Pasta in a creamy, slightly spicy sauce with a smoky meaty bite.

Creamy Gochujang Pasta

Serves 2-3

I like to think of this as carbonara with a twist. Rich and creamy with a solid dose of umami.

Ingredients

500g (1 lb) dried spaghetti

200g (a little less than .5 lb) smoked duck or thick cut bacon, cut into bite sized pieces

5 garlic cloves, minced

Sauce

70g (heaped 1/3 c) cheese, shredded

2 large eggs

3 T gochujang

1 T soy

1.5 t fish sauce

1.5 t gochugaru

.50 t ground black pepper

Garnish

1 scallion, sliced thinly

Recipe Know-how

1.      Bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt well.

While the water comes to the boil, make the sauce.

2.      In a medium bowl combine all sauce ingredients, mixing well. Set aside.

3.      When water is boiling, add pasta. Cook 2 minutes shy of package directions.

While pasta cooks, continue on with the recipe.

4.      In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, cook the smoked meat or bacon until crisp.

• Drain off all but 1 T of fat leaving the meat in the pan.

• Add garlic and cook 30 seconds.

• Using tongs, add pasta to pan. Reduce heat to low.

• Stirring constantly, slowly, mix .25 c hot pasta cooking water into the bowl with the sauce.

• Pour sauce into the pan.

• Toss pasta while shaking the pan until the sauce has thickened and pasta is well coated, about 90 seconds to 2 minutes.

As necessary, add more pasta water to create a thick creamy sauce to coat pasta.

5.      Serve topping with scallions.