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I'm Ree Drummond.
I'm a writer, blogger, photographer, mother,
and I'm an accidental country girl.
I live on a ranch in the middle of nowhere,
and all my recipes have to be approved
by cowboys, hungry kids, and me.
Pasta's the star of the show
in four incredibly tasty 16-minute meals.
There's hearty, comforting chicken mozzarella pasta.
Super-speedy shrimp scampi --
delicious shrimp, garlic, and noodles.
Incredibly fast pasta puttanesca
hits a home run with fabulous flavors.
Then there's quick shells and cheese,
the shortcut mac and cheese that never, ever fails to please.
Out here on the ranch, it's all about pasta pronto.
Welcome to my frontier.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Pasta is the perfect foundation for 16-minute meals
because the possibilities are absolutely endless.
And usually, in the time it takes to boil the pasta,
you can whip up a delicious sauce.
Now, for dinner tonight, I'm making chicken mozzarella pasta.
It is one of my family's favorite dinners.
It's hearty and delicious,
and best of all, it takes no time at all to make.
Now, I'm cooking some bite-size chicken pieces.
These are boneless, skinless ***,
and I cut them into pretty small pieces
because that'll make them cook a little bit quicker.
Sprinkle in some salt and pepper.
Okay, now I'll let the chicken start to cook
and I'll get some of the other ingredients ready.
I'm gonna dice up an onion.
That's gonna go into the pan in just a minute.
Ladd and the boys are actually out fixing some fence,
and the girls have been to a school get-together.
And that's pretty much our life these days --
everybody's going in a million different directions.
When they get home, they are hungry,
so the quicker the meal is, the better.
Okay. Now I'll grab a couple of cloves of garlic.
Garlic always makes anything a little bit more delicious.
I love pasta. That is well-documented.
I have a lifelong passion for it,
and I've passed that love along to my kids.
Noodles are our life, basically.
Okay. I got the onions and garlic all ready.
Now, the chicken, it looks like, is ready to come out.
It's got some nice color on the outside.
The good thing is, the chicken doesn't have to be
all the way cooked at this point.
After I make the sauce,
the chicken's gonna go back in and finish cooking,
and that just makes the sauce even more delicious.
Okay. Got all the chicken out.
Now, I'll turn the heat down just a little bit,
and I'll put the onions right into the pan
with all that wonderful chicken flavor.
I love making sauces like this,
where the meat goes into the pan first
and then it just flavors
everything you put in there after that.
Okay. Now I'll just stir around the onions and garlic.
Okay, now it's time to put the pasta into the water
and get it cooking.
It's boiling and ready to go.
I'm doing penne pasta,
but, of course, you can do rigatoni --
pretty much any kind of pasta you have in your pantry.
And that's why I love pasta dishes -- there are no rules.
Just use whatever you've got.
Okay, now I'll let the pasta cook
and I'll move on with the sauce.
The onions and garlic are already starting to turn brown.
Now, part of what makes this dish so easy and so quick --
I use really good-quality marinara sauce
right out of the jar.
I use it all the time.
It's a really delicious shortcut ingredient.
Now, I do want it to have
a little bit more of a liquidy texture,
so I've got just the thing.
I'll reach into my pasta pot, borrow a little of the hot water
and just put it right into the skillet.
The pasta will never know it's gone.
Now, to give it a little bit of a kick,
I add some crushed red-pepper flakes.
Now I'll just stir that in.
The last thing to do is just add the chicken back into the sauce,
and it's gonna simmer, finish cooking,
make the sauce even more delicious.
It already looks good.
Okay.
Now, to give it a little green, I'll mince up some parsley.
You can add any herbs you want to this dish.
I'll add some basil after it's done,
and it adds some great flavor.
Anything you want is fine.
This is probably
in my family's top 10 favorite dishes of all time.
There are probably like 20 things on that list,
but who's counting?
[ Chuckles ]
Okay, I'll just mince up the parsley,
sprinkle it right in.
All right, now the sauce just has to simmer
for about seven to eight minutes.
LADD: So, Bryce, did you work up a hunger?
You think so?
I know I did. I'm starving.
I was doing all the hard work.
