a bowl of tagliatelle butternut squash carbonara with creme fraiche sauce

butternut squash carbonara Recipe

20 Minutes
Serves: 2

A healthy tagliatelle butternut squash carbonara with creme fraiche, crispy bacon, roasted butternut squash, roast peppers and sliced olives coated in a parmesan, pine nut and sage creme fraiche sauce. The carbonara is served with a sprinkle of parsley and crispy garlic bread. 

Recipe Ingreds

Pasta

  • 75 grams bacon (smoked)
  • 0.5 whole bell pepper (red)
  • 30 grams black olives
  • black pepper (to taste)
  • 1 whole butternut squash
  • 0.5 tsp chilli flakes
  • 150 ml crème fraiche
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 10 grams parmesan or pecorino cheese
  • 10 grams pine nuts
  • salt (to taste)
  • 150 grams tagliatelle
  • 3 sprig fresh parsley

Bread

  • 1 stick garlic bread

Recipe with pictures Steps

Step 1

  • set the oven to 190C 375F or gas mark 5
  • peel and chop the butternut squash into cube
  • add the butternut squash cubes to the Baking tray and coat the cubes in oil
  • cook for 10 mins

Step 2

  • remove the butternut from the oven
  • Add the chilli flakes to the baking tray
  • peel the garlic and cut into slivers
  • add to the baking tray
  • season with salt and pepper
  • return the butternut to the oven, cook till soft and golden brown
  • set a side to cool a little

Step 3

  • half fill a medium pan with water and boil
  • add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until tender but with a slight bite

Step 4

  • heat the frying pan
  • toast the pinenuts in the frying pan till golden brown
  • set a side

Step 5

  • chop the bacon into pieces
  • add to the frying pan
  • cook till golden brown
  • wash and chop the red pepper into matchsticks
  • add to the frying pan
  • cook for 3 to 4 mins

Step 6

  • put the garlic bread on the baking tray and place in the oven follow cooking instructions on packaging

Step 7

  • slice the olives
  • add to the frying pan
  • cook for a minute or two
  • add the butternut squash to the frying pan

Step 8

  • add the pinenuts to the frying pan
  • cook for a minute or two
  • add the creme fraiche to the frying pan
  • cook for a minute or two
  • grate the parmesan
  • add to the frying pan

Step 9

  • drain the pasta add to the butternut mixture
  • return to the heat and gently warm through
  • cook for 3 to 4 mins
  • wash and finely chop the fresh parsley

Step 10

  • place the pasta on a serving plate
  • Sprinkle with parsley

Step 11

  • remove garlic bread from the oven
  • serve the garlic bread with the pasta

Recipe Utensils

  • 2 baking tray
  • 1 chopping board
  • 1 frying pan
  • 1 grater
  • 1 large knife
  • 1 medium pan
  • 1 sieve

How to make butternut squash carbonara with creme fraiche sauce

This simple roast butternut and bacon pasta dish is simple to make and tastes amazing, the delicious crème fraiche sauce makes an ideal coating for the soft tagliatelle pasta

Peel and cut the butternut into cubes and toss in a little oil with the garlic and chilli flakes, roast in the oven until crisp, caramelised. Pop the tagliatelle into boiling water and cook till al dente. Cut the bacon into squares and cook till crisp and golden brown, add the sliced red peppers and cook till soft. Add the chopped olive, and the roasted butternut to the pan stir to combine the ingredients.

Crème fraiche pasta sauce

Add the pine nuts, grated parmesan and crème fraiche to make the pasta sauce. Add the cooked pasta stir and stir, serve with garlic bread or crusty rolls and a sprinkle of parsley.

When to cook butternut squash and bacon pasta

This dish is perfect all year round, but we tend to serve it in the autumn or winter, it is healthier than a traditional carbonara as the cream sauce us made with crème fraiche. Its ideal for a quick evening meal, as its simple to cook, if you have veggies coming to dinner just leave out the bacon.

Who will love this recipe?

The whole family will love this dish, and its great for a busy worknight dinner if you have veggies coming to dinner just leave out the bacon as the recipe works just as well without it  

Flavour profile

This dish has a delicious smoky quality from the roast butternuts and bacon, the cream fraiche and sage add freshness to the dish. And there is a hint of heat from the chilli flakes

What goes with our bacon butternut and sage pasta

This dish is a meal in one so doesn’t really need a side dish, but you can serve it with crusty bread or garlic bread if you want to

What makes creme fraiche carbonara the best

The perfect combination of bacon and butternut squash makes a delicious pasta meal, the star ingredients are the chilli and garlic adding flavour and spice. the creamy creme fraiche gives an extra healthy kick to the dish.

More about Ingredients for our butternut squash carbonara

Butternut squash  - butternut squash has a subtle nutty taste, roasting then add great texture to the dish

Tagliatelle  - this pasta is perfect for the dish we use a plain pasta but this would work just as well with a wholemeal or spinach pasta

Bacon – this recipe uses a smoked bacon to add a smoky tinge to the dish, you can use unsmoked bacon just make sure you cook till crisp as this add real texture to the dish

Olives – the black olives add a deep salt taste to the dish and are optional if you are cooking for veggies and so omitting the bacon these are essential in the dish

Red bell peppers, these compliment the butternut perfectly and add to the freshness

Crème fraiche – add a real freshness to the dish and form the base of the cream sauce

Other flavouring, garlic and parmesan add umami flavours, sage adds a warm freshness, pine nuts add crunch and nuttiness and the chilli flakes add heat

What is Carbonara

A traditional Italian pasta dish made with eggs, cream, bacon and a hard cheese such as parmesan or pecorino. Our carbonara is a healthy version of this where the eggs and cream have been replaced with creme fraiche

More recipes with bacon and pasta

Penne Pasta in a Creamy Bacon, Cheese & Tomato Sauce

Pasta Carbonara with Spinach Balls

Creamy Pea, Bacon and Brie Pasta

Penne Pasta with Bacon and Peas

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