- With any luck, we'll all age.

We may feel the same, but will we recognize that mature face staring back at us from the mirror?

And, more importantly, can we maintain a youthful glow without expensive, invasive treatments and procedures?

You know the answer is yes, and it begins in the kitchen.

Today, making a classic Roman stew with a classic Roman.

(upbeat traditional Italian music) (pot sizzling) (music continues) - [Narrator] Funding for "Christina Cooks" is provided by FinaMill.

The flavor of freshly ground spices and dried herbs with refillable, swappable pods.

Finamill.

Where cooking gets creative.

And by Suzanne's Specialties, offering a full line of alternative vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne's Specialties, sweetness the way Mother Nature intended.

And by Jonathan's Spoons, individually handcrafted from cherry wood, each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

Additional funding provided by.

- Hi, I'm Christina Pirello and this is "Christina Cooks," where each week, we take fresh, seasonal ingredients and whip them into amazing dishes.

Will they all be plant-based?

Yeah.

Will they all be delicious?

Yes.

So, in Chinese medicine, we say that beauty comes from the inside out, and we all chase that youthful glow long after it's gone.

We all still want it.

We spend billions on potions and lotions, when, really, it's all about your food choices.

If we chose food that nourished our internal environment, it would be reflected externally in better skin, better aging, no lines and dots and spots.

I mean, eventually, eventually, let's be real, everything points towards Venezuela.

But, at the end of the day, if you choose better foods, you become more graceful as you age.

So we're gonna start with two very simple things that can put you right on the path to putting your best face forward.

This is simple watercress.

You can find it in any supermarket.

It grows naturally in a water-based environment.

You hand tear it.

It's very bitter.

Delicate, but bitter.

But that's what you want.

You want that lovely, delicate, bitter taste, because this is what creates what they call in Chinese medicine a happy liver, right?

If your liver is happy, you're patient and you're kind, you don't have lines between your brows, your skin glows.

This green, this simple green, brings that to you.

It's the most nutrient-dense green of all the leafy greens we can eat.

With it, to kind of take that edge off, we just put some tangerine sections.

Simple.

(dish clinking) Peel the tangerine, take the little sections, pull the little threads off, that's it.

Dress it really simply.

Extra virgin olive oil, light.

Not a ton of oil.

Just enough to coat the leaves.

A crack of salt.

(grinder whirring) Black pepper, if you want it.

(grinder whirring) And then, using your best kitchen tools, clean.

You just toss.

And you're gonna toss this until the leaves are well-coated with the oil.

It's a very simple- If you don't have time to make this dish for your skin, you need to rethink.

So, we're gonna plate this up really quickly.

Just a little mound, to taste.

And then, in this pan, simmering, is shiitake mushrooms.

Now, shiitake mushrooms have been known for centuries to give us better skin and better kidneys.

I know, better kidneys.

These little mushrooms have spores underneath the caps, and these spores help to create lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and lower triglyceride numbers.

They also nourish the energy of the kidneys, meaning your lower back isn't tight, and the dark circles under your eyes are gone.

You simply simmer a whole dried shiitake mushroom in one cup of water with a splash of soy sauce for 7 to 10 minutes.

Drink it hot and eat the mushroom, (fingers snapping) and you're good to go.

Couple times a week, and you'll be surprised.

You'll look like you take naps.

And now, it's off to Rome, to make a classical Roman stew with a classic Roman.

(upbeat traditional Italian music) (doorbell ringing) - [Pucci] Welcome.

- Ciao, Pucci.

- Ciao.

(Pucci speaking in Italian) - Grazie, I am so happy you invited me to cook in your kitchen.

(Pucci speaking in Italian) Let's go.

So, I'm so happy to be in Pucci Romano's kitchen, a dermatologist in Rome that I met (Christina speaking in Italian) - Si.

- We know each other about five years.

And the first time I came to Pucci's house, she cooked dinner for me that I thought 25 people were coming to dinner.

(Pucci laughing) It was so much food.

Tutte, all vegan, delicious.

So, Pucci, I'm so happy to cook with you.

I have never made (speaking Italian) vignarola.

- Ah, okay.

- So today, together, we're gonna make an ancient recipe called vignarola.

It's a stew that's seasonal and you can only make when certain things are in season.

So, Pucci.

(Christina speaking in Italian) How are we?

What are we doing?

- Allora.

(Pucci and Christina speaking in Italian) (Pucci and Christina laughing) (Pucci speaking in Italian) - So this is a typical Roman dish.

- Yes.

Uh, seasonal.

- Seasonal.

- Because now- (Christina speaking in Italian) - Yes, spring dishes.

- Okay, in the spring.

With artichoke.

- Okay.

- Latuga.

- So artichokes, lettuce.

Don't panic, it's a really good thing.

Spring onions.

