Recipe Background
Heartbreak Pasta is a creamy comfort dish perfect for breakups.
It was the night of my second breakup in college, clouds overhead threatening rain, and I was heartbroken in ways only a 20-year-old can be. I paced around my tiny dorm kitchen. All I craved was something creamy to drown my sorrows in and came up with the idea for what became my 'Heartbreak Pasta.' Thankfully, I had a stash of spaghetti and some grated Italian cheese that were staples in my student pantry. That evening, as garlic sizzled in butter, and fragrant steam curled upward, it was oddly calming.
College kitchens are not known for their grandeur, but they do teach the art of improvisation. I added heavy cream and an almost-empty carton of chicken broth to the skillet, letting a silky sauce come to life. Stirring the grated cheese in while listening to my favorite soulful playlist made it all feel like a rite of passage. A little reserved pasta water worked wonders to bind the sauce to the spaghetti, creating a hug in a bowl.
This comforting dish became my go-to for countless study nights. Adding freshly ground pepper or a sprinkle of parmesan at the end was my little chef's secret. It was resilience spun from simple ingredients, carrying the promise that even after heartbreak, there’s always pasta — and that’s its own kind of love.
Ingredients
For the pasta:
- 12 ounces spaghetti uncooked
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup Italian cheese blend grated
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
For the garnish:
- parmesan to taste, grated
- fresh herbs of choice to taste
- freshly ground pepper to taste
Directions
- In a large pot of salted, boiling water, cook the spaghetti to al dente according to the package directions.
- Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the salted pasta water.
- While the pasta is cooking, in a skillet over medium heat, add the butter and the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the heavy cream, the chicken broth, and the reserved pasta water to the garlic butter.
- Add the Italian cheese to the broth mixture in small batches, stirring after each addition.
- Season the sauce with the salt and the pepper.
- Add the cooked spaghetti to the skillet and toss to coat. If you prefer a thinner sauce, add more of the reserved pasta water until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Serve with a sprinkle of the parmesan cheese, the fresh herbs, and the freshly ground pepper.
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