♪♪ "Cook's Country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table.

We're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes.

We go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook.

And we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today.

We bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen so we can share it with you.

This is "Cook's Country."

♪♪ -Today on "Cook's Country," Christie makes a hearty version of sausage lasagna.

Adam reveals his top picks for picnic baskets.

I share the story of the first industrial pasta factory in the U.S. And Morgan makes spaghetti aglio e olio.

That's all right here on "Cook's Country."

-Funding for this program has been provided by the following.

-Monument Grills, offering innovative technology and design for the grilling enthusiast.

With a lineup of gas grills including the Eminence 605, with an LED touch panel and side and rear infrared burners.

Learn more at monumentgrills.com.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Ah.

The problems with lasagna.

Doesn't matter if it's a classic bolognese or maybe a simple spinach or a vegetable version.

They all turn into kind of a hodgepodge of a mess that bakes into a soupy disaster.

Nobody wants that.

So today, Christie is here, and she's going to show us a lasagna that actually slices beautifully and stands up tall in the field of lasagna.

[ Both laugh ] -We actually decided to start with sausage, Italian sausage, instead of ground beef in this recipe.

And it is a flavor coup.

So I have 2 pounds of sweet Italian sausage.

I've taken the casings off.

I have a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil heating up over medium high heat in my Dutch oven, and I'm gonna add this to the pot.

[ Sizzling ] We actually found that a potato masher works really nicely to start breaking up the sausage into smaller pieces.

We'll know that it's ready when we can start to hear it sizzling in its own fat.

-In its own fat.

Okay.

-So this will take about 15 minutes.

Alright, while my sausage is cooking, let's talk about sofrito.

-Okay.

-We're taking our cue from an Italian bolognese, and we're starting with some vegetables.

Fennel is the first thing we're gonna use.

So I'm going to cut off the stalks.

Now we want to cut it in half and take the core out.

I like to quarter it, because if you quarter it, then you can just make one cut and cut the core right out.

I'm just going to give this a rough chop, because we're going to let the food processor do all the heavy lifting.

-Okay.

-Now I have an onion.

I can't have a sofrito without an onion.

-It's illegal.

-[ Laughs ] Similar rough chop.

Bench scraper.

-Mm.

-Don't leave home without it.

In addition to the fennel and the onion, we're going to add 3 tablespoons of chopped sage.

-Mmm.

-Again just a coarse chop.

-Yup.

-4 cloves of garlic.

No need to chop.

Tablespoon of fennel seed.

-Mm.

-And 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

-Oh, gorgeous.

A little bit of heat.

-Now we want to get this to a nice, fine chop.

So we'll pulse this about 10 times.

-Okay.

[ Food processor whirring ] -This is what 15 minutes looks like.

So this is great.

Our sofrito is ready to go, so I'm going to add it to the mix.

Oh, this smells so good.

Alright.

So I'm going to stir this in and drop my heat to medium.

And we just want to let this cook long enough to let the vegetables soften.

And they're so finely chopped.

It's really only going to take about 4 minutes.

Alright, time for the tomatoes.

I have a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes.

-Okay.

-So we'll get some different textures going on here.

And a 15 ounce can of tomato sauce.

-Okay.

-So nice and smooth.

Alright.

So I'll give everything a mix.

And we're just going to let this cook long enough to let all of the flavors come together.

I'm going to bring it up to a simmer.

It's almost already there.

So about 5 more minutes, and then we'll just let it sit off heat.

It's noodle time, Bridget.

-Oh, fantastic.

-[ Laughs ] I have 4 quarts of water that I brought to a boil in this big pot.

Tablespoon of salt.

Make sure that the noodles are well seasoned also.

-Thank you.

-I have 17 noodles total.

So we'll add these.

Now, we're not cooking these the whole way in the pot because they have to bake later.

-Right.

So we'll just take them shy of al dente.

About 7 minutes.

Alright, these have been cooking for just about 7 minutes.

So let's take a look.

I said we want them just shy of al dente.

So you can see that they've softened, but they still have some texture left.

Alright, I'm going to drain these and come right back.

Okay.

Noodles are drained.

Now, next step is we need to spray some stuff.

-[ Laughs ] Okay.

-[ Laughs ] So I'm going to give my dish a good spray with any kind of oil spray.

I'm going to dump all of my noodles onto a rimmed baking sheet.

-Okay.