[ Laughs ]
It's nice to be missing out on the work.
[ Laughs ]
The boys had to do it without us.
Now, I've got one thing to add to the sauce,
and it really elevates this dish
from just a basic chicken-marinara pasta --
fresh mozzarella.
Now, I'm cutting it into cubes.
Not very big pieces.
I'll just cut it into sticks.
They're about half an inch square.
I'll just sprinkle it right in.
This mozzarella is a pretty soft cheese,
so it's gonna soften really quickly.
But I don't want it to totally melt.
I still want it to stay in pretty nice chunks.
It's just gonna take two to three minutes
for the cheese to be perfect.
I think it's pasta, which sounds pretty good to me right now.
Sounds good to me.
I hope she's making something good,
'cause I am starving.
Me too.
All right, the pasta is done.
I love these pasta pots with the built-in colander.
Now I'll put it into a great big bowl.
I love these huge pasta bowls.
And then I'll drizzle the pasta with a little bit of olive oil.
Now, I like to put a nice layer
of Parmesan shavings on the pasta
before I put the sauce on.
It just adds a nice layer of deliciousness.
I'm just using a vegetable peeler.
Okay. I think that's a good amount of Parmesan.
Now give the sauce a stir.
Ooh, the mozzarella's melting. It looks perfect.
And I'm just gonna pour this right over the pasta.
A lot faster than spooning it.
Wow.
And the cheese is gonna continue to soften.
Okay, now I want to add some green to the top
and some flavor,
so I've got some beautiful basil.
Now I just stack up the leaves real roughly.
I'm not trying to be precise, here.
This is a 16-minute meal, after all.
And I'll just roll them up and just slice them pretty thin.
LADD: All right, boys.
REE: And with that, dinner is done.
And in 16 minutes flat.
LADD: How y'all doing?
ALEX: Good. How are you guys?
Good. How was your leisurely day in Tulsa?
[ Chuckles ] Good. Fun.
All right, who's first?
Me.
Oh! This looks good.
Hey, Todd, what'd you do today?
Other than working the hardest?
[ Laughs ]
You both worked pretty hard today.
So, girls, now that Alex is driving,
I never knew you loved school so much.
LADD: Yeah, I know.
You're leaving all the work for us.
Get used to it. [ Chuckles ]
REE: Well, it sure is nice to know
that no matter how many directions we all head in,
we always wind up back at the dinner table together at night.
And dinner just gets better and better.
Oh, Todd. You kill me.
[ Laughter ]
Up next, another 16-minute pasta creation --
shrimp scampi,
a perfect combination of speed and flavor.
There's my own lunch of fast and fabulous pasta puttanesca.
And quick shells and cheese for dinner on the double.
My two girls are on their way back from town.
They've been running a couple of errands.
Now, they're gonna be hungry for dinner,
so I'm gonna whip up one of their favorite pastas --
shrimp scampi.
It also happens to be one of my favorite pasta dishes.
And, best of all, it takes 16 minutes to make.
Now, I've been sautéing some onions and garlic
in a little bit of butter and a little bit of olive oil.
They've got some nice color on them.
And then I'll just throw in some raw shrimp.
I peeled them and pulled off the tails.
And I'll just stir them around.
Smells so delicious in this kitchen.
I'll tell you, it is so handy
to have another driver in our house.
To be able to send her to town to run errands here or there,
it is wonderful.
And she is all too pleased to do it.
She loves driving.
Okay, now, part of the key to shrimp scampi is lemon juice,
so I'm gonna squeeze in the juice of two lemons.
It's so nice, that strong tang from the lemons.
You really can't add too much lemon juice.
I'm just using my hands to catch any seeds that drop out.
Okay.
Oh, that's sizzling away. It looks so good.
Now, I'm gonna add just a little bit of white wine.
Just a touch.
Gives it even more amazing flavor.
Oh, that sizzle.
[ Sizzling ]
This is one of my favorite things to eat. I just love it.
Now, I like to add a little bit of hot sauce
to my shrimp scampi.
It's a little bit of an unusual ingredient for scampi,
but it really gives the shrimp a nice spiciness.
And then just a little bit of salt and pepper.
