Creamy Gochujang Pasta
This gorgeous gochujang pasta is creamy, spicy, a little sweet and takes just 15 minutes. It's a perfect quick and easy recipe that's guaranteed to deliver on flavour every time. Think pasta alla vodka, but with gochujang.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 12 oz dried pasta of your choice (350g) orecchiette, rigatoni, spaghetti, fettuccine are great
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt plus extra for cooking the pasta
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 tablespoons gochujang paste
- ¾ cup heavy cream or crème fraiche, sour cream or vegan alternative
- 1 cup parmesan cheese finely grated
- 1 lime juiced (or use lemon or 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice)
- 1 tablespoon sweet chilli jam or use honey or maple syrup
- ½ cup cilantro leaves chopped, (coriander)
- 3 scallions (spring onions) 2 chopped, 1 sliced into thin strips and popped into a glass of water (this will make them curl up for a pretty garnish)
- 2 tablespoons nutty dukkah
Instructions
- Cook your pasta. Over high heat, bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add a good tablespoon of salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente (you want the pasta to have a little bite when you transfer it to the pan with the sauce to finish). Use your packet to guide you here, but for dried pasta, it will take roughly 8 - 10 minutes to become al dente, while fresh pasta will only take a minute or two.
- Make the sauce. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large pan over low heat, then add the crushed garlic, along with 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, until the garlic softens. Add 2 tablespoons of gochujang paste and stir for another minute. Lower the heat, then add the cream and half the grated parmesan. Stir to combine into a smooth sauce.
- Mix the pasta with sauce. Once your pasta is al dente, transfer it with a slotted spoon or tongs directly into the pan with the sauce, along with ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water. Toss the pasta through the sauce until it gets super thick and glossy. You want every piece of pasta to be coated in the sauce. Add the remaining grated parmesan, all but 1 tablespoon of the cilantro leaves, the chopped scallions, lime juice, and ½ tablespoon of sweet chilli jam, then toss to combine well again.
- Garnish and serve. Divide the pasta between plates, then top with the remaining cilantro, curly scallions, and the dukkah.
If you're using fresh pasta, cook the pasta after you've added the cream and parmesan to the sauce, as it takes much less time to cook.
For a looser sauce, add a little more pasta cooking water, and to thicken the sauce, add more grated parmesan. Remember that the sauce will thicken as it sits, so if you think it's a little runny in the pan, it will most likely be perfect once you serve it.
Notes
INGREDIENT NOTES: Gochujang is a sweet, spicy, fermented chilli paste from Korea. It's becoming more readily available in supermarkets, and you can also pick it up from Amazon. If you can't find it, use sriracha or another hot sauce in its place. If you're worried about the pasta being spicy you can reduce the amount of gochujang paste you use. Cut it down to 1 tablespoon and you can also add more sweet chilli jam or honey at the end to balance out the spice. This pasta is at a medium level of heat so it's not too spicy, but you can reduce the gochujang if you like.
SUBSTITUTIONS: This pasta is really flexible based on what you have to hand - you could use flat leaf parsley in place of cilantro, sweet chilli sauce or honey in place of sweet chilli jam or crème fraiche, sour cream or a dairy-free alternative in place of the single cream.
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: As with most pasta, this recipe is best eaten right after cooking, but you can store it in the fridge and reheat it, it will keep for 4 days in a covered container. Either reheat it on the stovetop over low heat, or in the microwave. The pasta will keep absorbing the sauce as it sits, so you'll want to add a little liquid when you heat it to help it loosen up. Start with 1 tablespoon of water. Freeze the sauce separately in a ziplock bag or container, then finish it off and cook your pasta to serve. You can defrost it in the pan.
Nutrition
Serving: 1bowl