Gochujang Tomato Sauce Pasta

A super easy pasta with a flare of Korean spiciness will help hit the spot on a super lazy Saturday (or any day).

Work has been super busy, so even though I’m not actually coming home from work any later than before, I am a lot more exhausted since I don’t have any down time during work hours (I guess that can be expected?).. But come Saturday afternoon, and well, I don’t really want to cook but I’m tired of restaurant food.

And so, to the rescue! This gochujang sauce pasta. Cheated and used jarred pasta sauce as the base and added some gochujang and gochugaru (Korean chili paste and powder). It brings in a layer of spice that can be appreciated on some days. The pork belly also brings in a Korean flair but bacon works great here too (used in the photos today). Hard to call this a recipe, and more of an idea for a super easy pasta dish with what’s in the fridge! Throw it together and done.

Ingredients

• 1 serving linguine, 3.5 oz or 100 g dry spaghetti (or linguine) noodles
• 4 garlic cloves
• ½ small onion, (¼ medium onion)
• 1 scallion
• 3.5 oz (100 g) pork belly, or 3 strips of bacon
• * 2 strips of imitation crab, optional
• Parmesan topping, to taste

Sauce

• 1 ⅓ Tbsp Korean chili powder (gochugaru)
• 1/4 cup pasta water, reserved from pasta 
• ⅔ Tbsp  Korean chili paste (gochujang) = (2 tsp) 
• ⅔ cup (160 ml) tomato sauce jar, your choice! 

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta noodles as suggested on the packaged directions, just until it’s soft; al dente.
(For dry linguine, in a large pot, bring a few quarts of water to a boil (several inches of water in height) and add a generous pinch of salt. Once the water is boiling, add in the noodles and cook for about 8 minutes – just a bit al dente).

2. Once the pasta is done, reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water and drain. As an option* – drizzle a tsp of olive oil on the noodles to keep soft and set aside until ready to use.

3. In the meantime, slice the onions and garlic thinly and chop the scallions. Cut the pork (or bacon), into bite size pieces.
*If using, defrost the imitation crab.

4. Heat a medium sized non-stick frypan and add in the pork. Season lightly with salt and ground pepper. Continue to cook until about 70% done. Oil will begin to come out, do not wipe away so the vegetables can be cooked it it!

5. Add in the onion, garlic and scallions. Stir-fry for about 1 minute.
*If using the imitation crab, toss in now.

Sauce

6. Then add in the Korean chili powder. Continue to stir-fry until the vegetables have wilted.  

7. Add in the ¼ cup of reserved pasta water into the sauce pan, then Korean chili paste and tomato sauce. Continue to cook for about 3-4 minutes until the flavors have all blended together. Toss in the noodles and combine together until the noodles have been coated in sauce.

8. Plate on to a plate. Season with grated parmesan, to taste. Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Gochujang Tomato Sauce Pasta

Servings

1 serving

Ingredients

• 1 g serving linguine 3.5 oz or 100dry spaghetti (or linguine) noodles
• 4 cloves garlic
• ½ small onion (¼ medium onion)
• 1 scallion
• 3.5 oz pork belly or 3 strips of bacon, 100 g
• * 2 strips of imitation crab optional
• grated parmesan topping to taste

Sauce

• 1⅓ Tbsp Korean chili powder, gochugaru
• ¼ cup pasta water reserved from pasta making
• ⅔ Tbsp Korean chili paste, gochujang (same as 2 tsp)
• ⅔ cup (160 ml) tomato sauce jar your choice

Servings 1 serving Ingredients 1 g serving linguine 3.5 oz or 100dry spaghetti (or linguine) noodles 4 cloves garlic ½ small onion (¼ medium onion) 1 scallion 3.5 oz pork belly or 3 strips of bacon, 100 g * 2 strips of imitation crab optional grated parmesan topping to taste Sauce 1⅓ Tbsp Korean chili powder, gochugaru ¼ cup pasta water reserved from pasta making ⅔ Tbsp Korean chili paste, gochujang (same as 2 tsp) ⅔ cup (160 ml) tomato sauce jar your choice

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta noodles as suggested on the packaged directions, just until it's soft; al dente. (For dry linguine, in a large pot, bring a few quarts of water to a boil (several inches of water in height) and add a generous pinch of salt. Once the water is boiling, add in the noodles and cook for about 8 minutes - just a bit al dente).
2. Once the pasta is done, reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water and drain. As an option* - drizzle a tsp of olive oil on the noodles to keep soft and set aside until ready to use.
3. In the meantime, slice the onions and garlic thinly and chop the scallions. Cut the pork (or bacon), into bite size pieces.*If using, defrost the imitation crab.
4. Heat a medium sized non-stick frypan and add in the pork. Season lightly with salt and ground pepper. Continue to cook until about 70% done. Oil will begin to come out, do not wipe away so the vegetables can be cooked it it!
5. Add in the onion, garlic and scallions. Stir-fry for about 1 minute. *If using the imitation crab, toss in now.

Sauce

1. Then add in the Korean chili powder. Continue to stir-fry until the vegetables have wilted.
2. Add in the ¼ cup of reserved pasta water into the sauce pan, then Korean chili paste and tomato sauce. Continue to cook for about 3-4 minutes until the flavors have all blended together. Toss in the noodles and combine together until the noodles have been coated in sauce.
3. Plate on to a plate. Season with grated Parmesan, to taste. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

recipe adapted from Korean blogger 햇살한스푼