- [Announcer] "Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by.

- [Narrator] Aboard Oceania Cruises, we share a journey of culinary discovery, from shore excursions dedicated to local food traditions to our hands-on cooking school at sea.

Our master chefs take inspiration from vibrant markets and flavors as they create the international dishes served to guests each evening.

That's the Oceania Cruises' Epicurean experience.

(gentle music) - [Announcer] And by USA Rice.

(gentle music) - [Sara] If your dream is to eat Italian food 24/7, wake up.

We have just what you're looking for.

Starting with an Italian mama's incredible zucchini frittata.

- This dish is fun because you really, you use your hands.

- [Sara] You do.

Best tools in the kitchen.

- Hands down.

(chuckles) - Yeah, hands, oh, pun.

On the side, arugula salad with a special dressing.

- [Pasqua] Roasted lemon dressing.

- Roasted?

I've never tasted a frittata like this.

This is the perfect meal.

(upbeat music) And then.

- I'm a professional pizza eater and I make it sound fancy.

Grazie.

- [Sara] The American expat Katie Parla takes me on a snack tour of Rome.

- [Katie] Oh, I'm so excited.

- Do we have to do it that way?

- That's just the classy way to do it.

- [Sara] Oh, perfect.

Back in Katie's kitchen.

- We're gonna make some stellar Roman pastas.

Gricia, Amatriciana and carbonara.

- Oh, yay.

- Are you into that?

- Am I into that?

Oh yeah, I'm into it.

All right.

And you will be too.

The best Italian food ever.

Today on "Sara's Weeknight Meals."

Our guest, Pasqua Laghezza grew up in Puglia, on the Italian coast, where her family owned a swanky seaside restaurant.

She adored the place so much when she followed her husband Franco to Miami.

She made him promise she could return to Italy each summer with their twin boys.

A good Italian mama.

She loves cooking for them, making the heritage recipe she learned by watching her mother and grandmother.

But stand back, good cook or not, she's totally ripped.

A blue ribbon competitive bodybuilder who can bench press 300 pounds.

(upbeat electronic music) Well, here we are, Pasqua.

- Hello, Sara.

- Hello.

It's so exciting to meet you.

Question.

How much can you bench lift?

- 135 pounds.

- Well, hey, I'm right here.

- Okay.

(chuckles) - I am slightly under that.

Yeah.

This is not appropriate.

It's not safe.

Okay.

So what are we doing here?

- So we do a simple dish from my region.

- Okay.

So we start with some bread, and then what happens?

- And then we pour some just milk.

Just let the bread soak for a little bit.

- [Sara] So the bread goes in the frittata.

- [Pasqua] Yes.

- [Sara] So for those people who don't know what a frittata is, essentially a baked omelet.

- It's a simple dish because at the end of the day, I grew up in my grandmother's house and it was like a little farmhouse.

Most of our food was made in house.

And we always have bread, milk, eggs, zucchini, we're right in the garden.

- How often?

Like once a week?

- Once a week.

I could say even twice.

- Really?

- Yes.

- Okay.

So is our bread ready?

How do we know?

- When he looks all wrinkle and the surface looks like he's already absorbed what it can but we can tear it apart.

- [Sara] Let's do that together.

- Yes.

That's the fun part.

- Yes, show me.

- This dish is fun because you really, you use your hands like- - [Sara] Is best tools in the kitchen.

- Hands down.

- Hands down.

Oh, boom, pun.

There we go.

- Yes, we keep going until it is nice and mushy.

- These are rolls.

Chicago rolls?

- Chicago rolls, my preference, but any bread will do- - Great for leftover know.

- Yes, it looks perfect.

- Okay.

We each have a wet towel.

So now what goes in?

- You have the zucchini.

We put the zucchini.

- Okay.

And this is about 300 grams?

- [Pasqua] 350 gram of shredded zucchini.

Two medium, one large will do.

Now we go with the cheese.

- [Sara] So it's 300 grams of Parmigiano Reggiano.

- And then we cannot the mint.

- [Sara] A lot of mint?

- [Pasqua] A lot.

