The Italian Way to Make Turkey 10x Better, According to Legendary Chef Lidia Bastianich

Since 2011, Lidia Bastianich, one of the most celebrated chefs in the country, has crisscrossed the country for her PBS show, Lidia Celebrates America. The show shines a light on the rich diversity of cultures that make up America, sharing the stories and food from communities across the country.

Lidia Celebrates America: Changemakers, the latest installment of the James Beard Award-winning and Emmy-nominated show, premiered last night, just in time for Thanksgiving. It's the perfect show to watch over the long weekend (stream it on PBS.org, YouTube and the PBS app) and a great reminder of the people and places that make up this diverse country—and some of them might be near you.

In Changemakers, Bastianich visits folks in Minnesota, Virginia and California to experience how they're working with food in their next of the woods. As Lidia visited with these people, she was inspired by "the genuine interest in making America and the world a better place."

Related: The Trick to the Best-Ever Chicken Parm, According to Chef Lidia Bastianich

The show highlights an urban farming association, a couple who is trying to convince Americans to eat more crickets, an Appalachian chef who is elevating the food of the Shenandoah Valley, a group that delivers free produce to improve healthy food access and Sean Sherman, an award-winning chef who runs The Indigenous Food Lab Market in Minneapolis. Sherman hosted all of the series stars for a celebratory meal at Owamni, his restaurant.

Recently, we had the pleasure of chatting with Bastianich about Changemakers, which is definitely on our must-watch list. And because Thanksgiving was on the horizon (and is now here!), we also talked a bit about the classic American feast—and how Bastianich adds her own personal twist to the meal, including a genius turkey tip we're 100% stealing.

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How to Make a Roast Turkey Like Lidia Bastianich

When Lidia started describing her next-level turkey we couldn't take notes quickly enough. From what we can tell, this Roast Turkey and Pan Sauce With a Reduced Balsamic Glaze on her website is very similar to what she described to us if you're looking for a more detailed breakdown.

One thing we loved about this turkey is that you could use all of Lidia's tips or pick and choose which aspects work best for you. (We're definitely keeping the balsamic glaze idea in our back pocket.) Here's what you need to know.

• Use it all. Lidia likes to put the giblets (the bits that are in that little bag inside the turkey cavity) in the bottom of the roasting pan, along with the turkey neck. Those parts will add tons of flavor to the pan juices.

• Veg it up. Add some carrots, onions, mushrooms (or dried porcini powder) and celery to the roasting pan along with the turkey bits. If there are leaves on the celery, toss those in too.

• Turn water and wine into stock. Instead of stock, Lidia likes to add water and some wine to the bottom of the roasting pan. "Everybody says to add stock," she says, "but it'll make its own stock as it roasts."

• Season the inside, too. Lidia prefers to make stuffing outside the bird, but she's not leaving the cavity empty. She tosses in rosemary, garlic, cut-up lemons and odds and ends that you might have hanging around at Thanksgiving, like parsley stalks.

• Roasting time: Add some stock to the roasting pan, tent the turkey with foil and roast at 375° for two hours. Uncover the turkey, baste with the pan juices and let it cook, basting every 30 minutes, until the skin and browned and the meat reaches 165° on a thermometer.

• Make waste-not gravy: When the turkey is done, remove it to a baking sheet and tent it with foil while you work on the gravy. (Leave the oven on. You're going to need it in a minute.) Transfer the turkey neck and giblets to a saucepan (leave the liver in the roasting pan). Using a potato masher, mash everything in the pan together and strain what's in the roasting pan into the saucepan. Bring this mixture to a boil and let it reduce to your desired thickness.

Related: We Tried 17 Different Kinds of Store-Bought Gravy and You Can Buy the Winner at Walmart

• Give the bird an Italian flair. If you use one tip from this recipe, we think this is the one. Lidia adds flavor and flair to her turkey by brushing it with a balsamic reduction, then puts it back in the oven for a few minutes. She suggests making your own balsamic reduction by boiling down balsamic vinegar (a decent supermarket brand is fine for this), a bit of honey and a bay leaf. You can make the reduction ahead of time or while the turkey roasts. You want to cook the vinegar until it's a third of its original volume and the consistency of molasses. In Lidia's recipe, she uses 1 pint of balsamic, 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 bay leaf. Strain the syrup when it's done reducing.

Brush some of the glaze on the turkey in a smooth coat and return to the oven (on the baking sheet, of course) until it's glazed and gorgeous, which should take 10 to 15 minutes.

Any leftover balsamic glaze will keep for a long time in the fridge. It will be thicker when it's chilled, but you can warm it up in the microwave or leave it at room temperature for a while. Lidia likes to drizzle it over roasted vegetables (butternut or acorn squash are some of her go-to's for Thanksgiving), cheeses and fruit, especially strawberries.

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