Adapted a little from Mel's Kitchen Cafe Creamy Tuscan Pasta Sauce (Pre-Doubled, Recipe optimized for how I like to read it, and other very minor changes)

30 minutes before starting

Pull out two 8 oz blocks of cream cheese (can be the lower fat Neu* stuff) to be softening.

You'll also want to prepare the garlic and the sun-dried tomatoes before you get going.

What you'll need

1 Cube (8 Tbsp) Butter

10 Garlic cloves - minced, finely chopped, or pressed

1 + 1/2 Tablespoons Dried Basil

2 blocks of cream cheese (softened)

3 oz package of DRY sun-dried tomatoes (if you have the kind in olive oil, see the original recipe from Mel's kitchen cafe).  These you'll want to cut or break into small-ish pieces (1/2 inch roughly)

4 cups milk (we use 1%)

4 cups grated Parmesan cheese (or, two 6 oz packages)

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

Pasta (we use a 16 oz box of bow-tie pasta)

Optionally include (for garnishing, etc)

Diced fresh tomatoes (Garnish)

Fresh basil (Garnish)

A little more Parmesan cheese (Garnish)

Grilled chicken slices (Protein)

Instructions

1. Start a pot of water boiling for the pasta

2. Make sure your garlic is minced, basil is measured out, and cream cheese is cut into small blocks.

3. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add in the garlic and saute it starts to become fragrant, about 45-60 seconds, stirring constantly.  Stir in the dried basil and cook it with the garlic until the garlic is fully fragrant, maybe 15 additional seconds.  Add in the cream cheese and stir it with a whisk until the mixture is smooth.  It will look curdled at first, but keep whisking it constantly for 2-3 minutes and it should form a smooth, creamy paste.  Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes.

4. Remember to start your pasta cooking as soon as the water is boiling, if it's not already.

5. Over medium heat, add in the milk gradually, about 1/2 a cup at a time, whisking quickly & constantly to get it incorporated into the mix before adding more milk.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese, pepper, and salt.  Keep stirring until the cheese is melted and the sauce is the desired consistency, about 5-10 minutes.  If it finishes before the pasta, that's good.  Just keep it warm and stirred until the pasta is done.

6. Serve over warm pasta.  Enjoy!