Let's finish the whole thing.

- So that's like a half a cup of chopped mint.

It's like the mint frittata.

- [Pasqua] One tablespoon of salt.

- [Sara] Oh, this smells so wonderful.

Okay, so now it's egg time.

How many eggs?

- Eight eggs.

Okay.

The first there we do with a spoon.

Any spoon will do the job.

- Okay.

All right.

- So first I give it a stir.

At this point, when the eggs are smashed, that comes the best stool again in the kitchen.

I left this.

- There we go.

- Should we?

- Yeah.

Oh, I'll let you do this one.

- See, also, because using the hands, I realize always the texture because I like to adjust the consistency after I'm done.

It's a good- - Okay.

But if it was much wetter, then you would add some breadcrumbs and some Parmesan.

- [Pasqua] It looks good.

- [Sara] Yeah, that looks beautiful.

- And we use the nonstick fried pan because it's actually, we call it frittata because it's partially fried.

We pour the oil.

- [Sara] Good olive oil.

- [Pasqua] Yes.

A good amount.

Otherwise, even if it's a nonstick pan, it will stick.

- So I'm sure you have beautiful olive oil in Puglia.

- Yes, of course.

We are surrounded by beautiful trees.

They are a piece of art.

So I try to be as even as possible.

And then I'm gonna be fast and pour it all over.

I use this.

- [Sara] Oh wow.

This is really fantastic.

- [Pasqua] See it.

- Yeah.

- We leave this.

Now I spread it.

See the frying?

- [Sara] I see the frying.

Oh, I can smell the olive oil too.

- And we use the spoon just to smooth it out to make the thickness even.

Now we gonna use a fork just to work on the edges.

I don't know why this, but give a beautiful shape to the crust.

My grandma used to do this- - I was gonna say it's because your grandmother did it.

- It may not make any sense at all.

- [Pasqua] It actually look, it looks beautiful and that's it.

- Okay.

Alright.

It's bubbling.

We pop it in the oven.

- [Pasqua] Yes.

Yes.

- [Sara] Okay.

And what temperature are we baking it at?

- [Pasqua] 400.

About 30 minutes.

- While that's baking, we're gonna make the salad.

What kind of dressing are we making?

- Roasted lemon dressing.

- [Sara] Roasted?

- Just cut the lemon slice like this.

Two lemon.

Okay.

And we just place it face down.

- And the point is to get a little char on it.

A little- - Yes.

A little char.

A little smokey flavor.

And we add just a club of garlic.

And now we put the wet ingredient here.

So we put some olive oil, more or less two tablespoon we go by.

- [Sara] Of course you do.

- One tablespoon of Dijon mustard.

Don't be shy a lot.

- [Sara] So do I.

- [Pasqua] Pinch of salt.

Some pepper.

So let's check on this lemons.

- [Sara] Oh, that is beautiful.

- It look perfect.

We're gonna just put him here to rest a bit.

- To cool off a little bit.

- Yes.

Because as always, I squeeze with my hands so I let cool a little bit.

The garlic can go right inside the whole thing.

While they cool down, we take off the frittata.

I think it's about time.

- [Sara] Okay.

Well, I've been smelling it.

- [Pasqua] Yes.

It smells good.

- Oh, that is beautiful.

- I just, again, squeeze them in, one.

- [Sara] Now you're going to use an immersion blender.

That's wild.

- It makes beautiful, smooth, creamy texture.

- [Sara] Yeah.

Emulsified.

Now, if you didn't have an immersion blender, what would you do?

- Whatever mixer you have.

If not, just working with a fork.

- Fork.

Yeah.

So what are the greens here.

- Baby mixed green, some baby arugula, carrot shredded and fennel.

Now we just- - [Sara] Think it's time to plate, don't you?

- [Pasqua] Yes so I'm gonna take one quarter out and make a a meal for me and for you.

- [Sara] Okay, good.

- I can cut it in two.

- [Sara] Oh, I'm so excited.

- And serve it, that.

- I hear that crispy edge.

I'm a crispy girl.

