Butternut Squash Carbonara
If you love carbonara, you will love this! It is amazingly creamy and loaded with crispy pancetta and fried sage leaves!
So we lost the World Series.
We’re absolutely devastated. Even though we kind of knew that the Red Sox was going to win.
One can only be so hopeful, right?
So don’t mind me. I’m drowning my sorrows, all of my sorrows, in this seasonal carbonara.
It has all the crispy pancetta one can need with the best part ever:
Fried freaking sage leaves.
Yes, yes, yes. And the sauce is so incredibly rich and creamy with the help of the butternut squash puree.
Helpful tip: you can actually use canned butternut squash puree, which cuts the prep time down by an hour at least!
Butternut Squash Carbonara
Ingredients
- 12 ounces spaghetti
- 4 ounces diced pancetta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ⅓ cup fresh sage leaves
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 cup butternut squash puree
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; reserve 1 cup water and drain well.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add pancetta and cook until brown and crispy, about 4-6 minutes; set aside. Reserve excess fat in the skillet.
- Heat olive oil with reserved excess fat. Add sage and cook until crisped, about 3-5 seconds; set aside.
- Add garlic and shallot, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in butternut squash puree and 1/2 cup reserved pasta water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
- Working quickly, stir in pasta, Parmesan and egg, and gently toss to combine; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add additional reserved pasta water, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve immediately, topped with pancetta and sage.
Did you make this recipe?
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This was really good and not difficult to make. Loved the sauce, so creamy without all the fat. This dish will be made often. Thank you.
I loved it. My four-year-old and myself really liked it, but my older child and husband didn’t care for it. Unfortunately, that happens a lot in our house, but usually not too much with your wonderful recipes. Thanks so much for this great website!
A couple of firsts for me…pancetta, where have you been all my life!? And crispy sage leaves, who knew you could do that!? Very good!
Awesome! Way to go!
Delicious, I couldn’t find the canned puree so I used a frozen winter squash puree (a little less pasta water due to the water in the frozen product) but all three of my kids ate it up!
Just devoured this for dinner! Carbonara is one of my favorite meals and the butternut squash adds an extra layer of coziness to it. I love your blog– thank you for always making me excited to try your next recipe!
Thank you so much, Caitlin!
This sounds delicious! I’m definitejy going to try it. We are devasted about the Dodgers in my house too! I was at the games Saturday and Sunday. Both games were crushing to watch. Now we are going through baseball watching withdrawals!
So crushing!!!
Do you have a recipe for butternut squash purée?
Not at this time. I prefer to use canned butternut squash puree.
Looks amazing! Where do you get the canned butternut squash? I’ve never seen it!
Most grocery stores should carry them! 🙂
I wonder if you could use pureed butternut squash from the baby food aisle? Why not, right? It’s just butternut squash and water!
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
I’ve never seen canned butternut squash puree in a grocery store before. I just looked at my usual grocery store (Fred Meyer) and they do not carry it. Is there a particular store you get your at? Like maybe Trader Joes or Whole Foods?
I can typically find them at Whole Foods.
How do you make the butternut squash purée?
I use canned butternut squash puree.
Would this be a good reheated meal?
Yes! We demolished the leftovers! 🙂
Made this for a friend and me for dinner one night, I was worried because even though he loves pasta he is super fussy about everything he eats (think 2-year-old eating fussy) and he actually ate it and asked for the recipe!
So well done on a great recipe 🙂
That’s awesome, Jerry!
can you use spaghetti squash instead of regular pasta?
Yes, of course. What a great idea!