With all that lemon juice,
you really don't need to add too much salt,
but a lot of black pepper is nice.
Oh! It looks marvelous.
Okay, now I'll just turn the heat to low and let this simmer,
and I'll get the pasta into the pot.
Now, you can use any kind of pasta for scampi.
I love to use angel-hair noodles.
I love the way the light sauce coats the really thin noodles.
And also, angel-hair pasta doesn't take any time to cook --
just about three minutes or so.
The angel-hair pasta's done.
As I said, it takes no time at all to cook.
So it just goes right in
with this beautiful, buttery, garlicky shrimp.
Oh, my gosh. I love this.
Now I'll use tongs just to lightly toss it around.
Now, the sauce and the shrimp is so concentrated in flavor,
so if it needs a little bit more liquid,
I just grab some of the hot pasta water
and just ladle it right in.
It won't dilute the flavors at all.
It'll just give the pasta
a little bit more of a saucy consistency.
Now, I like to add a little grated Parmesan cheese
to my shrimp scampi.
This can be somewhat controversial.
Some people think that seafood and cheese
do not go together in any situation.
But I think Parmesan's an exception to that rule.
I think it just makes this dish even more delicious.
Okay.
Now, the last thing it needs is just a little bit of green,
so I'll mince up some parsley.
It's so handy to have little vases of parsley hanging around.
It's always there for you if you need it.
You can also add a little bit of a lemon squeeze at the end.
I tell you what -- the girls are so hungry,
they're probably gonna want to eat this
right out of the skillet.
Tell you what --
there is nothing more glorious than shrimp scampi.
I love this stuff.
TOGETHER: Hi.
TOGETHER: Good.
PAIGE: Yeah.
I made you some good stuff.
Ooh, shrimp.
We are starving.
Can I try some now?
[ Laughter ]
Girls, thank you for running errands for me.
No problem.
Mmm. That's really good.
That's when you know you have a good recipe,
when you just want to eat it right out of the skillet.
Right.
All right.
Up next, pantry pasta gets the 16-minute treatment
with an incredible puttanesca sauce.
Then, the answer for hungry boys --
quick shells and cheese, a pasta lover's paradise.
Well, the kids are scattered in all different directions today.
Ladd's eating in town with his brother and dad,
and I'm home alone.
Now, I've been working around the house, getting stuff done.
And this almost never happens, but I forgot to eat.
All of a sudden, I am hungry,
and I don't want to spend a lot of time cooking.
So I'm whipping up one of my favorite things to make
when I'm home alone -- pasta puttanesca.
It's incredibly flavorful. I love it.
Most of all, it's really fast to make.
Now, I sliced up some red onions pretty thin,
and I've been sautéing them.
They've got some nice color on them already.
And then I halved some red grape tomatoes,
and those just go right into the skillet with the onions.
Okay, I'll just let the tomatoes cook in the onions.
I love to add wine to pretty much any pasta I make.
Now, I'll just pour in about half a cup or so.
Just stir the tomatoes and onions.
Oh, my gosh. What a delicious combination.
Now, while the wine reduces,
I'll get started on the other ingredients.
Now, I'm gonna use a mortar and pestle,
and it starts with anchovies -- about four of them.
Now, if you think you don't like anchovies,
give anchovies a chance.
[ Chuckles ]
And then two cloves of garlic
and about half a cup of pitted olives.
I'm using Kalamata olives,
but really, you can use any kind you like.
Of course, you can just chop the ingredients
if you'd rather do that,
but I really like mashing them all together.
It's really fun, and I love the texture.
Also, it gives me a little exercise.
Okay, this is all mashed together. It looks wonderful.
So I'll just spoon it right into the skillet
with everything else.
And I'll just stir them in with the tomatoes.
Okay, now I'll add a little bit of salt and pepper.
Not too much salt at all. Those olives are really salty.
Then stir it around.
Now, this just needs to simmer a little bit longer.
Now, I love to add chunks of Parmesan cheese
to my puttanesca.
It's a little bit unusual,
but it's a little different than grating it.
You get these nice little chunks that go in.
Really, really delicious.
All righty. That should be enough Parmesan.
