I Tried The Pasta Queen’s Best Italian Hangover Food Recipe and It’s the Cure We All Need

There are two inevitable lessons I’ve learned later in life: Hangovers hurt more the higher you climb in age, and a straightforward recipe you can quickly throw together is priceless. The Pasta Queen’s Best Italian Hangover Food recipe is the answer to both.

What makes it the perfect hangover food? There are no dizzying measurements involved, the directions are as simple as it gets, and the recipe contains few ingredients. It’s something you can almost make with your eyes half-closed (which I did) and uses ingredients that I already had stocked in my kitchen. 

The recipe is simple — it includes cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil, pasta, parsley, Pecorino Romano, red pepper flakes, and chopped garlic. It takes a total of about 10 minutes to make.

First, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook your pasta according to the package instructions. While the pasta is boiling, prep the ingredients by chopping the garlic and parsley. Start the sauce by heating a skillet and adding the extra-virgin olive oil. Although The Pasta Queen doesn’t offer up exact measurements, you’re safe to be as generous or as light-handed as you’d like for this one.

Add the garlic and cook until it softens and turns golden without turning brown. Next, add your chili pepper flakes and sauté until fragrant. It looks like The Pasta Queen uses red hot chili peppers in her recipe, but that’s not something I had readily available, so I replaced it with crushed red pepper flakes.

Next, you’ll drain the pasta, but don’t forget to save some of the pasta water — you’ll use it to create the sauce. Add the pasta to the pan and toss in the oil before mixing in your parsley and cheese, then continue to toss until the pasta is well-coated. Slowly add the reserved pasta water while stirring and watching it because you don’t want it to get too watery. You’ll then toss and let simmer for two minutes. Serve a heaping portion and top with more cheese, parsley, and red pepper flakes to taste.

After a long night out, this carb-heavy dish gave me the boost I needed. There are tons of hangover cures, from myths like the “hair of the dog” (which calls for you to drink more alcohol to cure your hangover and always seems like a great idea until it’s not) to remedies such as rubbing lemon under your armpits before drinking. Still, none are as delicious as The Pasta Queen’s Italian Hangover Food recipe. The aroma of the frying garlic alone is enough to wake up your senses, and the red pepper flakes pack a punch that will bring you back to life. Hangovers are never fun, but this recipe has me looking forward to my next one.

1. Add butter. The Pasta Queen’s recipe doesn’t include butter, but I found that a bit of butter can lead to a creamier, thicker sauce. Add it before the pasta water, let it melt down, and mix it into the pasta.
2. Salt the pasta water. Not only will the pasta absorb the water, giving you a more flavorful pasta, but you’ll also be adding some of the salty, starchy water at the end to give you a more flavorful sauce. 
3. Be careful with the garlic. I like to chop the garlic into slightly larger pieces. This way, they’ll take a little longer to cook and won’t burn if they’re ready before the pasta.