Pasta With Parsnips and Bacon Recipe (2024)

Made this 2 weeks ago. The heavy cream seemed too much for me so I substituted half and half. It was delicious but the richness was too much for me. Suffered the next morning. Made it again substituting whole milk for the cream. Wonderful. Easy. Also added some frozen peas at the finish to add some color. A keeper.

Cook the bacon in the oven on a foil lined sheet pan as you are preparing to roast the parsnips. Place bacon in a cold oven and set temperature to 400 degrees. After 12-14 minutes it should be done. Reserve the bacon fat. Less mess and easy cleanup.

Toasted walnuts are a great addition.

I have made this twice and it is delicious. I recommend saving 1/2 cup or so of pasta water just before draining the pasta. You can add it to the finished dish before serving, as needed, to prevent the pasta from being too dry.

I actually prepared this EXACTLY as written. It was delicious. Pet Peeve: people who say the dish was “a hit!”, “5 stars”, but change everything but the pasta!?? Please stop posting reviews that change half the ingredients. If you don’t use leeks or bacon or cream- then you actually didn’t make this recipe. This is another hit from Melissa. EXACTLY as written.

Love the sweet-smokey flavours but, with pasta, parsnips and cream, we're into pretty 'heavy' territory here. Still, this is "sweater-weather" pasta, so I avoid going with lighter cream. Instead, I add bitter veg to contrast the sweet and compliment the smokey, either chopped radicchio or briefly blanched rapini leaves added after the leeks does the trick. Add the zest of half a lemon to the cream and this dish moves to a whole new level of sophistication. Enjoy!

I halved the pasta to increase the pasta to sauce mix. I was plenty full from the parsnips and leeks without needing to eat so many noodles. I prefer to eat veggies with every bit. Yum!

I know this sounds crazy, but I turned the leftovers into soup. I had extra roasted parsnips, which I puréed with chicken stock, tossed in the leftover pasta dish, and thinned it with some extra cream, and voila - parsnip, bacon, leek soup with a bit of pasta. It was delicious!

I've made this several times. Sometimes I use prosciutto (crisped in the oven) instead of bacon. I dice a few carrots and roast with the parsnips. Adding some frozen peas brings an appealing color to the recipe. I hardly ever have leeks around, so just use an onion.
It's a simple, tasty recipe.

What a smart combination, bacon and parsnips. And I agree with an earlier note: adding a little pasta water really helps the sauce adhere to the pasta.

My favorite recipe on here. Don't change a thing (and if you do, and don't like it, then don't post here!). This dish is perfect as is.I've made it so often I've tried some new things. Instead of parsnips you can try other firm root vegetables, or a firm squash. I made this once with butternut squash and it was outstanding.

Instead of cream use whole milk ricotta and add more pasta water.

Smoked paprika is a great substitute for the bacon

Subsituted onions and was fine.

This was a great recipe. Louise really enjoyed it - said it was two thumbs up. I used green onions instead of leeks, and added some mushrooms and red peppers just because they were in the fridge. I also used skim milk instead of heavy cream.

At the risk of turning this into a different dishReduced the amount of cream by about halfUsed pancetta instead of baconAdded some Swiss chard after frying leeksAdded toasted walnuts per another commentTurned out great

This is so good. I’ve made it a couple of times and am always impressed. It takes a bit of work but is definitely worth it. Who knew parsnips could taste so grand?

Wow! This is a five-star dish in every way. I have someone at home who balked at parsnips and absolutely loved it. I used pecorino romano cheese, hickory smoked bacon, and 2 teaspoons of a really good dried parsley.

This is a really excellent combo of flavours and textures. I roasted some broccoli with the parsnip and mixed in some chopped walnuts (as per someone's suggestion here) at the end, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I think the walnuts are non-negotiable, their bitterness cut through the richness in such a lovely way.

Beware of bubble guts

Another home run by Melissa Clark! I followed the directions to a tee, and wouldn’t change a thing. The addition of a generous amount of pepper before serving, as directed, was the cherry on the top.

Heated oil in sheet pan for two minutes before adding parsnips to get them to brown. Parboiled one cup peas and added it with pasta at end.“Carbonara’d” this by adding one egg mixed with pasta water instead of cream, sauce was more delicate.Delicious!

Made this as is (except red onions from our garden instead of leeks) and it was splendid! The parsnips reminded me of chestnuts - sweet, nutty, meaty. Yum.

Just WOW! This is so delicious! I made this exactly as written and it was perfect. The parsnips, leeks and bacon are an amazing flavor bomb. I doubled the recipe for my family of four, and there was plenty to go around. I probably used extra bacon, but who ever said there was such a thing as too much bacon? This goes on my regular dinner rotation.

Thank you, Melissa--you are a genius. My mom insisted on parsnips for Thanksgiving many years ago and I'm a big fan. This is so comforting on a rainy fall night. Had to use half and half and sweet onion as that's what I had and added a bit of pasta water--so cozy!

I made this but used totally different ingredients and it turned out as my own house special egg foo young, and it was fabulous…in fact, the best ever made by anyone. (Some of you will get this…)

Too rich for me, even though I used 1/2 & 1/2. I often make Jamie Oliver's pancetta and parsnip pasta and thought this recipe would be delicious as well, especially as I love leeks. None of the flavors shined.

Made this with spring-dug parsnips. I'm glad I kept back a little pasta water to loosen things up a bit. Otherwise, my only issue is that NYT never discusses prep times. It's 45 minutes from the time the baking sheet enters the oven, but it's more like 1.5 hours with prep.

We made this exactly as the recipe states and it was a stellar dish. We will be making this for company soon. It is also so easy that it will become a regular on our dinner table, even on week nights.

Top notch. Delicious marriage of smoky bacon and sweet caramelized parsnips. Add pasta, a bit of cream and good grating cheese, really superb. Made a second time and added fresh asparagus stems cut into rounds, garnished with the florets after briefly blanching in the pasta water. A squeeze of lemon juice and zest and a bit of sweet butter into the drained pasta before mixing in to the sauce. Lots of wonderful variations to ponder. Thank you Melissa for another delightful recipe!