Where Giada De Laurentiis Loves to Go in Italy

Both food and fame are in Giada De Laurentiis’ family history.

Long before Giada De Laurentiis became a star on the Food Network, beginning in 2002 — she has had nine shows, including “Giada in Italy” — her grandfather, Dino De Laurentiis, produced Federico Fellini’s 1954 drama “La Strada,” the 1973 film “Serpico” and also owned an early Eataly progenitor called DDL Foodshow in New York City and Beverly Hills, California.

After graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a degree in anthropology, Giada De Laurentiis perfected her cooking at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and ran her own catering business.

De Laurentiis, who was born in Rome, has written nine cookbooks. Her latest, “Giada’s Italy: My Recipes for La Dolce Vita,” is a deep dive into some of the country’s best dishes, adapted for American home cooks.

Following are edited excerpts from a conversation with De Laurentiis.

Q: How does your dream trip to Italy begin?

A: I usually start in Rome, because that’s where my family lives. When I land, the first thing I have is warm pizza bianca with fresh mozzarella inside. My mom usually gets it for me, but a lot of places have it, like Antico Forno Roscioli — which means “old oven” in Italian.

Q: What’s your go-to gelato stop (and your order)?

A: Gelateria De Neri, in Florence, is a good one. I love espresso, pistachio, and fig and rum, something I started having when I lived in France.

Q: Which region of Italy is underrated?

A: Sicily is the undiscovered part of Italy that people don’t go to very often, and then the outskirts of Naples. The government doesn’t spend as much money in tourism there, but it honestly has some of the best food, the best farmers markets. For instance — I’m going into a tangent — but my grandfather’s family had a pasta factory right outside of Naples. His parents made pasta and sauces, and he and his siblings would go door to door to sell it when he was a child. That whole area was all pasta factories, but when I say that, you can’t think of the factory the way you think of a factory in Detroit. Think of a building, and part of the building they make pasta all day. They hang it on the roof, OK? Like on clothes lines. And then they live in that same building. There’s blocks and blocks of that. Setaro is one of those companies that’s still family run and still in that same exact building. It’s phenomenal. They don’t have modern machines — it’s cut with bronze cutters — so they can’t make as much; the texture, the flavor, the size, the shapes, they’re all unique. It’s sold online.

Q: Do you have a favorite Italian hotel?

A: The great thing about Italy is it’s so small. You can take a train or drive to this place up in the hills of Tuscany: Monteverdi. It’s just beautiful up there and very serene. It’s a place to recharge. They have a great spa to relax in, culinary classes where you can learn how to make pastas with them in-house, an art gallery, trails to go hiking — a little bit of everything people enjoy. I really like it because it’s away from everything. For me, a very peaceful thing is to walk through the vineyard, through the vines.

Q: What souvenirs do you try to bring back with you?