I'm gonna go right for the crust, since you were so generous.

- Yeah, me too.

I'll get the crust.

- Wow.

That is like, I've never tasted a frittata like this.

- Really?

- Oh, this is a whole different animal.

This is the perfect meal.

Thank you.

- My pleasure.

Sara.

Thank you for having me.

It was a great experience, thank you so much.

It's so much fun.

(cheerful music) (calm music) - Rome is full of wonders, but on the top of my list is the food.

That's why Katie Parla came to Rome just out of college.

Now she's got food columns, TV shows, and seven cookbooks.

The newest is the food of the Italian Islands.

We met over coffee at Cafe Roscioli to start a day of well, snacking.

Did you envision this when you left your other world in the United States?

- No.

I didn't even know you could write cookbooks.

- Well, there you go.

- It was a mystery to me, so I had to figure it out.

Long story short, I'm a professional pizza eater and I make it sound fancy.

- I like that.

I can get behind that.

So tell me what we've got here.

- [Katie] These are Maritozzi- - The little guys?

So this is what essentially like briosh or- - Precisely filled with a lot of whipped cream.

- That's obscene.

- In a way.

Yes.

But a little bit of sugar in the whipped cream.

Listen, there's no glamorous way to eat this.

- I'm frightened.

- I kind of want a modesty veil, but that's not an option right now.

We're gonna do our best.

- Okay.

- Okay.

- [Sara] Alright.

- [Katie] Just attack it from the corner.

- Okay.

There's a little bit of citrus in there too.

- Little lemon zest going on.

And this used to be a pretty classic Roman breakfast.

- Oh really?

You can't get it anywhere else in Italy?.

Well, geez.

I mean, well thank you.

- Of course.

- I'm learning from a master here.

- You're doing great.

- Thank you.

- Complimenting.

(upbeat music) - Street food.

Is that normal here in Rome?

Is that something they do?

- See and we eat standing up, not walking around.

Not on public transport.

It's a way to eat really affordably.

Of course, everyone wants to sit down to a five course lunch every day.

But that's not practical.

So street food's, where it█s at.

- Oh, okay.

- Are you ready for some?

- Oh, I'm so ready.

(upbeat music) Oh my God.

The aromas are killing me in here.

- Well, everything's baking over there.

And then they sell it here.

And I brought you for my favorite snack on planet Earth.

It's called Pizza with Mortadella.

And this is a flat bread that's cut open, filled with thin slices of mortadella.

No mayo, no tomato.

It's just two things.

And it's so good.

- [Sara] Oh my goodness.

(Katie speaks in Italian) - You're in for a treat.

- Oh, I can't wait.

(Katie and Fabrizio speak in Italian) (calm music) - [Katie] Bon appetite.

- [Sara] Oh, I'm so excited.

- Love it.

- And how does he get it so crispy?

- Fabrizio here has a trick.

He cuts the pizza open when it's just out of the oven, opens it up, lets the steam come out.

And then that guarantees a crispier product.

- [Sara] The Mortadella, it's peppery.

- [Katie] Yeah.

It's got a lot of spices in it.

Even some pistachios.

- Oh, it's yummy.

And you know what, it's a far cry from bologna in the United States, I have to say.

I mean, no wonder you mentioned mayonnaise.

- [Katie] It's perfect as it is.

It doesn't need anything.

- It doesn't need a darn thing.

Oh, so good.

- [Katie] I'm so glad you like it.

(upbeat music) Okay.

We worked up an appetite in all of three blocks.

- [Sara] Yeah.

I hope I have room.

- [Katie] And next up one of the most Roman of all things.

- [Sara] Oh really?

- Yeah.

- Oh, watch, excite.

- And this is our (speaks in Italian), the king of fried cheese.

(Katie and Chef speak in Italian) - So what are we getting?

- We're gonna have suppli, specifically a classic one, which is a tomato meat sauce and chicken gizzard ragu packed around a mozzarella heart.

And then breaded and fried.

- Fried rice balls.

- [Katie] Yeah.

- Huh?

Isn't that arancini?

- How dare you?

