Celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich talks about family and food before meeting fans in RI

It’s always such a delight to talk to celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich. She is infinitely relatable.

Even though she has run restaurants and is partner in Eatalys across the world — she's all about family and home cooking.

She's coming to Rhode Island this weekend where she will meet fans and sign her new cookbook Saturday, Dec. 11 from noon to 2 p.m. at Dave’s Fresh Marketplace, 1000 Division Rd., East Greenwich.

"Lidia's A Pot, A Pan, and A Bowl" ($29.95 list price) is on sale now at the store for $20 while supplies last.

Lidia said Dave's does a great job selling her books and arranging her book signings. She hasn't been for three years and she's glad to be coming back.

"We have so many fans in Rhode Island, it's wonderful," she said.

Lidia's family

When we spoke a few days after Thanksgiving, the holiday was still on her mind. She said it was a great one but she talked about all the different dishes she cooked to satisfy her five adult grandchildren.

"In the last few years, my family is all scattered," Lidia said. "There is no better way than to make everybody’s favorite and put it on the table. It brings them in."

"I like to do an American-style Thanksgiving, to celebrate this country that gave us so much.

"But my grandkids want clams and octopus and oysters. They are into their adult taste mode," she said.

She has vegetarian and pescatarians at the table. So she paired the Jerusalem artichokes with sweet potatoes.

We were on the phone to talk about her new cookbook written with her daughter Tanya Bastianich Manuali.

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Lidia lost her beloved mother

I didn't realize until I read it that Lidia's mother, Grandma Erminia Matticchio, died in February, a month after her 100 birthday.

Grandma was often on Lidia's cooking shows, in person or by mention.

"I still feel her," Lidia said. "She is always protecting me."

She said she felt 2020, one marked by the COVID pandemic and shutdowns, was a gift because she was with her mother, who lived with her.

It was during the pandemic, she and her daughter and co-author, tested recipes.

For this one pan book, she really thought about her grandmother. Her stove only ever had one pan on it. She doesn't think she even owned three pots.

"I think for me, it’s a book that is about returning to basics. It's the way I cooked with my grandmother. It's comfort food."

The only "trick" with one pan cooking is having the patience to understand cooking times and to add the ingredients at the right time.

That isn't a worry for her lasagna recipe. She tried the no boil sheets of pasta and was pleased to find they were good..

Lidia said she is conscious of the reality of today with everyone too busy to cook.

"So my idea was, let’s make it easy, because I want people to cook," she said. "Having the smells of cooking in a house is such a comfort. It creates a good feeling that someone loves me."

Recipes from Lidia Bastianich

Skillet Lasagna

Extra-virgin olive oil, for coating the skillet

3¼ cups marinara sauce (homemade or store-bought)

1 cup fresh ricotta

1 cup shredded low-moisture mozzarella

½ cup freshly grated Grana Padano

1 large egg, beaten

½ cup frozen peas

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Kosher salt

Peperoncino flakes

12 sheets no-boil lasagna noodles

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add enough olive oil to make a thin film on the bottom of the skillet. Add 1¾ cups of the marinara with ¼ cup water, and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

In a bowl, combine the ricotta, ½ cup mozzarella, ¼ cup grated Grana Padano, the egg, peas, and parsley. Season with salt and a pinch of pepperoncino, and mix well.

Layer three of the noodles in the skillet over the sauce. Dollop a third of the ricotta mixture on top of the pasta in the skillet, and spread it out to cover the noodles; then drizzle with ¼ cup of the tomato sauce. Make two more layers, ending with noodles. Drizzle with the remaining 1½ cups tomato sauce. Top with the remaining ½ cup mozzarella and ¼ cup grated cheese. Cover the skillet, and simmer until the pasta is al dente (test by piercing the center with a paring knife), 20 to 25 minutes. Preheat the broiler. Broil the lasagna just until the top is nicely browned, about 1 minute. Let it sit for 15 minutes before cutting and serving so the lasagna will settle and cut into portions more easily.

Notes: You can add additional vegetables to this if you like. Try browning some mushrooms — or, a few crumbled links of Italian sausages — in the olive oil before adding the sauce, or add a few handfuls of baby spinach to each layer.

Serves 4

Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cookies

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

8 ounces fresh ricotta

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Kosher salt

1 cup mini-chocolate chips

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting, if desired

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

Cream the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with a handheld mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, and add the eggs. Beat until smooth. Add the ricotta and vanilla, and beat to combine.

Sift the flour and baking powder right into the bowl, and add a pinch of salt. Mix on low speed until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

Drop the cookies in heaping tablespoons onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies, in three rows of five. Bake, rotating the trays from top to bottom halfway through, until the cookies are puffed and golden at the edges, about 16 to 18 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar before serving, if desired.

Makes about 2½ dozen

Recipes from "Lidia’s a Pot, a Pan, and a Bowl" by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. (Copyright Tutti a Tavola, excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House.)

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Chef Lidia Bastianich, PBS star, to visit Dave’s Fresh Marketplace, RI