This is the American style of fettuccine alfredo which is a rich, comforting pasta dish made with garlic, white wine, cream, loads of parmesan and I’m adding crispy bacon to mine. Ready in under 20 minutes, it’s perfect for an easy weeknight dinner when you’re craving a creamy pasta. It’s rich, indulgent and reminds me of growing up in the 90s in New Zealand.
Category
Dinner
Servings
4
Prep time
5 minutes
Cook time
10 minutes
This is the American style of fettuccine alfredo which is a rich, comforting pasta dish made with garlic, white wine, cream, loads of parmesan and I’m adding crispy bacon to mine. Ready in under 20 minutes, it’s perfect for an easy weeknight dinner when you’re craving a creamy pasta. It’s rich, indulgent and reminds me of growing up in the 90s in New Zealand.
Ingredients
- 500g fettucine
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 250g bacon, sliced around 1cm thick
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
- 6 thyme sprigs, leaves picked and finely chopped
- 2 tbsp dry white wine
- 300ml cream
- 100g parmesan cheese, grated, plus extra to serve
- flat leaf parsley, chopped, to serve
- sea salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Place a large pot of salted water on to boil to cook the pasta. Cook pasta according to packet directions, until al dente.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
- Cook bacon for 5 minutes, until the fat is rendered and it’s starting to crisp up.
- Add garlic and thyme, season with salt and cook for another few minutes. Make sure you stir from time to time as you don’t want the garlic to burn and go bitter.
- Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan, bring to a simmer and allow to reduce by half.
- Stir in the cream and bring to a simmer, cook until reduced by ¼. Stir in some salt, fine ground black pepper and the parmesan cheese.
- Drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of the cooking water. Add pasta to the sauce and toss to combine, adding a little of the water if needed. As you’re combining the pasta and sauce, if it does get a little bit dry just add in some more pasta water.
- Plate your pasta, add some extra sauce on top with some finely sliced parsley and extra grated parmesan. Enjoy!
Recipe notes
Traditional recipe: This is a modern take, if you want to try the authentic Roman version, skip the cream and bacon. Just toss hot fettuccine with plenty of butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano, using pasta water to make it silky.
Parmesan: I recommend using a good quality Parmigiano-Reggiano and grate it yourself as it gives a richer flavour than pre-grated parmesan.
Bacon: I like to add bacon to Alfredo to give it an extra crunch and flavour (that's also how we used to have it as kids in NZ). Use streaky bacon as you want the fattiness for the dish. You can also use smoked bacon for a different flavour or swap it out for pancetta or guanciale.
Thyme: I love the flavour of thyme but it can be overpowering. If you watched the YouTube video, I used 6 sprigs but I would probably recommend reducing it to 4 sprigs.
Wine replacement: If you don't want to add wine to the recipe, just replace it with the pasta water.
Prep: You can prep the sauce in advance and reheat it before tossing through freshly cooked pasta.