-And I'm going to start to spray these.

-Huh.

-Because these will all stick together.

Now I'm going to take two of these noodles, and I want to cut these in half.

-Okay.

-Because we always have trouble when you're layering the noodles, making them fit into the 13 x 9 inch baking dish.

So we want 15 full noodles and two that I'm going to cut in half.

And you could do this on a cutting board with a knife.

But I'm going to do it with my shears.

And let's move over to the cheese.

-I love it.

-We've got a pound of whole milk mozzarella.

-Mmm.

Nice and melty.

-We've got 8 ounces of provolone.

-Mmm.

-Nice and sharp and tangy.

And I've shredded this and the mozz, which we like to shred any semi-firm or soft cheese on the large holes of a box grater.

The real powerhouse cheese here is some Pecorino Romano.

-Hmm.

-4 ounces of pecorino that I've cut into some chunks, just to make it easier to process.

Get it in there.

-Got that beautiful, sheep-y flavor.

-Mm-hmm.

Alright.

It's gonna make some noise.

-Okay.

[ Food processor whirring ] -Look at that.

-Lovely.

It almost looks like breadcrumbs.

-It really does.

So we'll add this to our trifecta.

And then the final ingredient to the cheese portion is 1 1/2 teaspoons of dried oregano.

It is time to assemble, Bridget.

-Score.

Yes.

-Alright, let's grab some noodles.

I'm going to put my noodles in.

Hug them up against your side.

Okay.

Three noodles in.

And I have a little bit of a gap down at this end, so I'll take one of those half noodles and place it here.

-Lovely.

-Alright, so next step is the sauce.

We'll do 1 1/2 cups per layer, and I'll just spread it out so we have a nice even coverage.

Now we're using some cottage cheese.

I'm adding 1/2 cup to each layer.

Now, a lot of lasagnas use ricotta cheese, as this kind of creamy element, and that's delicious.

And we use it a lot, too.

But sometimes it can break under really high temperature.

-Sure can.

-We like to use cottage cheese as another option, and I'm going to use my spoon to just kind of dollop it, and then I'm just going to use the back of my spoon to spread it out a little bit.

Alright, and now, I'll do 1 cup of our cheese mixture.

-Mmm.

-Alright.

So that's our first layer.

Now for our second layer of noodles.

Now, I hugged the first layer up at your end.

I'll do the opposite for this one.

We'll tug them against this side of the dish.

Three long noodles, and then a half a noodle at the end.

Alright, Bridget, I'm going to keep going and build two more layers exactly like I just did.

-Alright.

-Alright.

Now this is the last under layer.

Now, we have exactly 3 noodles left, if we played our cards right.

We don't have a little end cap for this top layer.

-Okay.

-So it's just the 3.

You can go ahead and center them.

-Looks great.

-I did reserve 2 cups of our sauce and 2 cups of the cheese mixture before I got everything set up, and that's what's going on top.

A final flourish, if you will.

-Good grief.

-Okay, I have a rimmed baking sheet with some foil.

Now, I'm going to cover it with some foil that I've sprayed with vegetable oil spray -- -Smart.

-...because I don't want all of that beautiful cheese to stick to the foil.

So I've covered it tightly.

We're going to let this bake for the first 30 minutes, covered.

-Okay.

The oven is set to 375 degrees with the rack in the middle position.

-Okay.

-After 30 minutes, I'll go in and take the foil off, and we'll let it bake for another 30 minutes, uncovered, until it's bubbly and spotty brown on top.

-Oh, my goodness.

-Oh!

-Oh.

-Look at that.

-Look at that.

[ Chuckles ] -Now, it's been an hour that that's been in the oven.

it's bubbling.

It's browned.

I don't think there's any doubt that this is nice and hot.

Now, the only reason we can get a really nice, perfect slice is if we let this sit for a while.

45 minutes, it could even go a little longer.

It will still stay super hot on the inside, but that's going to give it time for all those layers, all that cheese to kind of settle and congeal a little bit just so we can get a really nice slice.

So we're just going to wait for a while.

Alright.

Going in.

Now, waiting all that time, look at how nicely it slices.

Spatulas -- one is going to give me a little support.

Look at that.

-Oh, my goodness.

-Bridget.

Those are some layers.

-Non-sloppy layers, I might add.

Alright.

Before I go for that topping, I'm going to go a little at the bottom there.

