Donal's Family Kitchen30 Minutes

Bacon & Cabbage Pasta

Name: Bacon & Cabbage Pasta
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 400g bucatini; 1 tbsp olive oil; 150g best quality pancetta or smoked streaky bacon, thickly cut; 2 small leeks, cleaned and finely sliced; 2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced; A few sprigs thyme, leaves picked; ¼ head savoy cabbage, in 2cm slices; 250ml double cream; 50g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Donal SkehanFrom the series · Donal's Family Kitchen

30 min totalServes 4Easy

Time30 min

Serves4

SkillEasy

ShowSuper Food In Minutes

Method

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season generously with salt. Add the bucatini and cook until al dente (approx. 9-10 minutes).

Place a large frying pan over a medium high heat and add the oil and pancetta. Cook for five minutes until crispy, tossing in the oil to evenly brown.

Add the leeks, season and cook for 5 minutes before adding the garlic, thyme and savoy. Cook until the cabbage is just tender.

Pour in the cream, bring to a steady simmer and allow to cook until reduced by half. Check the seasoning before adding the cooked pasta and half the cheese along with a little of the pasta water. Stir through until the pasta is completely coated in the sauce.

Serve immediately with plenty more Parmesan cheese and a generous grind of black pepper.

Cook's notes

Render the pancetta for a good five minutes so it crisps and releases its fat — that rendered fat is the flavour base for everything that follows.
Cook the bucatini about 9–10 minutes so it's properly al dente — it finishes in the sauce.
Always put the pasta into the sauce, not the other way around, and ideally as soon as it's cooked — you don't want it hanging around in the colander.
Let the cream reduce by half at a steady simmer before the pasta goes in, or the sauce will be thin.
Save a ladle of the salty pasta water — a splash stirred in with the first half of the cheese brings the sauce together and helps it cling to the bucatini.

Serve with This is a rich bowl, so a simple rocket salad with a squeeze of lemon is the ideal foil. A glass of unoaked white or a light red is all you need alongside.

Make ahead & storage Creamy pasta is really best eaten the moment it's made, while the sauce is glossy. If you do have leftovers, keep them in the fridge for a day and reheat gently with a splash of milk or cream to bring the sauce back together.

30 Minutes

Recipe by Donal Skehan · From the series Donal's Family Kitchen · Photography © Appetite Media
Published 13 July 2026 · Updated 15 July 2026

Nutrition

Per serving · estimated

870kcal

25gprotein

89gcarbs

46gfat

Approximate — calculated from the ingredient list using USDA food data. A guide, not a medical figure.

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