I tried Ina Garten's and Martha Stewart's easiest pasta recipes. Both delivered quick dinners, but there was a clear winner.

I tested two simple pasta recipes: one from Martha Stewart and another from Ina Garten. Both dishes are vegetarian, but they use different cooking methods. Garten's recipe involves soaking tomatoes in olive oil for four hours, whereas Stewart's takes only 20 minutes to prepare. When I'm looking for a quick and easy dinner, I often rely on Garten's and Stewart's advice.

Both women excel at creating delicious, accessible recipes for home cooks. However, Garten's summer garden pasta and Stewart's one-pan pasta share nearly identical ingredients. The main difference lies in their cooking techniques. I decided to make Garten's summer garden pasta first. Its ingredients include angel hair pasta, Parmesan cheese, cherry tomatoes, minced garlic, basil leaves, red pepper flakes, olive oil, salt, red pepper flakes, and freshly ground black pepper.

After preparing the ingredients, I soaked the tomatoes in olive oil for four hours, which gave them a rich, flavorful taste. The next day, I drained the pasta, mixed it with the tomato mixture, and added freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil leaves. The result was a flavorful pasta dish with a delightful crunch from the tomatoes.

In contrast, Stewart's one-pan pasta recipe calls for linguine pasta, cherry tomatoes, minced garlic, basil leaves, red pepper flakes, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt, onion, and a bit of water. While it also relies on similar ingredients, Stewart incorporates an onion into her dish. I followed Stewart's recipe, which involves boiling water and cooking the pasta with the other ingredients.

This recipe took 20 minutes to prepare and cook. While both pasta dishes were tasty, I found Garten's summer garden pasta to be more flavorful due to the extra time spent soaking the tomatoes. The extra steps, however, were certainly worth it for the enhanced taste and texture.