KIDS IN THE KITCHEN TV HOST RACHAEL RAY MAKES COOKING A BLAST.

Byline: Natalie Haughton Food Editor

Rachael Ray, the effervescent, 30-something Food Network show host, is as comfortable eating a caprese salad in New York, San Francisco or Rome as she is cooking up a pizza with kids at home.

She loves to rock 'n' roll when cooking with children, which was evident during a recent stopover in Los Angeles to promote her new cookbook on the topic: ``Cooking Rocks! Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals for Kids'' (Lake Isle Press Inc.; $16.95). The volume was sparked by kids themselves, who watch her shows and shared their ideas.

The kids were enthusiastic as Ray took charge and got them into the act making an easy Barbecued Chicken Pizza recipe from the book with store-bought Boboli pizza crusts.

``The chicken pizza was really, really, really good,'' said 10-year-old Dylan Colliflower of Altadena. ``I would cook out of her (kids) book because the recipes look good. It impresses me that she (Ray) can cook meals really quick.''

``I plan to make the barbecued chicken pizza soon,'' said 10-year-old fan Michael Cortina of Los Angles, who watches Ray's ``30-Minute Meals'' show every day after school and presented a beautiful pink rose to her. ``I liked the five-minute fudge (from the book), too, because it has lots of chocolaty flavor.''

``She's (Ray) a very good cook,'' noted 11-year-old Pasadena resident Geena Renk, who liked the peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, also in the book.

Although single (she's engaged to be married in Italy this summer), with no children of her own, cooking with kids is nothing new for Ray. She's done television episodes with children, has taken her 30-minute meals to classrooms and camps, and often cooks with her 4-year-old nephew and friends' kids.

``Food should be fun. Cooking can give kids a wonderful sense of accomplishment,'' said Ray, who looked sleek in her black jeans and top.

``Food teaches about sharing and math skills and is an ego- and confidence-booster for kids,'' she said. And they get to eat the results of their labor immediately.

Ray learned the ins and outs of cooking by osmosis and doing kitchen tasks growing up in an Italian family. ``The kitchen was the center of my childhood home. My mom stirred her pots with me hanging off her hip.''

Unlike many kids' cookbooks, which feature what Ray refers to as stupid or funny foods (i.e. animals or clowns out of sandwiches), she concentrates on good (and many healthy) recipes that children from 4 to 16 will enjoy making - and the entire family will want to eat.

Some of the recipe chapters, like snacks and subs, are designed for all ages; others are divided up by age group. Among the recipes are Crunchy Oven-Baked Chicken Toes, Middle Eastern Rice Bowl, Pasta and Trees, and Cheesy Pizza Popcorn.

Ray's ninth book uses cartoon art, some drawn by a professional artist and featuring her dog, Boo. Other drawings were done by the children themselves.

``Food is the great communicator,'' she says as fans crowd around to tell her about their cooking experiences.

Natalie Haughton, [phone]

natalie.haughton(at)dailynews.com

RIA'S DOUBLE-CHIPS COOKIES WITH PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

A couple pinches of salt

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), softened in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix dry stuff (flour, baking soda and salt) together in a big measuring cup or a small bowl. In a medium bowl, blend butter, sugar and honey together with a rubber spatula or an electric mixer on low speed. Mix in dry ingredients. Add chips and mix until everything is all creamed together and looking good. Have a taste, if you like.

Use a couple of soup spoons or tablespoons to drop blobs of the dough on nonstick cookie sheet. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until cookies look the color of golden brown you like. Let cookies cool a little so the chips aren't all mushy. You can still eat them warm, if you like. Double chips are double yummy! Makes about 18 cookies.

GREEN NOODLES AND HAM

Salt

1 (12- to 14-ounce) box spinach fettuccine pasta

1/4 pound prosciutto (Italian ham)

3 tablespoons butter (tablespoons are marked on the wrapper), cut into small pieces

1 cup whipping cream OR half-and-half

1 to 1 1/2 cups grated Romano OR Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

Bring a big pot of water to a boil and add a spoonful of salt to water (to season the pasta as it cooks). Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package directions to al dente (done, but with a bite to it).

