Fettuccine Mio Amore is an Italian pasta dish that highlights fettuccine noodles with bacon and onions to make a unique and exciting tomato pasta sauce. Rich and deep with flavor, this is a very special pasta entree.
Our book club read for July was Amor Towles latest novel The Lincoln Highway. And Fettuccine Mio Amore is the dish that the character Duchess makes for Emmett, Woolly, Billy, and Sally on their last night together. The recipe is a homage to Towles’ friend and a favorite of the Towles family.
The recipe is featured on his website and here is Towles description of its origins.
One of my best friends growing up was an Italian-American named Claudio, who lived in Milan. When we were boys in the 1970s and Claudio would come to New England for the summer, he would be horrified by the American insistence upon drowning all pasta in a thick red sauce. A household should serve pasta in twenty different ways, he would argue, and each preparation should highlight a few essential flavors through intensity rather than volume.
Fettuccine Mio Amore is an absolutely decadent pasta dish where onions and bacon bring a unique magical twist. Easy enough for a weeknight meal, and elegant enough for entertaining.
Let’s take a look.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Mise en place. Always gather ingredients before starting any recipe. It will save you time and organize your mind.
- Bacon: Preferably good quality thick cut bacon. Applewood smoked brings a good flavor to this recipe.
- Parmesan Cheese: Grated.
- Onion: Sweet or Yellow
- Tomato Sauce
- Chicken Broth
- Olive Oil
- White Wine
- Fettuccine Noodles
- Dried Oregano
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Bay Leaf
Subs and Swaps
- Bacon: Next time I make this, I’d like to try this fettuccine with chopped pancetta. However, pancetta is cured and not smoked like bacon. So, I’ll be losing that smoky flavor.
- Tomato Sauce: This recipe calls for using either tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes.
- White Wine: If you don’t have any white wine, just substitute the 3/4 cup with an additional 3/4 cup of chicken broth. So you’ll be using 1 1/4 cup total chicken broth.
If using crushed tomatoes, consider San Marzano Tomatoes. They are prized by chefs for their thick flesh and sweet flavor, making them a popular choice for Italian sauces. Pomi brand tomatoes are also an excellent choice, and what we used exclusively in Culinary School.
Step by Step Instructions
- Step 1: In a large fry pan, saute onions in olive oil until tender.
- Step 2: Move onions aside, or remove them from the pan and cook bacon pieces until fat has rendered but not crispy.
- Step 3: Drain most of the bacon grease from the pan. Add spices and tomato sauce.
- Step 4: Add the pasta and Parmesan to the pan and using tongs, toss to coat. Transfer to plates and top with more grated Parmesan Cheese.
Tips For Success
- Bacon Bits: Do not try to make this dish with purchased bacon bits. You need the bacon fat for that extra flavor that makes this pasta recipe so delicious. And purchase thick cut bacon. You’ll love that thicker texture when you dig into this meal.
- Fresh Parmesan: Buy the best wedge of Parmesan style cheese that you can afford and grate the cheese yourself. Tubs of pre-grated parmesan will fall short in flavor and texture.
- Red Pepper Flakes: This recipe calls for using 1 whole teaspoon red pepper flakes, which makes for a spicy pasta dish. Use 1/2 teaspoon for a milder experience.
Pro Tip: Why is pasta water good for pasta sauce? Don’t throw all of that pasta cooking liquid down the drain, It’s liquid gold. It’s a must to add to any sauce for any pasta dish. It’s high in starch and this salty starchy water helps the sauce cling to the pasta while helping to thicken the sauce. It turns any pasta dish into a luxurious pasta dish.
Fettuccine Mio Amore Recipe
If you’ve read Amor Towles’ “The Lincoln Highway”, you most certainly were taken in by the description and pride taken by Dutchess when he prepared this recipe for his friends. And as a lover of almost any Italian dish, I knew I had to make this Northern Italian recipe.
What does mio amore mean in Italian? My love.
Who can resist a pasta with bacon recipe and combined with a simple red sauce. Fettuccine mio Amore is a recipe your family will fall in love with.
