‘The Pioneer Woman’: Ree Drummond’s Pasta With Tomato Cream Sauce Is an Easy Weeknight Dinner
Ree Drummond has a favorite pasta sauce that’s so quick and easy, it makes throwing together a weeknight dinner a snap. The Pioneer Woman star’s pasta with tomato cream sauce recipe uses just a handful of ingredients and takes under 30 minutes.
Ree Drummond said this is her favorite pasta sauce
Drummond shared her pasta with tomato cream sauce recipe in a 2010 Pioneer Woman blog post, writing, “My favorite pasta sauce in the whole world.”
While demonstrating how to make the recipe on an episode of The Pioneer Woman, she shared the sauce “is a cross between red sauce and white sauce — and it is so divine.”
She started by sautéing diced onion and garlic in olive oil and butter until the onions were soft, then added two cans of tomato sauce. “You can also use good marinara sauce but I really like to keep it plain and simple,” she explained.
Drummond seasoned it with salt and pepper, added sugar, and simmered the sauce for 15 minutes. Then she boiled fettuccini so that it timed with the last 10 minutes of the sauce’s cook time. “This way, the pasta and the sauce should be ready at the same time,” she explained.
Next, Drummond added cream to the sauce and stirred it together, calling it “a transcendent experience.” She added grated parmesan to the sauce, then drained the pasta and added it to the pan. She tossed everything gently to combine the pasta and sauce, then sprinkled chopped basil and parmesan cheese over the top. “I cannot wait another second to dig into this — one of my favorite comfort foods in the entire universe,” she shared.
‘The Pioneer Woman’ star shared some easy tips
Drummond’s blog post for the recipe included a couple of easy tips, such as reserving pasta water before draining it, in case the sauce is too thick. “If the sauce is a little too gloopy and thick, just splash in a little hot pasta water to thin it out a bit,” she advised.
While making the recipe on her cooking show, she noted that you can add a protein to the sauce. “The beauty of this tomato cream sauce is you can eat it just as it is or you can add in little strips of grilled chicken, some sauteed shrimp — it’s a great base for any pasta dish,” she explained.
Drummond, however, explained in her blog post that she’s a bit of a purist. “Note that you can add chicken, shrimp, veggies… anything at all to this simple sauce,” she shared. “But sometimes I like to enjoy things in their most basic, stripped-down state. It’s reassuring that such simple things can be so divine.”
The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.
Ree Drummond has another spin on this easy sauce
Drummond admitted on her blog, “I have a bit of a problem. It’s an addiction to light orange-red pasta sauces” and she pointed to her “ridiculously yummy” pasta with roasted red pepper sauce as an example.
She demonstrated the recipe on her show, revealing the store-bought ingredient that makes it so easy — roasted red peppers in a jar. “I love, love, love these things,” she said, explaining how it’s a great item to keep in the pantry.
Drummond made the easy sauce with onions, garlic, and roasted red peppers, pureed it in a blender, then added it to a skillet. The Pioneer Woman star added chicken stock, heavy cream, salt, pepper, basil, and parsley, then tossed the drained pasta with the sauce before serving.
You can find the full recipe on the Food Network website.
