Want to learn to cook? Watch Lidia’s Italy.

Lidia Bastianich is television's best teacher.

This picture would not exist if it weren’t for Lidia.

Jamie Oliver may have the backyard garden and fresh produce of Eden. America’s Test Kitchen may offer a litany of legit cooking tips that elevate your table. Martha Stewart may hypnotize you with her soothing voice and perfectly curated lifestyle. But the only TV personality who ever taught me a lick about cooking is Italian-American chef Lidia Bastianich of Lidia’s Italy.

Growing up, my idea of a good time was settling in with a cup of milky English breakfast tea to watch cooking shows on PBS — that was, of course, before I started drinking. It’s a sacred ritual that I cling to, despite the fact that I deeply dislike cooking and I’m a subpar cook.

Over the years, I often wondered, “How have I learned so little from these masters of cookery?” And then I found Lidia. 

Unlike easy stars like Jacques Pepin with his heavy lids and too-casual way of handling ingredients, Lidia was initially not a natural on camera. She didn’t warm you with familiar suburban motherly charm of Sara Moulton of Sara’s Weeknight Meals. She lacked the intense excitement about cooking of Pati Jinch of Pati’s Mexican Table.

Over the years, she’s eased into her role of PBS superstar. Lidia is a talented guide and she, like you, doesn’t like doing dishes. I know this because her one pot/one bowl energy is strong.

A restaurateur with a brass tacks delivery, she sometimes shares lovely stories about her grandmother’s prowess and wisdom in the garden and kitchen back in Italy and Croatia where she grew up. She used to have her ancient and delightful mother on the show but now she video chats with her brood of very good looking grandchildren.

Her true gift is that she shows viewers how to cook a simple meal that actually tastes good. And that good meal is pasta, obviously.

What first clicked for me was how she made a simple sauce or sauté of vegetables or anything edible, really. Then she cooked the pasta and reserved a cup of cooking water. She added the pasta and water to the sauté or simple sauce. That’s it! And you can use almost anything in your fridge.

I mean, now everyone cooks like this, but at the time — this was many years ago — I’d never really seen this exact simple formula on TV. And it proved to be something I could actually do — and it usually tastes good!

I’m not the only one who’s been enriched by Lidia’s teaching talents. My brother was over my house recently and, because my TV is always on and always on PBS, we saw a Lidia commercial. Unprompted, he pointed out that Lidia is the one person who can actually help you learn how to cook. 

When I asked him today why that is, he said he’d already thought about it (we’re a weird family). "She doesn’t fixate on details,” he said. “She doesn’t dwell on quantities or numbers. She makes you believe in yourself.” The confidence, he observed, is from the fact that she just trusts you to just fling in any amount of meat or veggies.

And it’s true, because you can watch how much she’s putting in and feel like, OK, that makes sense, I can do that. It’s like watching your own grandmother cook, if your grandmother was a brilliant chef. I had a wonderful grandmother, but she used to boil the color out of her greens and the most flavorful spice she used was pepper. I take after her in many ways.

I still use Jamie Oliver’s bucolic, idealized British lifestyle and the complex-but-simpler recipes of Milk Street as my TV valium, but when Lidia comes on, I’m taking mental notes, my friends. You should, too.

P.S. Tell me which TV chef got you cooking in the comments!

P.P.S. I actually just finished Lessons in Chemistry, which was a breeze to read and very relevant to this post. I recommend it, especially if you’re in a book slump.

P.P.P.S. My first blog ever was on MySpace about Ina Garten! I stuck to the PBS chefs in this. I just like sharing that she was the first person who inspired me to blog.