Sweet, sweet fennel.

What a beautiful taste.

-Mm-hmm.

-Oh, and the pork is... Oh, my gosh, the pork is really tender.

-It just melts in your mouth.

-Yes.

Getting a little bit of that crust here.

Mmm.

You know, it slices beautifully.

You're absolutely right about that.

What I really love about this is the flavors are not muddled.

-No.

-It's like a beautiful ragu.

It really is.

You've got that sweet pork, a little bit of sage, fennel from both the seeds, the fennel that was in the sausage, and then the actual chopped fennel.

Gorgeous.

Mmm.

-Mmm.

-Noodles are perfectly cooked.

I've got nothing to say but perfection here.

This is absolutely stellar.

-Thanks, Bridget.

-Thank you.

You definitely want to make this sausage lasagna.

It's so good.

Sauté Italian sausage.

Then add fresh fennel, fennel seeds, and sage.

Use 4, I mean 4 kinds of cheese -- mozzarella, pecorino, provolone, and creamy cottage cheese, and stagger the placement of cut noodles for even structure.

So from "Cook's Country," I think it's the ultimate lasagna -- sausage lasagna.

Oh.

That was too big of a bite.

-[ Laughs ] ♪♪ -When choosing the best picnic basket, good old Boo-Boo Bear's got nothing on Mr. Adam Ried.

-[ Laughs ] Does that make me smarter than the average bear, Julia?

-[ Laughs ] Absolutely.

-Here is a phrase that I've waited my whole life to use.

Some picnic theorists -- [ Both laugh ] ...maintain that picnics actually originated as mobile feasts for the wealthy, and there were squadrons of cooks and attendants making fancy food and fancy place settings and bringing everything where they wanted to go.

Back in reality, if we're going on a picnic, we are schlepping our own stuff.

-Sad, but true.

-And that is infinitely easier if you have a task designed carrier.

So we tested 7 different picnic baskets.

The price range was $55, up to $127, and there were 3 styles.

I don't have all 7 here, but I have a representative of each style.

This traditional style, the wicker basket.

Yeah, that one's a beaut.

Check that one out.

-Oh!

And the plates.

I love all the stuff that it comes with -- plates, napkins.

That looks like real glass.

-Wine glasses.

-Mm.

Wine opener.

-A little compartment to keep things cool.

The second type was the canvas collapsible number over there.

-Okay.

-Very nice.

And the third type was the backpack over here.

-Ah.

-So you're not carrying it with the handle.

You're putting it on like a regular old backpack.

So testers used all of the equipment that came with these.

They come with plates and flatware and glasses and some other stuff.

They packed them full of food to reach capacity, and they used the manufacturer's recommendations for that, either a picnic for two or a picnic for four.

They loaded them into and out of cars.

They carried them for 15 minutes at least.

-Ooh.

-And as I said, they tried everything in there.

Now, regardless of which type, testers found a couple of factors that made some better than others.

Spaciousness was one.

You want to have a lot of space for your goodies, because you're going to have a lot of goodies on your picnic, Julia.

You want to be able to arrange it easily.

You don't want to have to go in there and rearrange a bunch of stuff, 'cause the spaces are sort of oddly shaped, and you also want good access.

There was one basket where when we opened the lids, they didn't stay open.

They kept flopping shut, which is irritating.

Another sort of surprising factor -- they all come with, you know, plates, flatware, glasses, as I said.

The size of the plates made a real difference to our testers.

-[ Laughs ] Some of them were small, like this one on top is 7 inches.

-Appetizer plate.

-The one on the bottom is 9 inches.

Exactly.

The small plate was fine for little snacks, but once you tried to get, like, a sandwich and a couple of sides on there, way too clumsy and crowded.

So these three are sort of co-winners.

They're the favorites in each category.

-Ah -This one is the Picnic at Ascot Buckingham.

-[ Laughs ] It makes sense.

-It's got beautiful equipment.

It's got real glass wine glasses.

It's got plates that were the right size.

It's got an insulated compartment for your cheeses and charcuterie and things like that.

If there was a downside to this, it was the weight.

This thing weighs about 8 pounds, empty.

So fill it up with food, you don't want to carry it all that far.

-You want someone else to carry it for you.

-You need your attendants to be schlepping this for you.

Another winner was that blue one down there.

That's the Picnic at Ascot Collapsible Picnic Basket for four.