(Pucci speaking in Italian) - Fava beans and peas.

(Pucci speaking in Italian) Yes, fresh, not frozen.

It's extremely simple.

Okay, so, Pucci, teach me how you clean the artichoke.

- Yes.

This is the- (Pucci speaking in Italian) (Christina laughs) (Christina speaking in Italian) She said it's complicated, but really, it's just a little time.

(Pucci speaking in Italian) Okay, it's most important that you cut a lemon and sprinkle it generously into water.

- Yes.

- Juice the lemon into the water.

This is gonna prevent the artichoke from browning.

It's not necessary, but it's- It's aesthetic.

It keeps your artichokes beautiful in the dish.

And, honestly, who wants to eat food that doesn't look beautiful, honestly?

So, okay.

- Okay.

So she's pulling off the outer leaves.

(Pucci and Christina speaking in Italian) These are too tough for this dish.

Now, sometimes, as you know, you can cook the whole artichoke and you eat the tender part at the bottom, which is the same texture as the heart.

But in this dish, we want only the tender center.

- With the light, more white.

- When you see you're at the inside part that's lighter, then you know you've gone far enough.

- Okay.

And you cut like a flower.

- Okay.

So you just trim around the edges like this.

And it looks almost like a rose.

Like, that's the point.

It looks like a rose.

And you cut away the tough part of the stem.

You can see, when you look at an artichoke, you've got these tough fibers.

And so Pucci is cutting that part away, so that this becomes tender in the stew and doesn't take 12 days to cook.

Okay, so you clean it.

Now, remember, when you buy artichokes at home, you can't always get them with the stem, but when you can, get them.

Because the stem is the same texture as the heart.

It's tender and sweet and juicy.

So don't throw it away.

Peel it, like this, so you can enjoy it.

See how the fiber just gets peeled away?

And then you rub your artichoke with the lemon, with the squeezed lemon, so that it's really coated.

Then you split the artichoke in half.

- [Pucci] Okay.

- Take out the choke, the little hairy choke.

- In Italy, we say la barba.

- La barba, the beard.

They call it the beard of the artichoke.

And then just cut it into pieces.

This is not perfection, Julienne, whatever.

It's a rustic stew.

Anything hard Pucci is trimming away.

And then it gets rubbed with lemon and into the water.

We did one a little bit earlier that we're going to add to this, because the recipe calls for two artichokes.

(Christina and Pucci speak Italian) So this is one we did earlier that we soaked in lemon water so that we have it.

You can see how beautiful and white the artichokes are here, they're great.

And then the stem goes in - While we prepare lettuce and onions, spring onions.

- Yeah.

- They stay in the water and lemon.

- Yes.

- Okay?

- So that you don't have to soak this for a whole day.

You just soak the artichokes while you get the onion and the lettuce prepared.

So the lettuce, we're gonna take out the stem.

- Yes.

Brava.

- Like this.

- Because the stem can be, mmm, bitter.

- [Pucci] Yeah.

- Okay.

- Just leaves.

Yeah.

- So we cut it in half length-wise, and then you're just gonna cut this in bite-sized pieces.

- Bravissima.

- And I have to tell you, I was- The first time I saw this dish being made, I thought, what is happening here?

Lettuce cooked?

(Christina speaks Italian) - Yes.

- So now we're gonna take onion.

These are spring onions, right?

We call them spring onions in the U.S.

- Very sweet.

- Very sweet.

They're very tender.

Slice?

- Yes.

- So this just gets sliced.

And you go about halfway up the stem.

- Okay.

Okay.

- That's that.

And what we're trying to do is just use the sweet part of the onion.

Now you can save this part for something else, or you can- - It's a very good student.

(Christina laughs) - Grazie.

- Prego.

(Christina and Pucci speak Italian) - Okay, enough.

(Pucci speaks Italian) And so, by making these chunks, sort of thick slices, this will stew.

Uh... No, I don't have the root.

Cosi?

(Pucci speaks Italian) Okay, so this one's a little fat.

Okay.

(Christina and Pucci speak Italian) Okay, so, now, now what?

- [Pucci] Now we prepare- (gas range clicking) (fire lighting) - Pucci said to me earlier, this is a kitchen that gets used.

(Pucci laughs) Which is true.

She cooks.

- Olive oil.

- [Christina] Generous amount of olive oil.

- Because vegetables aren't fat.

- Right.

- Haven't fat.

- Right.

(Christina speaks Italian) Um, just a moment.

- So what she's saying is that vegetables have no fat in them, - Okay.

- So you can be generous with olive oil.

And then the onions go in.

- Hmm.

- Okay.

So what Pucci is doing now- I do this at home.

(Christina speaks Italian) She's cutting out the little bit of the root of the onion that I missed.

Oops.

Because it can be bitter.

So we take that out.

Okay?

