grain rice is used for risotto.

The short starch chain is more prevalent and it breaks down easier and it turns into a creamy risotto.

And carnaroli, arborio, Vialone Nano are all short-grain rice with that ratio of starch.

It's time to add the fava beans.

Let that simmer.

We have time for a read here.

Oh, Olivia.

My granddaughter Olivia.

"Nonni, I want to make a healthy salad with seasonal veggies for a dinner party.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Nonni."

Of course.

I have plenty of ideas for you.

One would think always of leafy salad, but, you know, one thing that I remember my grandmother doing was steamed vegetables and then turned into a salad.

Steamed broccoli, string beans, and then you dress them like a salad.

Alright, Olivia.

Make one for me when I come there, okay?

Or maybe I'll make one for you when you come over.

So, let's put in the asparagus spears.

I'm going to put the scallion tops just for a fresh touch at the end.

Now the last step comes.

Close the fire off.

And it is mantecare.

So it takes butter at room temperature and some grated cheese.

Let's put in the butter first and you whip it in.

The creaminess developing evermore.

And, of course, then the cheese.

And this is your risotto.

Let me get my little dish for two things.

I want to taste it, but, also, it helps me.

So I'm going to sort of escort myself.

Mmm!

So, here is the risotto.

Your guests need to be at the table, ready to eat and enjoy.

You could put the whole pan in the middle and do it family style.

Let them take as much as they would like.

I think a little bit of cheese.

A little bit of cheese on mine.

You can see how nice and creamy.

Let's taste it.

Mmm!

All the ingredients have their own textures.

Excellent.

You got it?

Risotto?

You have the technique?

Make some.

Pere e cranberries al forno con gelato.

I'm at the end of the book.

I'm looking for some desserts for you.

This is one I like.

Roasted cranberries and pears over ice cream.

Once you make this, you will forever keep it in your repertoire.

And you can put fruits of the season, turn into any flavor you want.

One thing you have to be careful is not to overcook the fruit.

So, let's start with what I have here.

You put apricot jam, some sugar, some freshly squeezed lemon juice, orange juice, strips of the peel of the lemon, vanilla bean, dry white wine.

Could you use prosecco DOC?

Of course.

It'll be even more festive.

Cranberries -- you know, you can buy frozen cranberries now.

They're around.

And firm Bosc pears.

And you don't want it to be overripe, because you're cooking it, and it will disintegrate in the baking pan.

Now, the technique is so simple.

All the ingredients go into a baking dish.

Give it a stir so the sugar disintegrates, so the jam disintegrates.

Nestle the fruit in, and you put it in the oven.

You're doing your roasting, you're having family over, and you wanted a dessert.

This is one way of making dessert and doing it in the same oven.

So, you can do this before everything else.

Mix it just once.

And they're delicious.

You have to serve with a knife.

Just touch it, make sure that it's cooked, that it's not hard, and don't let it overcook.

So keep an eye, because it depends on the maturity of your fruit.

Once you have it out, you have the juice, you have everything, you can remove the vanilla bean and the lemon peels.

You can put in a nice mound of ice cream.

Once you've plated it, you got to give it to your guests.

And sometimes, I even eat it for breakfast.

Pull out my yogurt, spoon it on top, and voilà, breakfast is done.

Crostata di porri e ricotta.

Leek-and-ricotta tart.

Simple, delicious.

You can make it any season, with mushrooms or with tomatoes or whatever.

The first thing you do, of course, is make the crust.

That's simple.

Get a processor.

Let's get some flour in there.

Some grated cheese.

A little bit of sugar.

And salt.

We'll give this just a whirl.

And now we'll pull it all together.

I'm going to use an egg.

I'm going to save the white of the eggs, and I'm going to put the yolk in to make the dough.

Let's add the butter first.

Cold, small pieces.

And I'll pulse it like this.

One of those that you don't want to work too much.

You don't want to build the gluten in this, though.

You want it kind of crumbly.

Okay.

And that's what you want from a dough.

You want the dough to sort of collect everything and come off the sides.

Let me just put a little bit of flour on my bench.

And... And, as I said, I don't want to overwork it.

And now just getting it together.

Almost like making a piecrust.

Can't work without it.

This is a dough scraper, so I really need it for this.

But you know I always have it, because it keeps my bench clean.

Okay.

And then we will let it rest in the fridge for about an hour.

Let me wrap it up in plastic wrap.

Plastic wrap.

Wrap it tightly.

Let it chill and rest, and then it will roll out real easy and it'll be crumbly once the tart is baked.

I love these e-mails.

"For my risotto, I sauté some onions in a little olive oil and butter.

I then add arborio rice to the onions and let it cook a little in the oils.

Then I gradually add warm stock with saffron until it is all absorbed.

But my risotto is dry, never creamy.

What am I doing wrong?

Gloria."

Well, risotto is about the technique.

And so far, you know, what you're doing seems within the technique of making a good risotto.

The one step that you're missing is the mantecare step.

Mantecare means to whip together in usually some form of fat and flavor.

In this case, you have some butter at room temperature and some grated cheese.

