Jamie Cooks Italy — Season 1

In the first episode, Jamie kick-starts his Italian adventure in the awe-inspiring Aeolian Islands, tracking down undiscovered island recipes untouched by time. Ninety-three-year-old caper farmer Franchina teaches Jamie her show-stopping stuffed squid, inspiring Jamie's sensational grilled squid and zingy caper salsa. Jamie also cooks up a delicious Sunday lunch with the matriarch of one of the archipelago's biggest families. On the menu is a lip-smacking chicken and aubergine pot roast with lemony couscous. There's also sweet and sour rabbit two ways.

Jamie Oliver heads to glorious Puglia, to seek out the family recipes that make this spectacular region the hottest food destination in Italy. Jamie meets Puglia's real pasta grannies, who inspire Jamie's authentic hand crafted pasta with warm broccoli and tangy cheese pesto. In the dazzling streets of a whitewashed hill town, he discovers Italy's answer to paella, before cooking up a show-stopping seafood stew with chunky bread and garlic aioli. Also on the menu is orecchiette with aubergine, courgette and black chickpeas; and orecchiette with fresh broad beans, baby tomatoes, basil and aged ricotta.

Jamie Oliver heads to Naples, the pizza capital of Italy, to seek out the family recipes the locals love to eat. He discovers a seriously naughty street snack that is said to predate the modern pizza, before giving a foolproof guide to making the ultimate pizza at home. On the pastel-painted island of Procida, Jamie is blown away by sensational seafood dishes inspiring him to make a fish poached in 'crazy water'. Also on the menu is a classic margherita and sausage and broccoli pizza; plus tuna, courgette and crushed almond spaghetti.

This week Jamie heads off the beaten track to the breathtaking, but little-known, region of Basilicata in search of some seriously old-school Italian recipes. He meets a family of shepherds who still cook as their ancestors did hundreds of years ago. Then, over a roaring campfire, he gives a Sunday roast an Italian spin, with his leg of lamb with herby stuffing and roast potatoes with sticky onions, before being put through his paces by an 89-year-old macaroni master and cooking up a simple spicy sausage and sweet pepper pasta.

Jamie Oliver heads to the island of Sicily. In the foothills of Mount Etna, he gets a masterclass in Sicilian sweets, inspiring Jamie's outrageous chocolaty cannoli. In the heart of Catania's fish market, Nonna Rosanna teaches Jamie her sublime sweet and sour tuna. Jamie also cooks up an epic tuna, prawn and pistachio spaghetti right next to the glistening Mediterranean Sea.

It's autumn and Jamie Oliver is in Tuscany, tracking down the region's hearty farmhouse cooking. In the picture-perfect Chianti countryside he meets 88-year-old cookbook queen Nonna Miriam, who teaches Jamie her all-time favourite beef stew with homemade pappardelle pasta. Jamie cooks up a ragù that takes the humble spag bol to the next level. He also heads for the hills, where he recreates a mind-blowing Jewish-Italian recipe.

Jamie Oliver is in Rome, tracking down the fast, fresh and easy recipes the natives of the buzzing Italian capital city cook every day. In a teeming market, Jamie learns quick and colourful recipes knocked up in minutes, inspiring a super-simple but ridiculously tasty minty pea tortiglioni. He also gets put through his paces by a gnocchi master, before cooking up gnocchi with roasted tomato sauce and rocket pesto. Also on the menu, linguine with wild asparagus, linguine with sausage and broccoli, and courgette, pancetta and tomato salad.

Jamie is high up in the Italian Alps cooking some great comfort food, including dumplings, mind-blowing macaroni cheese, and a classic red wine and sausage risotto.