When I first made magical pasta, it was the winter of 2021. I was a senior in college, and I had Covid for the second time.

I don’t know why the virus hit so much harder than it had the first time around. Maybe it was a different strain, or maybe it was just my luck at the time, but my roommate and I were both trapped in our apartment together and sick as dogs. And while the sneezing, sniffling and coughing were certainly annoying, the worst part for both of us was the sheer exhaustion we both felt.

If you know me, you know that there’s one thing harder for me to do than anything else– stay still. I simply am a busy person. Not by choice, just by existence.

But there was one day that week where I didn’t get out of bed. It was me, a twin sized bed and the ceiling of my bedroom for almost the whole time. I would fall asleep for six hours, wake up and then immediately fall back asleep.

My roommate– knowing me– popped their head into my room on a few separate occasions, just to make sure I was still doing OK. But I kept waving off their concern, saying I just needed to sleep a little more. And a little more after that.

But eventually, it was 6 p.m. and I still hadn’t gotten up out of bed. I hadn’t eaten anything. And I knew my roommate had only been snacking on crackers all day.

Suddenly, I felt my stomach growling and I knew I had to get up. Someone in this house had to feed us dinner.

In a haze, I got up out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen. There wasn’t a lot left in there that we could readily eat after the week that we had been quarantined. But I found pasta, spices and a jar of alfredo sauce in the pantry, along with chicken and the last little leftovers of a bottle of white wine in the fridge.

Italians may be offended reading that I had a jar of alfredo. And to that, I say, did you want me to really have to stand there cooking alfredo from scratch when I was barely conscious? No? Then give me a little grace, please.

I can’t tell you exactly what happened next or the proportions of what I put into that sauce. All I know is that after a while, my roommate came in to me standing over a pot of chicken alfredo with doctored-up alfredo sauce, mumbling “pasta” over and over again.

We both served ourselves up a bowl of the dish, sat down at the kitchen counter and ate it like we were zombies. But after the first bite, my roommate looked at me and said, “This is good.”

I made eye contact with them, took a bite, and answered, “This is really good.”

We each took another bite and said, “This is REALLY, REALLY good.”

It was the first time either of us had talked all day, let alone laughed. But we were soon caught up in our revelry over this pasta. We ate until we scraped the pot clean.

The next morning, we both woke up feeling better than we had in days. My sinuses were clear. And while it was still hard to get around and have a normal amount of energy, I couldn’t help but laugh when my roommate joked that the pasta had magically cured us.

Do I believe that pasta cured us of Covid? Absolutely not.

I’m serious, I really don’t. But it was so good that ever since, I have been trying to recreate the flavor of that doctored-up pasta sauce and to improve on it to make it even better. I’ve added pine nuts and vegetables to it since, as well, just to give it a bit more nutritional variety than during our quarantine.

So no– this is not a recipe from scratch. This is a recipe for when you are at the end of your rope and have no energy. But cooking is for real life, isn’t it?

And sometimes, pasta is just what the doctor ordered.

DOCTORED-UP CHICKEN ALFREDO

Ingredients
1 jar alfredo sauce (pick your favorite brand)
2 chicken breasts, diced into bite sized pieces
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, halves
1/2 cup spinach, with stems removed
1/8 cup white wine
1/8 cup milk
1/8 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Pasta shape of your choice (I usually do either fettucini or rigatoni)
Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and garlic powder, to taste
Pine nuts (if desired)

Directions
■ In a deep skillet, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium heat. If desired, toast pine nuts in pan for about a minute, until browned. Remove from skillet and set aside.
■ In the same pan, add second teaspoon olive oil. Once it is hot, add garlic, allowing it to cook for just a few seconds until fragrant. Then, add chicken, cooking until pieces are done through and reach 165 degrees. Stir frequently to ensure chicken and garlic do not burn.
■ Once chicken is cooked, add in mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are soft, still moving the mixture frequently. Once mushrooms are ready, add jarred alfredo sauce, milk, chicken broth and white wine. Stir. Allow mixture to heat for a few minutes until well combined, giving alcohol a chance to cook off. Lower temperature of sauce to a simmer and cover.
■ Cook your pasta in a large pot while your sauce is simmering, following the instructions on your pasta box. While pasta is boiling, add mozzarella cheese to your sauce, allowing it to melt and combine. Then, taste your sauce to see which seasonings you want to add. I usually give it a hefty sprinkle of salt and pepper, about a teaspoon of garlic powder if the sauce isn’t already garlicky and about 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning, but this is all up to you and your palette.
■ Once your pasta is ready, throw your spinach into a strainer. Put your strainer in the sink and strain your pasta through it. This will wilt the spinach, making it ready to add to the sauce.
■ Taste your sauce again. I swear, when I’m cooking this, I taste about four or five times throughout the process to make sure things are coming together well. If you need more salt, pepper or Italian seasoning, add it. Then, transfer your spinach and pasta back to your large cooking pot, along with your sauce. Stir together until all components are combined, adding tomatoes (I added mine too early this time, making them softer than normal. If you add them later, they’ll stay bright and fresh on top).
■ Serve. Add your toasted pine nuts on top, if desired, or grated parmesan cheese, if you choose. There’s really no way to go wrong with more cheese.

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