And then she's just sort of sweating the onions.

- Without crying.

- Yes.

Because they're so fresh.

- Yeah.

- These onions don't make you cry.

And she's not really- It's not a high sautee.

It's more like a sweating.

Uh-oh, another root I missed.

I'm a bad student.

(Christina laughs) (Christina and Pucci speak Italian) Me too.

She says she prefers the dish without that little root.

(Pucci speaks Italian) It's too hard.

Yep.

The little root's too hard.

(Pucci speaks Italian) Si, now I got it.

Okay.

- Okay.

- Now.

- Now the lettuce goes in.

Still it amazes me that this dish is cooked with lettuce.

They're not greens, but they are.

It's lettuce.

It's amazing.

(pan sizzling) So now it's on very low heat, right?

So the low heat is gonna start to wilt the lettuce.

And then we cover it.

(Pucci speaks Italian) Right.

It's stewed, it's not fried.

It's sort of like a braise, in a way.

Because it's not really- It's a little higher heat than stewing, but it's not frying.

So then when this wilts, we add to it the artichokes.

(Pucci speaks Italian) - Guanciale, pig fat.

- So, typically, this is made with guanciale, which is the cheek of a pig.

But Pucci said she likes to make this dish vegan, because the guanciale takes over all the flavors of the dish and you don't taste the veggies.

But the lettuce takes the place of the guanciale, which is very funny.

- I don't like- I like guanciale for gricia, amatriciana, But no in- - She likes it in certain dishes.

Pasta gricia, pasta amatriciana, but not this.

So it's just gonna wilt.

- Okay.

- And then we add the artichokes.

Tutto?

- Yes.

- Okay.

Now the artichokes are really hard.

Right?

They're fresh artichokes.

They're not frozen, they're not part cooked.

They're gonna cook in this stew.

The perfume is already amazing from the oil and the spring onions.

- [Pucci] Yeah.

(pan ringing) (Pucci speaks Italian) - Okay.

So now the flame gets a little higher, because they're harder and they're gonna take a little time to become tender.

The artichokes.

So the flame goes a little high.

So, Pucci, while this is happening- (Christina speaks Italian) (Christina and Pucci speak Italian) So, Pucci, being a dermatologist, spends much of her time working with people on the health of their skin.

- I wrote a lot of books about it.

- Two?

- Three.

- Three?

Ah, three.

She's written three books about health of your skin and, often in the book- (Christina speaks Italian) (Pucci speaks Italian) So she says she pays a lot of attention to food in these books, because food is your medicine.

Hello?

So, okay.

(Pucci speaks Italian) Our skin (Pucci speaks Italian) needs the nutrients, specifically antioxidants... (Pucci speaks Italian) - Pollution, UV.

- Everything that we're in contact with outside... (Pucci speaks Italian) creates free radicals, which damage the skin.

(Pucci speaks Italian) The correct food, the right foods, can help to neutralize the damage that you're getting done outside.

Fave and peas.

- Fave and peas.

But these are fresh.

Fresh, fresh, fresh.

- Fresh, fresh, non frozen.

- So fave look like this.

And you pull the peel, and then you pop out the little fave.

When you can find fresh fave at a farmer's market anywhere, please buy them and eat them.

In many cases, when I was a kid, we ate them whole, raw.

We just peeled them from the- - Do you have these in USA?

- Si, si, si.

(Christina speaks Italian) - Okay.

(Christina speaks Italian) - When I was a kid, with my nonno in Napoli.

(Christina speaks Italian) So when I was a kid we ate these raw.

With my grandfather, in the summer, in the spring, when we had them.

Okay, so now this- (Christina and Pucci speak Italian) So she changed the burner, so we cook it on very low heat for... Quaranta?

- Yes.

- About 40 minutes, until the artichokes are tender and rich.

So this is gonna cook for 40 minutes, and then we'll come back and season it.

(Christina speaks Italian) I just said, "To my doctor friend."

(Christina speaks Italian) While we cook the vignarola.

(Christina speaks Italian) I asked her to speak about vignarola.

(Christina speaks Italian) Why is it important for our health?

Why is it sane?

(Pucci speaks Italian) - I'm dermatologist.

My topic is skin, okay?

- Skin.

Your skin is beautiful.

(Christina laughs) (Pucci laughs) The food is very important for skin healthy, okay?

We have problem with free radicals, every day.

- Free radicals.

- Sun, pollution, stress, medicine.

- Okay.

- And with food, we can contracts free radicals.

- Because of antioxidants?

- Yes.

- So what do we need in a day?

- In a day, more or less, due milla, uh, 2000 ORAC.

- Is the ORAC number, okay.

ORAC is a typical method to use for- - Antioxidants.

- For ad- absorbation- - Absorption of antioxidants against free radicals.

- Yes.

- Okay, so in vignarola.