Related Recipes
Looking for more pasta recipes? Don’t miss my Pasta Category. You’ll find lots of main course pasta recipe along with pasta salad recipes, like this popular Smoked Mozzarella Penne Pasta Salad.
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Fettuccine Mio Amore (Lincoln Highway Pasta)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 large onion peeled, halved and thin sliced
- 1 pound Smoked bacon cut crosswise into 1/4 inch strips
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3/4 cup crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese grates
- 8 ounces Fettucini noodles dry or fresh
Instructions
- In a reasonably deep saucepan, cook the onions in the olive oil until soft and translucent, then set the onions aside. If your pan is large enough, move them to the side, or completely remove them from the pan.
- In the same pan, fry the bacon with the bay leaf until the bacon has rendered it's fat, is brown but not crisp.
- Pour off most, but not all of the bacon fat. Add back the onions, the white wine, and let simmer for a few minutes.
- In the meantime, cook the fettuccine noodles according to package directions. Once cooked, drain reserving about 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water.
- Add the tomato sauce, chicken broth, oregano and pepper flakes, stir and let simmer another ten minutes. (Add a little more chicken broth, or better yet, some of the starchy pasta water, as necessary, if the sauce is drying out.)
- Toss about 1/4 of the sauce with the fettuccine and parmesan, divide the pasta on the plates, then spoon the rest of the sauce on top of the pasta. Sprinkle with more grated parmesan and serve.
Notes
- Bacon Bits: Do not try to make this dish with purchased bacon bits. You need the bacon fat for that extra flavor that makes this pasta recipe so delicious. And purchase thick cut bacon. You’ll love that thicker texture when you dig into this meal.
- Fresh Parmesan: Buy the best wedge of Parmesan style cheese that you can afford and grate the cheese yourself. Tubs of pre-grated parmesan will fall short in flavor and texture.
- Red Pepper Flakes: This recipe calls for using 1 whole teaspoon red pepper flakes, which makes for a spicy pasta dish. Use 1/2 teaspoon for a milder experience.
Fettuccine Mio Amore … It’s Whats For Dinner
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
This is a great recipe, thanks for posting. A few things to note …
* I think you have shorted the amount of pasta in your ingredients list … the recipe from Towles’s site calls for 12-16 ounces of fettuccine vs the 8 you listed.
* A few enhancements that I have found amp up this already flavorful dish to another level:
– I added 2 cloves of minced garlic at the end of the sauté of the onions (be careful not to burn).
– I added 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard to the sauce while simmering.
– I went to the added trouble / expense of buying canned whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes and hand crushed them in a little larger consistency than what is typically in canned (already) crushed tomatoes. The San Marzanos kick up the flavor a notch IMO.
Hi Bill and thanks so much for your note. The recipe I found on his site indicated enough pasta for four people. So I was going by the general rule of 2 ounces of dry pasta per person. Wouldn’t the additional pasta you suggest make too much for the sauce?
Garlic never hurts and your addition of Dijon sounds intriguing. I’m a big fan, so will have to try it next time I make this.
Thanks for the reminder about the San Marzano tomatoes, always a good choice. Pomi Brand was all we used in Culinary School. Will make a note in the recipe.
Again, good to hear from you and thanks for the 5-star recipe rating.
Absolutely the best. Easy to make.
I made this last night–what an amazing dish! The smokiness of the bacon and the kick with the red pepper elevated this beyond my expectations. Everyone raved about it. Thanks!
We’ve had pasta in Italy and Bev always complained about the lack of sauce on it as she wants hers beyond drowned – I can go with less but still more than we had in Italy. When mom made pasta and didn’t want to do meatballs, she would often make a bacon sauce and I always enjoyed it but not sure I’ve had it since leaving home. So this is a must try for me but I’ll likely make double the sauce so Bev can add all she desires.
What a nice dish! Love bacon and tomato with pasta, and the bacon really shines in this dish. Really nice — thanks.