Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito
Series 300
Production year: 1992
Program Descriptions
Program 301:
Minestrone alla Genovese - Genoa Style Minestrone
Mary Ann helps Chef Oswaldo Riva prepare his exclusive, Genoa-style ravioli at his restaurant in Perkins Cove, Maine. Then she goes nella cucina to create Minestrone alla Genovese with the surprising addition of pesto.
Program 302:
Festa di Polenta - Ptorolenta Party
Mary Ann matches polenta-cooking tips with her old friend and rival cook, Emilio Maddeloni, at his Italian market in Portsmouth, NH. Then goes nella cucina to turn simple “mush” into magic by taking Polenta, a staple of northern Italian cooking, and creating a side dish, a sandwich, a lasagna, and a stew.
Program 303:
Lasagna alla Marianna - Mary Ann’s Lasagna.
Mary Ann discovers a 14th century Italian recipe for lasagna and shares its secret ingredients with her friend, Barbara Haber, Curator of the Schlessinger Library at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, MA. Then Mary Ann creatively combines the old with the new by preparing Lasagna alla Marianna, layered with eggplant and freshly made pasta noodles.
Program 304:
Orsi Piccoli - Little Bears
Mary Ann shares some Italian bread making secrets with her young friend, Beth, and then goes nella cucina to shape some simple, sweet bread dough into whimsical “Little Bears” complete with raisin eyes and decorative bows.
Program 305:
Le Ricette della Memoria - Recipes of the Mind
Mary Ann travels to Ellis Island National Park to retrace the footsteps of her immigrant Italian grandparents. She then recreates two Old World “recipes of the mind”: Gracie La Puma’s Pepper Rolls and Mrs. Belurgi’s Pumpkin Bread.
Program 306:
Una Cena Umbria - An Umbrian Dinner
Mary Ann serves up an Umbrian-style dinner then adds to the tradition with a surprising meat marinade of balsamic vinegar, rosemary and red peppercorns. The program opens at Marino’s Restaurant in Boston, Mass., where Mary Ann helps Master Chef Andrea Di Paolo put a 70-pound (!) pork roast into the oven.
Program 307:
Anguille di Lago Trasimeno - The Eels of Trasimeno
Mary Ann sets out in a rowboat in search of water eels with friend and marine biologist, Herb Jackson. She then creates an “eel” for dessert, featuring a delicate confection made from almonds and egg whites, named for Lake Trasimeno in central Italy.
Program 308:
Verdure Fresche - Fresh Vegetables
Mary Ann is in her late-summer garden in search of Italian vegetables. A harvest of zucchini, sweet peppers, fennel, and yellow squash are used to prepare four simple vegetable dishes including fennel and orange salad and zucchini and squash in a balsamic vinegar marinade.
Program 309:
Torta sul Testo - Bread on a Stone
Mary Ann shows how to make a rustic bread without using an oven to create a simple and hearty sandwich of spinach, cheese and prosciutto. The program opens at Joe Pace’s Italian grocery store in the North End of Boston, Mass.
Program 310:
Tirami Su alla Patrizia - Patricia’s Tirami Su
Mary Ann creates a divine dessert by combining freshly baked ladyfingers, espresso, mascarpone cheese, and dark cocoa. The program opens as Mary Ann takes a late afternoon stroll, a passeggiata, on her way to Café Dello Sport in Boston, Mass.
Program 311:
Rotolo di Pasta - A Rolled, Stuffed Pasta
Mary Ann picks a lot of fresh spinach from her garden to create a pasta dish that is rolled up like a jellyroll, steamed, sliced and topped with a pungent, Gorgonzola cheese sauce.
Program 312:
Due Dolci Con Miele - Two Desserts with Honey
Mary Ann joins her friend and beekeeper, Bob McMasters to collect honey for two pastries. First, Mary Ann deep fries sweet dough balls, coats them with honey and piles them high into a pyramid. Then she makes taralli, a boiled and baked sweet treat ideal for dunking in coffee or tea.
Program 313:
Ossi Dei Morti - Bones of the Dead
Mary Ann rattles your bones with a one-of-a-kind, traditional Italian cookie. She makes a delicate dough of egg whites and almonds and then coats the baked cookie with semi-sweet chocolate. She then makes a Lenten cookie, which is “twice-baked” and filled with almonds.