I own a lot of cookbooks. Mostly I just read them. I love food, I love reading about it, and I enjoy cooking when I do it, but mostly I can’t muster up the enthusiasm to cook for myself.
Well, the other day I bought this book. I like Rachael Ray’s “30-Minute Meals” show on the Food Network – she manages to be perky and sweet without being irritating, which is quite a trick.
For some reason, this book inspired me to actually cook something. I decided to make Pasta Amatriciana, which is red pepper tomato sauce with pancetta. Pancetta is Italian rolled peppered bacon, and if you’ve never tasted it, you’re missing out on one of the great inventions of humanity. I ate a little piece of the browned pancetta before putting it all back in the sauce, and it was heaven.
So was the sauce. I don’t think I’m going to buy tomato sauce in a jar ever again.
Thanks for pointing out the book. I really enjoy watching her shows (both the cooking one and the travel/food show). I’m kind of kitchen-phobic but she makes everything seem pretty easy and low-stress. Maybe I’ll pick up a copy of that book and give some of them a try.