A Blast From the Pasta: Italian Cooking Pro Lidia Bastianich

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CUTTING PASTA AND pouring vino is all in a day's work for Italian cooking pro Lidia Bastianich. The dolce vita-minded chef wins converts with her New York restaurants (Felidia and Becco) and a PBS show, "Lidia's Italy." The Croatian-born Italian-cuisine crusader just released a book, "Lidia Cooks From the Heart of Italy" ($35, Knopf). She'll be signing books at Bethesda's Barnes & Noble (4801 Bethesda Ave.; 301-986-1851) Saturday at 2 p.m.

» EXPRESS: Can Italian food be easy to cook?
» BASTIANICH: Simplicity is at the heart of Italian cooking. It's really just about having great ingredients — buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto. And you don't have to use a lot of them: You don't need a quarter-pound of prosciutto on a sandwich.

» EXPRESS: What's the best place to buy those good Italian ingredients?
» BASTIANICH: The Internet is tremendous — you can order so many things. But then with vegetables like zucchini or tomatoes, it's about using what you have locally and using the right technique.

» EXPRESS: You're big on making your own pasta. Any advice for newbies?
» BASTIANICH: It's very simple if you have a food processer. It's just about getting the ratio right between flour and a liquid, whether that's water or water and egg. You just need enough moisture to turn it into a dough. Some of it is just about having the confidence.

» EXPRESS: In the book, you also say that cooking Italian style can be easy on the wallet.
» BASTIANICH: It's a perfect cuisine because there's a balance. It's not based on rich ingredients. There's no waste of anything like proteins; they use the whole pig.

» EXPRESS: Italian cuisine is also very seasonal. What should we fix now?
» BASTIANICH: Go for recipes with mushroom or squash. Or you can also do soups or things with braised meats and vegetables. You can even braise meat and root vegetables in beer. It'll be moist and delicious. And in the book, I've also got a recipe for Spaghetti in Tomato-Apple Sauce. No, it doesn't taste sweet — the tomatoes take over.

» EXPRESS: Any tips for buying Italian wine to go with all that pasta and prosciutto?
» BASTIANICH: There are a lot of good wines at great prices from Italy. Like Fruili has great whites — I even make my own there! And you can get good reds from southern regions, like Primitivo, which is like a Zinfandel. You have to do a little research, but after that, just trust your palate. Then your wine knowledge will just continue to develop and grow.

» Recipe File: Make Bastianich's lentil crostini yourself.

Photo courtesy PBS