That one actually was a little lighter, about 5 1/4 pounds, so it was easier to carry.

It also had a much more comfortable handle.

The whole thing was insulated and it folds almost flat.

It's about 7 inches high with all the equipment in it, so when it's not in use you can store it somewhere really easily.

-That's handy.

-That's very handy.

My personal favorite one, because when I'm traveling, I like to keep my hands free, is this one.

This is the Sunflora Picnic Backpack for four.

It's $100.

This thing, I thought, was great.

Number one, all the testers thought was this was the most comfortable to carry by far 'cause you just put it on, you can walk with it, and man, does it have goodies on it.

You have the flatware, you have plates that are the right size.

You have the wine glasses.

It comes with this pouch here to keep your wine chilled.

-This is pretty important on a picnic.

-And very important.

It even has a fleece blanket with a water resistant backing.

It's about 4 feet x 5 feet.

And on our next picnic, you just leave the carrying to me.

-[ Laughs ] Will do.

Thanks, Adam.

There you have it.

You can't go wrong with any of these baskets.

For the most collapsible and easy to store, choose this Picnic at Ascot Collapsible Basket for $74.

For the most elegant basket, choose the Picnic at Ascot Buckingham Basket, which will run you about $127, but comes with real glass.

And last but not least, choose the Sunflora Picnic Backpack for $100.

♪♪ -In 1848, a Frenchman named Antoine Zerega started making pasta in Brooklyn.

Unlike other pasta producers at the time who ran small scale operations out of kitchens, his factory was quite literally horse powered.

An actual horse in the basement of the building walked in circles, turning a beam that powered the kneading and mixing machines on the upper floors.

The pasta was pressed and cut and finally taken to the rooftop to dry in the Brooklyn sun.

Zerega was the first of many industrial pasta operations in America.

The products he made in his Brooklyn facility met a growing demand from the 3 million Italians who immigrated to the United States between 1900 and World War I.

It was less expensive to produce domestic versions of Italian products than it was to import them from Italy, and as Italian culture spread, non-Italians became interested in Italian foods as well.

Here at "Cook's Country," we love to dress our pasta simply with a silky sauce made of garlic and olive oil.

♪♪ -When cooking a simple recipe with just a handful of ingredients, technique makes all the difference.

And today, Morgan is going to make the simplest recipe for spaghetti out there, pasta aglio olio, or spaghetti with garlic and olive oil.

-Yeah, so aglio olio at its most traditional is just garlic, oil, sometimes pepper flakes or parsley, and spaghetti.

-Mm-hmm.

-Now it is pretty garlicky.

So I've got 8 cloves of garlic, and I'm going to slice them thin.

-Oh, you go lengthwise.

-I go lengthwise.

I think it's beautiful how you get these nice slices of garlic in the final dish.

I have 1/3 cup of oil here.

This is extra virgin olive oil.

-Gotcha.

-And I'm going to add this garlic right on in here.

-And that pan is cold at this point.

-It is cold.

We're going to be very, very gentle.

So I'm going to turn it over medium-low heat.

And I'm just going to let it go until the garlic starts to turn golden brown.

So that'll only take about 5 minutes.

But it's going to, like...

I kind of love watching this.

It sort of transforms.

It turns toasty and it will smell delightful.

While that cooks, I'm going to cook my pasta.

Here I have 3 quarts of water.

-Okay.

-And to that I'm going to add a tablespoon of salt.

-Alright, so 3 quarts is not our usual ratio -- -No.

-...for a pound of pasta.

And this is a pound of pasta.

-It's a pound of pasta.

So -- -Okay.

We usually use 4 quarts.

-This is really important because this pasta water is going to become part of my sauce.

-Ah.

-It's important that you're starting with a little less water so it actually has a little more starch content, and it'll thicken the pasta in a really nice way.

So I'm just going to add this in.

Another thing about this dish is I'm only going to cook this pasta 5 minutes.

So it's not going to be cooked through.

It's going to be a little flexible but still very firm in the center.

-Okay.

-That's really important as well because I'm going to finish cooking it in the sauce.

The garlic smells and looks great.

-Sure does.

-It's nice and golden, exactly how I want it.

Now, I'm going to turn off the heat before it overcooks.

It will continue to darken just a tiny bit, and I'm going to add in 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

When it hits the heat, the red pepper will actually also bloom a little bit.

