‘The Pioneer Woman’: Ree Drummond Said Her 3 Ingredient Penne Pecorino Recipe Is ‘the Perfect Pasta’

Ree Drummond has a number of quick and easy pasta recipes, including her penne pecorino which involves just three ingredients and is a snap to make. The Pioneer Woman star’s pasta dish doesn’t skimp on flavor even though there’s not much in it.

Ree Drummond makes a simple 3 ingredient pasta recipe

Drummond demonstrated how to make her penne pasta on an episode of The Pioneer Woman. “I am absolutely in love with penne pecorino,” she said. “It’s a simple three-ingredient pasta dish … I’ve been making it more and more,” she said.

Drummond first sauteed sliced onions in butter over high heat until they were dark and caramelized.

Meanwhile, she boiled penne pasta according to the package directions, drained it, and added it to the skillet with the onions. To make a sort of sauce, Drummond added a little pasta water and stirred everything together. “This alone is a delicious pasta dish,” she said.

‘The Pioneer Woman’ star adds flavorful cheese to her dish

The Food Network star allowed the ingredients to cook and the sauce to thicken. She grated pecorino romano cheese, describing it as “little bit like parmesan” but “saltier.”

Drummond sprinkled the cheese over the pasta, added pepper and salt, and stirred everything together. “I usually stop short of totally melting the pecorino cheese,” she said. “I want to see those chunks in there.”

The Pioneer Woman star shared her love for the easy dish. “This really is the perfect pasta,” she said. “Proof that good things do come in threes.”

You can find the recipe on the Food Network website.

Ree Drummond also makes a simple 4 ingredient pasta

Drummond makes another simple pasta dish with just four ingredients and it comes together even quicker than the pasta pecorino.

Drummond wrote about her easy fettuccine Alfredo recipe in a 2020 blog post on The Pioneer Woman website. “Fettuccine Alfredo. There’s nothing good about it, except for how good it is,” she wrote. “It’s evil, ridiculous, and an affront to good sense … but look at the bright side: one recipe will feed over 800 people! It’s true.”

She added, “One bite pretty much fulfills a 200-pound human’s daily caloric requirements.”

Drummond cooks fettuccine until al dente. Then she adds butter to a skillet over medium-low heat, whisks in heavy cream, and adds salt and pepper.

The Food Network host reserves pasta water before draining the fettuccine. “If it gets overly thick and gloopy, splash in some of the warm pasta water,” she noted. “It’ll bring it to the perfect consistency.”

Drummond sprinkles half of the parmesan cheese in the bottom of a bowl and pours the butter and cream mixture over it. She adds the pasta to the bowl and uses tongs to toss everything, adds the remaining cheese, and tosses everything again.

The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.