- In vignarola, we have 25 million- - 25 thousand.

- Thousands.

Because artichoke is full of ORAC.

Almost nove milla.

- So almost 10 times more what we need in a day.

- Yes.

In one artichoke?

- No, in... Uh, cento grame?

- So in 100 grams of fresh artichoke, you have 10 times the antioxidant levels that you need.

So it's just one of the vegetables.

It's at the top of the list on the ORAC scale.

But it's just one of the vegetables.

Particularly green, verde?

- Yeah.

- That give you the antioxidants you need.

- Seasonal, very important.

- Right.

So fresh and seasonal.

- No processed, no frozen.

- Not frozen, not canned.

So fresh vegetables are the thing that historically have shown to give us the antioxidants we need to keep good, healthy skin.

- Yeah.

- So that you never talk about anti-aging.

- Yeah.

- You talk about aging well.

- I think there's a beautiful- Dostoevski say "Beautiful save the world."

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- It's true.

The beauty, but as health.

- Yeah.

- No aesthetical.

Necessary aesthetical.

And, so, the beauty is important for the skin because our skin is that people world see.

- Yeah.

Yeah, so if we look well, then beauty is in the world.

- And the food is our first health.

- Medicine.

Yeah, it's our first medicine.

- Yes.

First medicine, yes.

- Okay, my friend.

I smell vignarola.

Let's go fix it.

- Let's go.

(Christina laughs) - Okay, so quaranta minuti, 40 minutes.

Let's see.

- [Pucci] Let's see.

Yes.

Oh, yeah.

Perfect.

- [Christina] It smells so good.

It smells so good.

- [Pucci] Now- - Okay, a little salt.

Very little, yeah?

Because it's light.

So it's very little salt.

It's a nice, light dish.

- Okay.

(pan ringing) And you- No, no.

- You wanna put the lid- Ah, it cooks for another minute.

(Pucci speaks Italian) - I'm impatient.

Andiamo.

- Impatient, huh?

Are you hungry?

- Si, let's go, let's go.

(Christina laughs) Let's go, let's go.

Let's go.

♪ I'm a Barbie girl ♪ (Pucci and Christina laugh) - Okay, andiamo, come on.

- Come on, come on.

- Come on, come on.

(Christina gasps) Che bella.

It smells so good.

I wish you all were here, but not really, because it would be less for me if you were here.

(Pucci speaks Italian) It's all fresh vegetables.

And she's saying, look how it didn't really change color.

(Pucci speaks Italian) Yep, the artichokes stayed beautiful and clear and white because it's fresh and we soaked it in lemon.

Posso?

May I?

- Certo.

Mmm, my god.

(Pucci speaks Italian) (Pucci laughs) Mamma mia.

(Christina and Pucci speak Italian) Vignarola.

So, you guys, get some artichokes.

Fresh artichokes, fresh fave, fresh peas, and make vignarola.

(Pucci speaks Italian) Not only good, but good for you.

Ciao.

(Pucci laughs) Pucci, grazie.

(Christina and Pucci speaks Italian) Ah.

Americans, eat better, for a long life.

(Pucci laughs) I'm starting right here.

(upbeat traditional Italian music) Just, you know, think about this.

The money we spend on beauty and preserving youth.

Mamma mia.

A $450 billion worldwide industry, $103 billion in the U.S.

alone, has sprung from our fear of becoming old and irrelevant as though youth is all that matters.

And so we spend on futile attempts to defy nature and live forever.

In truth, our focus should be on aging gracefully, with the wisdom gained from time on the planet.

Each joy, each sorrow, each experience is etched on our faces, creating a map of the life we've lived.

In Chinese medicine, the belief is held that the health of our various organs can be seen on our faces.

And the better care we take of our internal environment, the more beautiful our exterior.

Those dark circles under your eyes are your kidneys telling you that they're crying out for help.

The crease between your brows is your liver calling your name.

Lines, dots, blemishes, all are symptoms of your internal body, begging you to treat it better so it can serve you well as you age.

We all wanna make the most of what we have and to enjoy our natural beauty for as long as we possibly can, right?

And to do that, as you've seen, we must begin in the kitchen, cooking and eating food that creates our beauty from the inside out.

So think about that, and I'll see you next time on "Christina Cooks."

(upbeat traditional Italian music) (music continues) - [Narrator] Funding for "Christina Cooks" is provided by FinaMill.

The flavor of freshly ground spices and dried herbs with refillable, swappable pods.

FinaMill.

And by Suzanne's Specialties, offering a full line of alternative vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne's Specialties, sweetness the way Mother Nature intended.

And by Jonathan's Spoons, individually handcrafted from cherry wood, each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

Additional funding provided by.

You can find today's recipes and learn more by visiting our web site at Christinacooks.com.

And by following Christina on social media.

(bright music)