I know.

They look similar from the outside.

And they're both rice croquettes, but arancini from Sicily, Suppli from Rome.

And in their classic form Rome, it's a tomato meat sauce packed around a mozzarella heart.

Breaded and fried.

So you should get a satisfying cheese pull at the end.

This is how we learn through shame.

- Okay.

I like it.

(Chef speaks in Italian) - [Sara] Alright.

So I've got the, which one?

- You got cacio e pepe, Okay, I have classic.

- So we break first?

- Yeah, break it open.

And then wait for that cheese pull.

- Oh, oh, oh my.

- It's doing it.

- Goodness.

Oh dear.

I feel like a child.

- Oh.

Do we have to do it that way?

- That's just a classy way to do it.

- Oh, perfect.

- There are a few things that are more Roman than this.

An exception maybe being the pasta we're gonna make now.

- Ooh, I forgot about that.

Oh goodness.

We gotta get going.

- Shall we?

One more bite.

(calm music) I am here with Katie Parla, who is Roman via New Jersey and Yale.

And she happens to have written seven cookbooks.

And most recently you have a new cookbook out.

What's it called?

- "Food of the Italian Islands."

- Oh, nice.

So what are we making today?

We're gonna make some stellar Roman pastas.

Three of the most important ones.

Gricia, Amatriciana and carbonara.

- Oh yay.

- Are you into that?

- Am I into that?

Pardon?

Of course.

And so you're cutting up- - Guanciale.

So this is cured pork jowl.

Basically they have the same base, cured pork jowl, pecorino black pepper, and then you add tomato for Amatriciana and egg for carbonara.

- So we're cooking all the guanciale for all three.

- We're doing it all at once.

And then we'll separate it out.

- Do you want me to put a splash of olive oil?

- A little splash.

- A little splash.

Okay.

- That's good.

- Oh, that's good.

- Fat renders fat.

So what are we starting with?

Which is the first pasta?

We're gonna make Gricia first, and we're going to essentially render the fat from this guanciale.

And then once that is done, we're going to add some wine.

We're gonna add some pasta, pecorino, black pepper.

And that's like the OG shepherd's pasta.

Imagine that.

- Shepherd's pasta.

- Can't beat shepherd's pasta.

- [Sara] Oh, okay.

What is guanciale exactly?

- Guanciale is cured pork jowl.

It might look a little bit like pancetta or bacon, but it's about 30% fattier and it's jowl That's been salt cured.

And then everyone's got their kind of own vibe when it comes to the other seasonings.

In Rome, it's a lot of black pepper.

- Now what if you can't get guanciale?

- Try a little harder or use pancetta and bacon.

- Okay.

Would you like me to get the pasta?

- [Katie] I would love that, we wanna salt the pasta.

Not as liberally as you normally would.

Because remember, all three pastas are gonna be made with very salty ingredients.

- Okay.

So that was a pound of what kind of pasta?

- Bombolotti.

- Bombolotti.

- AKA mezze maniche, AKA half rigatoni.

- Oh, okay.

I'll go for the last one.

I picked the third option.

- We've cooked guanciale for all three dishes.

We're making half portions, 'cause I know we're hungry ladies, but we don't want to eat like 18 portions of pasta today.

And so we're only gonna use about a third of what we cooked.

And then set the rest aside for the Amatriciana and carbonara.

And now I'm just gonna add a little splash of wine.

- [Sara] Oh, just a little bit.

- It's a little splash and another controversial addition.

- Oh, I won't tell.

- This is only between us and the pasta.

- Do you wanna tell me if you think we're ready?

I know we wanna undercook it a little bit.

- We're good.

- We're good.

Okay.

I'm gonna take it out then and get us some pasta water.

Alright.

So we're gonna add half of this to the pan.

- Yeah.

- [Sara] And then we save the other half for- - Yeah, the Amatriciana.

And there she goes.

Looks good.

And you know what I might do if we've got it, mind reader, little pasta water, which is gonna bind everything together.

- [Sara] Yeah.

'cause of the starch in there.

- Exactly.

