Creamy Gochujang Pasta

I like to cook…mostly because I like to eat. But I’m a recipe follower, not a recipe creator. On the rare occasion I try to “whip something up,” I’m generally left dissatisfied by the results. However, this time I created something that I actually liked: Creamy Gochujang Pasta.

Some months ago I saw a pasta recipe online that used gochujang with milk and cheese (and a list of other ingredients), and while I didn’t make it, it did sound good to me. And the idea stayed in my brain…which brings me to yogurt.

While I can eat yogurt, I don’t particularly enjoy it—I’d rather just cook with it. I had bought a container of yogurt for a specific recipe, but had quite a bit left over and I didn’t know what to do with it. I recalled that cheesy gochujang pasta and thought I could just substitute the milk with yogurt to create a creamy sauce. So I did, and I liked it. It’s a quick recipe and takes about fifteen minutes to do.

CREAMY GOCHUJANG PASTA
1 serving

Ingredients
1 bacon strip
1 tbsp gochujang
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground garlic
2 tbsp water
¼ cup chopped kimchi
1 tbsp whole milk plain yogurt
1 serving angel hair pasta

— 1 —
In a nonstick frying pan, fry bacon. Once bacon is cooked, remove bacon from the pan and place on a paper towel to drain the excess grease. Keep the bacon grease in pan.

Once cool, break bacon into pieces.

— 2 —
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions. And drain pasta once cooked.

— 3 —
Add the water, gochujang, ground ginger, ground garlic and kimchi to the pan with the bacon grease. Over low heat, stir to combine.

— 4 —
Add the yogurt to the pan and stir to combine with the sauce. Add pasta to the pan and stir until coated with the sauce.

— 5 —
Place pasta on a plate and top with bacon pieces. Serve immediately.

Variation: Cheese
I also tried this replacing the bacon with cheese—mozzarella or cheddar works well. Cut a slice of cheese into 16 squares. In Step 5, once the sauce coats the pasta, add the cheese squares. Stir to combine as the cheese melts. Serve immediately.