A weeknight pasta where cream cheese melts into a quick sauce with chive and onion built right in. The shelf gave us the base, so dinner comes together in twenty minutes with just pasta, butter, and what you likely have on hand.

Serves 2. 20 minutes, 15 at the stove.

About 780 calories a serving, 24 g protein, 98 g carbohydrate, 33 g fat. From USDA figures for 100% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.

Cook mode

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook 8 oz of pasta until al dente, about ten minutes; reserve one cup of pasta water before draining.10 min
2. While the pasta cooks, mince 2 cloves of garlic and melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat, then add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute.1 min
3. Add 8 oz of the cream cheese spread to the skillet and whisk in a quarter cup of the reserved pasta water until smooth, scraping any stuck bits from the pan.
4. Toss the drained pasta into the sauce and stir to coat, adding more pasta water by the tablespoon if the sauce is too thick; it should cling to the pasta but flow slightly.
5. Squeeze juice from half the lemon over the pasta, taste, and adjust salt and pepper, then divide between two bowls.

Note Swap in fresh parmesan if you have it. Leftovers keep three days refrigerated; reheat gently with a splash of water. Serve with a simple green salad and the other half of the lemon cut into wedges.