What you really wanna do is just agitate the pan a lot because that is going to create the emulsification that we want with the guanciale fat and the water.

And this is cooked al chiodo.

So you've heard about al dente, right?

- Yes.

- Which means?

- To the tooth.

- Yeah.

Do you know what al chiodo means?

- Heck no.

- To the iron nail.

It's a little bit harder and it's less- - You know, Italian is so poetic.

I just love it.

- [Katie] Why do we put the cheese in off the heat?

I took it off the flame and that way it won't stick to the pan.

- [Sara] Oh, that's good to know.

So yeah, you say when.

- [Katie] We're good.

- [Sara] We're good.

Okay.

Very scientific.

- Pepper?

- Yes, do it.

- And I like to season the pasta and then also use it kind of as a garnish.

And so if you have a really, really strong fresh aromatic pepper, You're gonna have just the most delicious, delicious Gricia.

Am I doing the whole thing?

- [Sara] Yeah.

Just dump it all in.

There you go.

- Let's dump it.

- And then we can move on to pasta number two.

Oh, that's gorgeous.

- Now hit me with a little bit of Pecorino.

I'll do some black pepper.

We season and season and season.

- We haven't talked about the star of the show among other things is the Pecorino.

Tell me about it.

- The name says it all.

Sheep's milk cheese is Pecorino.

Romano means Roman.

A cheese that's been made in and around Rome for 2000 years.

But actually most of it's made in Sardinia today, 97%.

This one's from Rome though.

- Okay.

Well I'm gonna park this over here 'cause we're gonna do a deep dive on three pastas at once.

When you drop that over there.

Can you grab the shallot and tomato?

- [Sara] Yes.

- Thank you.

Okay.

So take this.

- You want me to chop this little guy?

I would love it.

Dice it up.

- Okay.

- We're moving on to Amatriciana.

- [Sara] Why do they call it Amatriciana?

- So some people say it's from Amatricia.

In fact, they've registered the recipe at city hall in that village.

And the name sounds like that town.

So they say it's definitely from there.

Others say way predates any type of dish like that in Amatricia.

So we don't know.

Okay.

So we're gonna soften this a little bit of olive oil.

- [Sara] Okay.

- Okay.

So once these babies are soft, I'm gonna crush about half a 28 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes.

I'm gonna squeeze the tomatoes by hand.

Get a little rustic pulp action going.

But then also as I'm squeezing them, I can feel the unripe bits, which are hard and sometimes green.

So I don't want this in my pasta.

I'm gonna ditch it.

But then I wanna cook it until the tomato concentrates and it's lost its raw flavor.

I'm gonna throw this on the back burner and then we'll move on.

So we're onto the next, which is carbonara.

So we're doing spaghetti.

And this is half a pound 'cause we're doing half recipes.

Again, we have to stir it.

Right.

- And this takes about how long?

- So it depends, right?

It's how does it taste?

How does it look?

- [Sara] And we're doing how many eggs?

- We're gonna do two eggs, basically one per person.

And more controversy.

It's a theme.

Right?

- Okay.

- Some people say yolk only.

- Yolk only.

Oh no.

- [Katie] First recipes use the whole egg.

- So how does the carbonara differ from the other two?

Well, it's like Gricia plus egg or Amatriciana minus tomato.

And we're gonna use the Zabaglione method, which is- - Really?

Not everyone does this.

This is my approach.

I've copied it from other people.

- That's so cool.

That's like the dessert where you just take like marsala and eggs and sugar and beat it up over a double boiler.

That's brilliant.

- [Katie] And you need a whisk.

- [Sara] Yes.

- And what else do we need?

You need Pecorino and let's do a couple spoonfuls to start.

- [Sara] Oh, okay.

- [Katie] Okay.

Good.

- And then what else goes in there?

- Pasta, cooking water.

But not too hot.

Couple tablespoons.

That's good.

And now we're gonna use the heat of boiling water to slowly cook the eggs.

We don't wanna scramble them.

Can you hit me with some more pec?

- [Sara] Sure.

Tell me about carbonara.

