I tried easy weeknight pasta recipes by Ina Garten and Ree Drummond. One earned a spot in my dinner rotation.

These pasta recipes from Ina Garten and Renee Drummond were unbelievably easy to make. Erin McDowell/Business Insider I tried easy pasta recipes from Ina Garten and Ree Drummond for a weeknight dinner. Garten's five-ingredient tomato pasta is practically no-cook. Drummond's creamy sausage pasta is a cheesy one-pan dinner ready in just 30 minutes. When temperatures start to drop, few things quite hit the spot like an easy pasta dinner, especially on busy workweek nights or during the back-to-school rush. Ree Drummond, better known as The Pioneer Woman, and Ina Garten are both beloved for their approachable, comforting dishes, making their recipes ideal for a cozy meal that doesn't require hours in the kitchen. I made one of each chef's simplest pasta recipes. Although they used different ingredients and ultimately created very different dishes, both came together with minimal effort, simple ingredients, and required very little cleanup. Here's how I made Ina Garten's and Ree Drummond's easy weeknight pasta recipes, and which one I'd make again. Ina Garten's recipe required just five main ingredients. Erin McDowell/Business Insider To make the recipe, you'll need: Ingredients ½ pound angel hair or similar Parmesan cheese 1 ½ pints cherry tomatoes 3 cloves minced garlic 9 basil leaves For seasoning, you'll need olive oil — and Garten, of course, specifies that it should be "good" — along with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and crushed red-pepper flakes. First, I halved the tomatoes. Erin McDowell/Business Insider Garten's recipe calls for 4 pints of cherry tomatoes to serve six people. Since I was making a much smaller portion, I used a pint and a half instead. After adding the tomatoes to a large mixing bowl, I added my julienned basil leaves and three cloves of minced garlic. I then seasoned everything with half a teaspoon of salt, a few dashes of red pepper flakes, and freshly ground black pepper. This was virtually the only prep the recipe required. To make it even more weeknight-friendly, you can use jarred minced garlic — because, as Garten famously says, "store-bought is fine." To meld everything together, I soaked the tomato mixture in olive oil. Erin McDowell/Business Insider I used about half the olive oil Garten recommends. It was enough to cover the tomatoes and create a "sauce" base at the bottom of the bowl. I gave everything a good mix and then covered the bowl with plastic wrap. Erin McDowell/Business Insider Garten recommends leaving the mixture at room temperature for about four hours, so resist the urge to refrigerate it. Just before the four hours were up, I made the pasta noodles. I loved how hands-off the recipe was. Aside from boiling the pasta, it had the same set-it-and-forget-it appeal as a slow-cooker meal. Once the pasta was cooked, I tossed the noodles with the tomato mixture and finished the dish with grated cheese. Erin McDowell/Business Insider Following Garten's directions, I added freshly grated Parmesan and fresh basil, then tossed everything together in the same pot I used to cook the pasta. The Parmesan helped turn the tomato mixture into a silky sauce that clung to every noodle. This pasta tasted super fresh and was so easy to make. Erin McDowell/Business Insider Marinating the cherry tomatoes in Garten's mixture for multiple hours gave them a rich, intense flavor, and the olive oil, seasonings, and Parmesan cheese combined to create a rich sauce that coated every noodle. Even though there was basically no cooking required, it was packed with flavor. However, I did find that the pasta cooled off quickly, given that the tomatoes and sauce were only at room temperature. Ree Drummond's creamy Italian-sausage one-pan pasta also relies on simple ingredients, although the list is significantly longer. Erin McDowell/Business Insider To make Drummond's recipe for one-pan creamy sausage pasta for six, you'll need: Ingredients 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing 1 medium onion, diced 2 teaspoons dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds A pinch of red pepper flakes 2 cloves garlic, minced Salt and black pepper 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth One 28-ounce can of tomato puree 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 pound fusilli pasta 1 cup shredded mozzarella 1/4 cup mascarpone Shaved Parmesan 10 to 12 fresh basil leaves I first added the sausage meat to a large skillet with the olive oil. Erin McDowell/Business Insider This pasta dish required very little prep, which also meant cleanup was a breeze. Aside from a few utensils, I only had to wash the cutting board and skillet I used to prepare the meal. I cooked the sausage in a large nonstick skillet, letting it brown before using a wooden spatula to break it into smaller pieces. It became easier to crumble as it cooked, and the whole process took about five minutes. Once it was slightly browned, I added the diced onion and cooked it until it became translucen