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I have been watching Rachael Ray hammer out her 30 minute meals for the past 3 years and not once have I actually been motivated to try to recreate her dishes. That is until now…
Last weekend on an episode called “Believe in Bacon” she made American-Italian all’Amatriciana and for some reason I was moved. I went to the grocery, picked up the items I needed and set the clock for 30 minutes. I wanted to see if I could beat her time. I soon realized that she is a really fast chopper and she doesn’t follow all the steps that are listed on the recipe during her show. Looking at the instructions it takes 25 minutes just for the sauce to cook. That leaves me with 5 to organize, clean, chop and grab pots –IMPOSSIBLE. When I had finished it took me about 55 minutes. But it was worth it. Mike loved it and so did I. The pasta called for pepper bacon and fire roasted tomatoes so it was smokey and had a bit of heat. I was super surprised. Rachael knows her stuff.
By the way I didn’t use the cheddar. I stuck with Parm and I added chopped basil like she did on the show.
Rachael 30 minute meal cookbooks:
Classic 30 minute Meals
30 minute Meals
30 minute Meals 2
Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES | Tagged: 30 minute meals, American-Italian all'Amatriciana, bacon, Believe in Bacon, fire roasted tomatoes, food, food network, pasta, Rachael Ray, RECIPES |
Bay Area Foodie 
Sounds good, I’m always looking for new ways to cook pasta. Thanks, Deb.
I’ve noticed with a lot of Food Network recipes that it takes me longer than the listed times to make them.
Also, most Food Network shows aren’t done in real time; they have various stages of dishes available backstage and swap them in during commercial breaks.
I’m a huge fan of Amatriciana pasta dishes, but Rachel Ray made my heart sink by using cheddar. The rest of the recipe looks dynamite though.
To date I have made this at least 4 times and have always left the cheddar out. Just seems weird.