Gochujang and miso spicy “bolognese”

The Story

I love pasta. I know it’s not always great for your waistline, but I just don’t care. I’ll go through a phase where I try not to eat it as regularly, but then I bounce back hard and wind up making a different pasta dish every Sunday my partner and I will slurp up while watching Netflix and dreading the start of the next week.

I often lean on the Italian classics, but I definitely love a non-traditional pasta recipe (just check out my vodka sauce but spicy and tangy, or my sausage and peppers baked pasta). On one of those non-traditional pasta nights, I was craving bolognese, but I wanted to take it in a different direction. I tend to keep a fully stocked pantry, so I was able to put this recipe together with the lumps of gochujang and miso paste that I needed to use up anyway. The result is a umami-rich sauce that’s just the right combination of spicy, sweet, and salty.

Difficulty: 1 on a scale of 1-5

Active time to prepare: 15 minutes

Total time to prepare: 45 minutes

Serves: 16 eggs white halves - count on around 2 -4 per person depending on how many items you are serving.

The Ingredients

3 Tbsp./41 g olive oil

1 lb./453 g ground pork

1 lb./453 g ground beef

1/2 onion minced

1 2 inch/2.54 cm piece fresh ginger, grated on the microplane

8 - 10 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp./42 g honey

3 Tbsp./51 g gochujang (I like this one from Sempio)

3 Tbsp./51 g white miso (I like this one from Shiro Miso)

1 and 1/3 cups /300 g passata (I like this one from Mutti)

2 Tbsp./28 g soy sauce

3 Tbsp./g black vinegar (you could also use rice vinegar)

1 lb/500 g dried ramen noodles (you can use a different noodle like udon, spaghetti, etc.)

2 Tbsp./28 g unsalted butter

1 handful basil leaves

The Recipe

1. Heat a large wide pot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil. When you start to see whisps of smoke add enough ground meat to cover the surface of the pan sparsely. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Brown the meat undisturbed until you start to see some color forming around the edges (6 minutes approx.).

3. Turn the meat over and brown it lightly on the other side (2 minutes approx.)

4. Remove the meat and repeat until you have browned all the ground pork and beef.

5. Add the 1/2 minced onion and a small splash of water. Scrape up any browned bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Sweat the onions until they are translucent (5 to 6 minutes approx.).

7. Add the garlic and ginger, and cook until fragrant and softened (3 minutes approx.)

8. Add the honey, gochujang, and miso. Stir to combine. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture darkens slightly in color.

9. Add the passata and cook for 20 minutes over medium-low heat until the mixture has reduced by 1/2.

10. Add the soy sauce and black vinegar. Taste and correct the seasoning.

11. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions.

12. With the help of tongs, transfer the cooked noodles to the sauce. It’s more than okay if some pasta water gets into the sauce.

13. Add the butter and stir vigorously to emulsify.

14. Serve and garnish with basil leaves.

DO AHEAD: You can make the sauce up to three days in advance.

LEFTOVERS: Store in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for three days.