And when your risotto reaches that doneness that you like, take it off the fire, whip in the butter.

And after you've whipped in the butter, put in the cheese.

Whip in the cheese.

And that should give your risotto the creaminess that you're looking for.

So, Gloria, try it again and keep me posted.

Keep on writing.

Thank you.

The dough is resting, so let's make the filling.

We'll start with leeks, and we'll sauté them in a little bit of butter.

And clean and wash your leeks.

And use as much green as you see that it's tender.

Remove those tough outer leaves.

Alright.

Let's put this to sauté nice and gentle.

Lots of leeks.

Let's do the scallions.

Green, through the green part.

The greenness of leeks and scallions make it special.

I'll put a little bit of salt.

Some freshly ground pepper.

Okay.

Certainly, you can do this before, because we're going to let it cool a minute before we introduce it into the filling.

Simple.

Ricotta.

I drained the ricotta so it's not too wet.

Just put it in a strainer.

Overnight is great.

Little bit of nutmeg.

It's really pronounced.

Italians -- we use it a lot for stuffings.

Okay.

This is fine.

It's wilted.

I'm gonna let it cool off a little bit before I add it to the mix.

The egg white I saved before -- I'm just going to whisk it up a little bit.

Okay.

Let's throw in the chopped parsley.

A little fresh pepper.

Some salt.

Some grated cheese Okay.

Now we have the leeks.

Okay.

Alright.

So, the stuffing is done.

We're going to roll out the dough and bake it.

E-mails keep on coming, and I love it.

And this one is from Cheryl.

"I thought making Italian food was complicated, but your show has shown me it can be simple and healthy.

Fennel is relatively new to me, but I adore it.

My question, is why do we only use the bulb and the fronds?

Is there some reason not to use the green stalks?"

Well, some vegetables, you know, there's roots, there's cores, there's all things that don't cook soft, and the stems of the fennel happens to be that.

So, you don't have to throw them out.

You can save them and put them in stock.

When you have one bulb or two, cut the stalks, freeze them, and next time you make a soup, just throw it in there.

But it's a good question, Cheryl.

Thank you for writing in.

We are ready to roll and bake our tart.

I have a 9-inch pan here.

Let's butter it well.

Soft butter.

Just let's get in all the corners.

Alright.

That's good.

Now -- Oh, I missed a little spot here.

This is a nice idea.

I just picked it up.

You cut your parchment paper in a strip and you put it down the middle, just like that.

And we'll put the dough in here.

So when it's baked, you can pull it out.

You don't have to worry about breaking it or whatever.

So, let's roll the dough.

Nice and chilled.

A little bit of flour.

And you want to make it round so the parchment is easy, you can handle it, and then you can transport it.

And I like to overlap on top of the tart itself.

And you can pick it up, but, you know, nice way is just center it.

Fit it in the corners.

Just like that.

All set.

And let's put the stuffing in.

Mmm!

It smells good.

The leeks, the onions.

Alright.

Spread it evenly in all the corners.

Let's pull in the dough, and it curls up a little bit, but it will bake down in because there's a lot of butter.

And we're going to brush this with an egg.

Put a little bit of salt in there.

And just a drop of water whenever you whisk an egg.

It just loosens up the egg.

It becomes easier to brush.

Okay.

Generously brush it, all the nooks and crannies.

Even the top of the tart.

Okay, so, that's good.

The crowning glory is grated cheese on top.

All over.

Mm-hmm!

So, a preheated oven at 375 degrees, 40 to 50 minutes.

Test it for doneness.

Depends on the hotness of your oven.

Kind of a nice, good caramel color.

And it is delicious.

So let's get it in the oven.

Alright, one more question, from Deb.

Let's see what Deb wants to know.

"What is the difference between white and black pepper, and how do you know when to use which?"

Each one has a different intensity in the spiciness, in the pungency, in the aroma.

And, you know, depends on what you like.

Black pepper is more abundant, and I guess it's the pepper that reached the market in largest quantity, and people got used to it.

The white pepper is a little milder.

The green and the red pepper is a bit more aromatic.

And thank you all.

I love it.

I'm interested.

Keep on writing.

So, the tart is baked.

I let it sort of settle and cool a little bit.

And now we're going to taste it.

So, these things are very handy.

As I told you, you just pick it up.

And just slide it out.

And let me transport it.

I think this is nice, you know, if you just cut it up and put it on the table and let everybody help themselves.

So...

Need a serrated knife so you don't crush the whole tart.

Start from the middle and, in a sawing motion, just like that.

So, let's see how it looks.

Mmm!

I think it looks pretty good.

What do you think?

Well, I'll be discreet.

I'll take the smaller one.

I'm almost tempted to take a bite, almost like a pizza.

How's that?

Alright.

Look at this.

Look at this.

Mmm!

Mmm!

So delicious.

And as I always say, you know, I invite you -- Tutti a tavola a mangiare con Lidia.

Salute.

[ Singing in Italian ] I'm going to go in with my hand, and you stay on that.

And I'm going to take a big bite and put back a little piece.

I'll keep on eating.

You have a whole sequel here.

-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, call 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.

-And by...