Just break up the big chunks.
Now, the pasta should be done, so I'll drain it.
Now, I'm using bucatini pasta.
It's one of my favorite pastas. I just love it.
It's a really thick spaghetti that's hollow in the center.
It's so good.
All right.
And it just goes right in.
Okay, now I'll grab the chunks of Parm,
put those right in.
And then I'll just give this a toss
and make sure the sauce is totally coating the pasta.
Oh, my gosh.
I love this pasta.
So, I'm gonna turn it down to a simmer.
Now, I want to add some basil,
but I don't want to take the time to slice it up.
And this is a really rustic pasta anyway --
just throw it together --
so I'm just gonna grab some leaves,
and with my hands, I'll just tear them up into chunks.
The basil adds flavor, of course,
but it also adds a really pretty color.
Now, I'll just give it a final toss.
I'll tell you what -- this looks so good.
And I'm gonna get a pretty big bowl
because I am really, really hungry.
Oh, boy. Now, that is the perfect dinner.
My favorite pasta, my favorite TV show.
Life is good.
Up next, I'm whipping up quick shells and cheese for my boys --
a scrumptious 16-minute meal that always hits the spot.
It's amazing.
For recipes from this episode, go to...
BRYCE: Hut!
[ Grunts ]
Roger Davis with the touchdown!
Well, my boys are outside playing,
and as is the case several times a day, they're hungry.
Imagine that.
So I'm gonna whip up
one of their favorite things in the world --
quick shells and cheese.
Of course, my boys love any form of macaroni and cheese,
and this one is ready before you know it.
Okay, I'm just boiling some little mini pasta shells.
Those are so cute. I just love them.
And now I'll get started on the cheese sauce.
I'm gonna start by melting some butter.
Just gives it a nice flavor.
And then I'll pour in 2 cups of whole milk.
Okay, now I'll let the milk and butter heat up,
and now I'll move on to the cheese for the mac and cheese.
I'll start by cutting this wonderful,
one-of-a-kind block of processed cheese into cubes.
Now, I'm not using the processed cheese
for all of the cheese sauce.
I'm gonna mix it with another kind of cheese.
But this just gives that cheese sauce
that unmistakable creamy texture
that pretty much every kid loves.
This is for the Super Bowl!
Todd!
[ Laughing ] What was that?
For the Super Bowl!
Go deep that way.
You're good with one-handers.
Touchdown.
Now, I'll just put this right in with the butter and milk.
Give it a stir.
And this is just gonna melt
and become creamy and dreamy and divine.
Okay, I'll let that go and I'll move on to the other cheese.
I'll grate some Cheddar Jack cheese.
And you could do all Monterey Jack,
you could do all sharp cheddar.
But really, the mix of regular cheese and the processed cheese
makes for a perfect sauce.
Okay, I've grated about 2 cups of Cheddar Jack.
And it's gonna go right in.
Stir this around.
Oh, this is melting really quickly.
The sauce is looking gorgeous.
Those pasta shells are gonna cook in no time.
And hand off.
I'm changing the route!
Oh, my gosh!
Okay. The cheese is all melted.
The sauce could not be any creamier.
It's just perfect.
Now I'll just give it a little bit of seasoning.
Some salt -- not too, too much.
Lot of pepper.
I love putting lots of black pepper in this cheese sauce.
And then I also like to add a little bit of seasoned salt.
It gives it just a little extra flavor.
And then I'll stir this together.
Okay. This is just perfect.
Now I'll grab the pasta shells.
It hardly takes any time to cook at all.
All right. And then it just goes right into the cheese sauce.
Oh, my gosh. The boys are gonna be so excited.
And then just stir this around.
It looks amazing.
And just in time for those hungry boys.
All right, boys, let's eat.
TODD: Yeah.
I think that I'm pretty hungry.
You are gonna love this.
This has "Bryce and Todd" written all over it.
Yeah.
Oh, you know, it makes me so happy
that I can enjoy mac and cheese with my two sons.
Now, don't go crying on us, now.
[ Chuckles ] You know me too well, Todd.
What do you think, boys?
Amazing.
It's amazing.
Two "amazings." Can't ask for more than that.
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.