Ah, pasta. It’s got to be one of my all time favorite foods. I love it with red sauce, creamy alfredo, herby pesto, you name it. But one way I’ve been loving it recently involves seasonal ingredients and cozy flavors. This Winter Carbonara with Butternut Squash and Crispy Sage captures some of winters best ingredients and combines them with what is already one of the coziest, creamiest, most comforting pasta dishes of all time, Carbonara. In this version, sweet pumpkin and butternut squash are swirled into the sauce while crispy sage and tart pomegranate seeds are sprinkled on top. Best of all? It’s just as easy to make as traditional carbonara. There’s just a few simple steps between you and the coziest bowl of pasta you’ve had all season.
I love making homemade pasta and when I first made this dish, I made homemade fettuccine to go along with it. If you have the time for homemade pasta, great! If not, this dish is equally delicious with plenty of other pasta shapes and textures.
The important thing to remember when making any carbonara, regardless of the pasta you use, is to *save the pasta water.* In almost all recipes, you will use some of this water to thin and emulsify the egg yolk based sauce later on. And in my recipe, you actually use the boiling pasta water as part of a double boiler to finish the sauce after you’ve cooked the pasta.
“Double boiler” may sound fancy, but really it’s just a way to make this carbonara sauce a little bit more foolproof. By finishing the sauce in a metal bowl over a pot of boiling water, its much easier to slowly cook and thicken the sauce without scrambling the eggs.
If you don’t have a metal bowl, you can still make this dish and finish the sauce in a pan, the traditional way, just use low heat and be careful not to cook the eggs too quickly.
Looking for other pasta dishes? Try these:
White Lasagna with Basil Pesto
Creamy Caramelized Onion, Mushroom, and White Wine Chicken
This Winter Carbonara with Butternut Squash and Crispy Sage really captures some of the best flavors and textures in one dish. Tender, chewy pasta, soft and sweet squash, silky smooth sauce, crispy sage and juicy pomegranates combine *for the perfect bite*, if I do say so myself. It’s just so hard to beat the earthy flavors this pasta has – balanced by the sharp cheese and smokey bacon. I was inspired to create this myself after one of my favorite local restaurants, Alta Via, put a similar version on their menu.
This is definitely an indulgent dish and one that I don’t make all the time…But when you just need a few simple ingredients to whip up a dish this satisfying on a cold winter’s night? It’s really, really hard to resist. Like, go back for seconds…or thirds…hard to resist.
I hope you love this Winter Carbonara with Butternut Squash and Crispy Sage as much as I do! If you make this recipe, leave a comment and let me know what you thought or feel free to ask a question! I’d also love to see what you made! Tag me in your food pics #fortheperfectbite on Instagram.
Winter Carbonara with Butternut Squash and Crispy Sage
Equipment
- Metal Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups butternut squash, cubed
- olive oil
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup cracked black pepper crusted bacon (or guanciale if you can find it)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- 1 lb fettuccine (or whatever pasta you like)
- 2 whole large eggs
- 7 egg yolks
- ½ cup pecorino romano, finely grated
- ¼ cup parmesan, finely grated
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree
- 8-10 fresh sage leaves
- ¼ cup pomegranate arils
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- On a baking sheet, drizzle the butternut squash cubes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Roast the butternut squash until soft, about 20-25 minutes.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Meanwhile, finely chop the bacon. In a large skillet, combine 2 tablespoons olive oil with the bacon, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves and cook over medium high heat, stirring often. Cook until the bacon is well rendered and golden, 5-7 minutes.
- Add the fettucine to the boiling water and cook, about 2 minutes less than indicated on the package.
- Meanwhile, in a *metal* bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, pecorino romano, parmesan, ½ teaspoon black pepper, and pumpkin puree.
- When the pasta is ready to remove from the water, use tongs or pasta spoon to scoop the pasta into the skillet with the bacon, leaving the pasta water boiling in the pot.
- Stir to combine the bacon and rendered fat with the pasta. Meanwhile, measure ½ cup pasta water and slowly whisk it into the egg and cheese mixture.
- Pour the pasta-bacon mixture into the bowl with the egg and cheese mixture. Place the metal bowl over the pot of still boiling pasta water, and rapidly stir the pasta and egg mixture.Continue to stir until the sauce becomes just barely thickened and very creamy, about 1-2 minutes, then remove from the heat.*If you don't have a metal bowl, you can do this step by pouring the pasta and egg mixture back into the skillet over *very low heat* and stirring quickly, being careful to prevent the eggs from scrambling.
- Stir the roasted squash into the pasta.
- Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Fry the sage leaves until crispy, about 20 seconds per side.
- Serve the pasta, topping each serving with a few crispy sage leaves, 1 tablespoon pomegranate arils, and extra cheese if desired.
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