But it's not going to overcook because it's going enough heat.

-Okay.

-So there's that.

Now, let's check our pasta.

I'll pull up one strand.

Okay.

So it's flexible, but I want it still firm in the center.

So it should still be almost a little crunchy.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

It's, like, too chewy.

[ Laughs ] -[ Laughs ] -It's not -- not how I want to eat pasta, which is perfect.

So here, I'm going to save 3 cups of pasta water.

-Wow that's a lot.

-It's a lot.

I might not use all of it, but I like to make sure I have plenty.

And then this does become a huge part of the sauce.

Okay, so I've got my 3 cups.

-That is some starchy water.

-I know.

You can see it.

You can see the work that the pasta is doing in there.

And time to drain this.

Okay.

-You know, I can see the pasta in that pot.

It still has its texture.

It's still stiff.

-Yeah, that's exactly what I want.

I'm gonna do 2 cups of this, so I'm gonna leave a cup in here.

Okay.

And I'm also going to add some salt.

So here I have 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

-Okay.

-And then our beautiful garlic mixture.

-Oh.

[ Laughs ] -I know.

Right.

Hubba hubba.

[ Chuckles ] Now, what you do here is I'm cooking over medium-high heat.

I'm going to take the pasta and fold it over itself.

And this is going to really break up the starch in the pasta.

It's going to create a nice creamy sauce.

So this is where a lot of people will rely on cream or cheese to add some body.

And don't get me wrong, I love cream and cheese, but it's not what this dish, in its original Neapolitan version, it didn't have cream.

It's meant to be this very simple but delicious dish, and that's what I'm trying to do here.

So I'm creating that same texture and that same creaminess by folding.

-I love it.

-So I'm just going to keep doing this for 5 minutes and folding it over itself, continuing to stir.

-Okay.

-Okay.

So you can see how the water is mostly absorbed, but you still get a little tiny bit of pooling in the bottom.

-Yeah, it really does look creamy.

-Yeah.

So I'm going to turn this off heat and let it sit 2 minutes.

That's going to finish cooking the pasta through, and it's also going to allow that sauce to just thicken just a touch more.

-Okay.

-Okay, so it's been the 2 minutes.

You can see how there's no more pooling happening.

It is nice and creamy.

So I'm going to add just a touch more pasta water.

I like to do it just about 1/4 cup at a time, just to get it to the exact right consistency.

It should be just a little saucy.

And I'm going to add my last ingredient, 3 tablespoons of parsley.

-Italian parsley, no less.

-Oh, Italian parsley, of course.

-[ Laughs ] -This adds a little green.

It adds a little brightness, a little specialness.

I've never been, like, great at the swirling piece.

-Me either.

-So... -That's gorgeous.

-It's gorgeous.

And hopefully, it's delicious.

-Alright.

I see you have the spoon.

-Oh, see, I like it.

I think both are good.

I think I do a little bit of both sometimes.

It's time for us to eat.

-Mmm.

That is so elegant.

You taste the pasta.

-Mm-hmm.

-So many times when you have a pasta dish, you don't taste the quality of the pasta, but you do here, and then you have that garlic in the background and little -- little knock of the red pepper flakes.

-I know.

I love it.

To me, it's so balanced.

-It is so well balanced.

-Mm-hmm.

-Morgan, thank you for showing me how to make this.

This is wonderful.

-Well, thank you for doing this, and eating 8 cloves with me.

-[ Laughs ] -8 cloves of garlic with me.

-If you want to make this very simple but elegant pasta dish, start by cooking sliced garlic slowly in olive oil, undercook the spaghetti, then toss the undercooked spaghetti, the olive oil, and some cooking water and fold constantly until creamy.

From "Cook's Country", a simple recipe that's all technique -- spaghetti aglio e olio.

You can find this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with select episodes and our product reviews at our website, CooksCountry.com/tv.

-I'm working on my pasta twirls over here.

-How's it going?

-So far, so good.

-Visit our website where you can sign up for the free "Cook's Country" e-mail newsletter, for even more of the recipes and stories you love from the magazine and the TV show.

CooksCountry.com/Cooks.

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-Funding for this program has been provided by the following.

-Monument Grills, offering innovative technology and design for the grilling enthusiast.

With a lineup of gas grills including the Eminence 605, with an LED touch panel and side and rear infrared burners.

Learn more at monumentgrills.com.

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