Okay, hear me out. When I was a much younger cook, I threw something like this together and thought I was so brilliant that I wrote up a vague recipe and added it to my cooking wiki. Now, as I’m moving a lot of those recipes to this site, I looked at this one and wondered if it still holds up, or if I was being just a teensy bit delusional back then.

The key ingredient to make the creamy pasta sauce here is a few wedges of Laughing Cow cheese spread. And…it’s not bad. There are better options if you have actual cream at your disposal, but if you’re scrambling to create a weeknight dinner with whatever random stuff you have in your kitchen, it’s good to know that something like this can work. (And yes, I actually bought a wheel of Laughing Cow with the primary intention of recreating this recipe.) Cream cheese would probably work just as well for this.

Short pasta (penne, shells, macaroni, etc.)
Cubed chicken breast and/or shrimp
Sautee-friendly veggies (I.e., zucchini, carrot, tomato, mushroom)
Green onion or shallot
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
Olive oil (2-3 tbsp.)
Fresh herbs if you have them (basil, chives, parsley, etc.) or dry if you don’t
2-4 wedges of Laughing Cow cheese spread*
Parmesan
Salt, pepper, and other seasonings to taste

Boil the noodles, like you do.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil on medium and sauté the onion/shallot and any other veggies that need longer cooking time. Add the chicken/shrimp and let them brown. Add the garlic, herbs, salt/pepper, and any other vegetables. Continue to sauté, stirring occasionally.

Turn the heat down to medium-low and push the contents of the pan out to the edges and add the Laughing Cow to the middle, mushing it to melt faster into a cream sauce. Stir into the rest of the ingredients, then grate some parmesan on top. Stir in the cooked noodles just before serving.

*The more meat, veggies, or pasta you have, the more wedges you’ll want to use. I used 4 in the photo at the top.