Gochujang cream pasta
A creamy, gently spicy Korean-style rosé sauce made with gochujang, garlic and parmesan, clinging to every piece of rigatoni.
- 30 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.50 a serving
- 610 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- ½ yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 12 oz rigatoni
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp gochujang
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- 2 stalks green onions, sliced
- 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp soy sauce
Each serving has about 610 calories, 17 g protein, 75 g carbs and 27 g fat, and costs about $1.50 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No rigatoni? Penne works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Fill a large pot with water, add the salt, cover and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
While it heats, the onion and the garlic.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Cook the rigatoni 1 minute less than the package says.
High heatTimer: 11 min
Meanwhile, the butter in a large over medium heat and cook the onion 3 to 4 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic for 30 seconds.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
Stir in the gochujang and tomato paste and cook 1 minute, stirring, until it darkens.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Pour in the cream and soy sauce and stir until smooth and coral-colored, then let it bubble gently 2 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 2 min
Dolly’s tip: Gochujang brands vary. Taste now and add another spoonful if you want more heat.Scoop out 1 cup of , then the rigatoni.
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Add the rigatoni, parmesan and ½ cup and until glossy.
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Low heat
Serve topped with green onions and sesame seeds.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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