- We've got anecdotes that say, after the war, American GIs demanded bacon and eggs in their pasta.

And so they would use their powdered eggs and bacon from K rations- - American GIs?

- What we do not have is any proof of that.

What we do know is that by 1960, some people were making this around Rome and that it has now become the most iconic pasta.

But we're at the creamy stage where we are good to go.

I'm gonna add some black pepper.

And in the meantime I think we can transfer that pasta.

- [Sara] Okay.

It goes right in, right?

- Oh yeah.

- Okay.

So I'm just gonna do it.

- [Katie] If you've never made carbonara, I would recruit a friend to help you the first time.

'Cause you don't want the eggs to curdle.

And this is hot.

- [Sara] We've worked so hard to get here.

- [Katie] Hot pasta.

- Okay, so we're good there.

- We're gonna add half of the remaining guanciale.

The rest is for garnish.

- [Sara] That looks so beautiful.

- Oh yes.

Here we go.

- Oh, gorgeous, guys, this smells great.

I'm so excited.

Oh my God.

And there's more.

- [Katie] There's more.

- [Sara] It gets better.

- [Katie] Beautiful, molto.

- [Sara] Oh my goodness.

- And then let's put this Amatriciana in a bed.

- [Sara] I like that.

I like the way you think.

- Let's do a little guanciale edition.

Leave a little for garnish.

And you know what, we're bad.

- Why not?

- Yeah, we earned it.

- We did.

We do.

And the pasta, or not yet?

- Pasta water.

- Pasta water.

Sorry.

There is a theme here.

- A little splash.

And then we'll add the pasta and then regulate the pasta water accordingly.

- Okay.

So here we go.

Yeah.

You say when you're the boss- - That's good.

Here we're gonna have the tomato sauce and the guanciale drenching the inside of each tubular pasta.

Okay.

So let's do some Pecorino.

- [Sara] All right.

- [Katie] We're doing it.

- Oh my god, that is gorgeous.

Also, one of my favorite sounds.

You notice how the sound changed as it got thicker?

I think you can just slither that right in there.

- Oh heaven.

All right.

- [Katie] Now you know the drill.

- [Sara] I wanna do it the dramatic way.

The highway.

- Also like, the fingers.

- The fingers.

Yeah.

- Technically clean hands.

- [Katie] Oh yeah.

- [Sara] Washed constantly throughout the process.

- [Katie] Right?

Exactly.

So now we've got our three pastas.

- I think we have to go eat, don't you?

- Yes, I agree.

- [Sara] I'm tired of working.

We need to eat.

- Let's celebrate with some vino.

I'm so excited.

I can't stand it.

We're being rustic.

Remember that scene?

It's the theme is (speaks in Italian).

- [Sara] So we gotta decide which one we like the most.

- Okay, what do you think so far, having made them, what's your prediction?

- I think I'm gonna like the Amit, whatever.

- Amatriciana.

- Thank you.

That one.

- Okay.

I'm starting with the Gricia.

Let's see.

I like that.

- Oh, good one too.

- It's not bad.

Oh dear.

So far so good.

Nope.

Amatriciana just jumped ahead.

- Okay.

- In the brackets.

- But anything with a crispy, tender piece of guanciale is just delicious.

I think I like all three.

- We got a three way tie.

- Yeah.

So I just wanna say thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- [Sara] So far I haven't found a piece of guanciale inside.

- How about that one?

- Let's see.

Let's see.

- [Katie] You won the prize.

- Oh my god.

Wow.

- [Katie] That's perfect, babe.

- [Sara] I feel like I found the Easter egg.

- [Announcer] For recipes, videos, and more, go to our website, Saramoulton.com.

"Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by.

- [Narrator] A journey aboard Oceania Cruises is designed to cultivate curiosity.

Guests can explore local treasures and epicurean traditions.

Staff and crew are dedicated to guest interests, relaxation and entertainment.

Evenings offer craft spirits, international wines and dishes prepared by our master chefs.

That's the Oceania Cruise's small ship experience.

- [Announcer] And by USA Rice.

(calm music)