While pasta cooks, cut prosciutto into thin, short, ribbon-like pieces using kitchen scissors. Separate prosciutto ribbons, loosely pile them up, and set aside.

Preheat a large skillet over moderate heat. Place butter in pan to melt. Add cream or half-and-half. Stirring constantly, add 1 cup cheese and cook sauce 1 minute, seasoning with pepper and a pinch of salt. Turn off heat under sauce and have a grown-up helper drain pasta for you.

Add pasta and defrosted peas to skillet with sauce. Toss pasta until sauce coats the noodles evenly. Add prosciutto ribbons and toss to evenly distribute them. Taste the pasta and, if you think it needs it, melt in even more cheese, up to 1/2 cup. When the pasta tastes just perfect, start serving it up! Mangia! (That means ``eat'' in Italian.) Wow! Spinach green noodles are even yummier than white ones when you eat them with ham! Makes 4 servings.

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS 5-MINUTE FUDGE

Butter, softened, for pan

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (a 12-ounce package)

1 1/2 cups butterscotch-flavored chips

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (save the can)

8 ounces walnut pieces (about 2 cups)

2 (1-ounce) boxes dark OR golden raisins

Grease an 8-inch cake pan with softened butter. Pour chips and sweetened condensed milk in a pot and put pot on stove over low heat. Cover empty milk can with plastic wrap. Put can in center of buttered cake pan. Stir chips and milk until they are melted together. Remove pot from stove with the help of a grown-up helper and stir in the nuts and raisins.

Scoop the fudge into the cake pan all around the can covered with plastic wrap so that you make a ring shape out of your fudge. Chill fudge in the fridge until it is firm. Pull the can out of the middle first, then loosen sides of fudge and bottom with a rubber spatula. Remove the fudge ring from the cake pan and cut into thin slices. Store leftover fudge in an airtight container, whole or sliced. Makes 2 pounds.

BARBECUED CHICKEN PIZZAS

(12-inch) store-bought pizza crust, such as Boboli brand

1/2 cup barbecue sauce, any brand

2 cups chopped cooked chicken, such as rotisserie OR left-over roast chicken

2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (a 10-ounce package of preshredded cheese is available in the supermarket dairy aisle)

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 small red bell pepper, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Put pizza crust on a pizza tray or a large baking or cookie sheet. Cover with barbecue sauce, as you would pizza sauce. Top with chicken, cheese and veggies. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly on top. Cut into 8 pieces and serve. Makes 4 servings.

Rachael Ray on TV

Rachael Ray's enthusiasm for food and her can-do approach to cooking come across in all of the shows she does for the Food Network. Here's a rundown.

``30-Minute Meals,'' at 2:30, 6 and 6:30 p.m. weekdays; 8:30 and 11:30 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Ray shows you how to create meals using fresh, supermarket ingredients in half an hour.

``$40 a Day,'' at 10 and 10:30 p.m. Tuesdays; 9:30 p.m. Fridays; and 5, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. Saturdays. Ray takes you globe-trotting, mostly around this country, showing you how you can eat three good meals in various cities on $40 a day or less.

``Inside Dish,'' at 9 p.m. Fridays and 6 p.m. Saturdays.

Her newest show has Ray cooking with celebrities in their kitchens or in restaurants.

- N.H.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Appetite for fun

Food Network's Rachael Ray gives kids a cooking lesson

(2 -- 3 -- color) no caption (Rachael Ray)

Illustration of Rachael Ray by Chris Kalb, from ``Cooking Rocks! Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals for Kids,'' Lake Isle Press

(4 -- color) Rachael Ray shows kids Dylan Colliflower, left, Geena Renk and Michael Cortina how to make Barbecued Chicken Pizzas from ``Cooking Rocks! Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals for Kids'' at Sur La Table in Pasadena.

Appetite for fun

(5 -- color) Rachael Ray

Photos by Gus Ruelas/Daily News

Box:

Rachael Ray on TV (see text)