Creamy Gochujang Pasta
Creamy Gochujang Pasta made with minimal ingredients and no heavy cream. Rather with protein packed silken tofu, cottage cheese and high protein milk with tremendous amount of flavors!!
I have been seeing couple of viral trends on social media lately. One is Gigi Hadid’s spicy vodka pasta as well as creamy Gochujang pasta. Both of them are great in their way. Presenting you with my version that is a combination of them both with touch of my creativity! I had to mention them as they were both my inspiration for creating this recipe. And we all should give credit where it’s due!
I love me some saucy, creamy and spicy pasta. And this one checks all the boxes. The biggest flex with my version is the use of protein packed ingredients that swaps heavy cream. I have been on a silken tofu and cottage cheese kick these days. And I had to try those ingredients to come up with a creamy swap for calorie and fat dense heavy cream. Mix of silken tofu with good cottage cheese along with either pasta water or high protein milk makes a great creamy version. Which can be used in many dishes as substitute for heavy cream.
Now that we have figured out how to add creaminess to this pasta without using heavy cream, let’s talk about the flavors. There are three key ingredients in this recipe that brings lot of flavors with minimal efforts. And they are Gochujang paste, crispy crunchy spicy chili oil and tomato paste. In terms of fresh produce, I only used shallots and garlic. You can certainly add spinach or fresh basil to this pasta if you like! But I like it as it is.
I love this quick and easy dish for weeknights because it comes together quickly while keeping your macro somewhat in line. You can definitely take this to next level by using high protein pasta, there are many available in the market. Pair this simple pasta with ROASTED GARLIC BROCCOLI to add much needed fiber and you have a complete meal ready within minutes.
If you like to try different type of pasta/noodles, do check out TOFU UDON STIR FRY, SPICY ARRABBIATA SPAGHETTI, FIVE CHEESE ZITI AL FORNO, PANEER TIKKA MACARONI and many more on my blog. And any recipe you try from my blog, do leave me a feed back either in the comments below or on my IG @myvegetarianroots. I would love to know how you like this or any recipe of mine!
Happy & Healthy Eating!!
Creamy Gochujang Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1 tbsp Chili Oil
- 2 large Shallots, finely chopped
- 2 extra large Garlic Cloves, finely minced
- ¼ cup Tomato Paste
- ¼ cup Gochujang Paste
- 4 oz Silken Tofu
- ¼ cup Cottage Cheese
- ½ cup Pasta Water (can be sub with High Protein Milk) more or less based on consistency
- 8 oz Long Fusilli
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper Powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Crushed Red Pepper
Instructions
- Start boiling Long Fusilli (or choice of pasta) in boiling water with pinch of salt until al dente. Keep pasta water for cooking sauce.
- Melt butter in a wide pan. Add in choice of chili oil. Saute for few seconds.
- Add in finely chopped shallots and minced garlic. Saute on low/medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until raw smell of garlic is gone, for about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in tomato paste and Gochujang paste. Mix very well and cook for couple of minutes on low heat.
- Blend cottage cheese and silken tofu to super smooth consistency.
- Add in blended mixture to the pan and mix very well with both paste. If the blended holds lot of paste, add in ½ cup of pasta water or high protein milk to the blender, wash off the paste and add it to the pan. Mix in salt, pepper and crushed red pepper.
- Once the sauce becomes very well blended and smooth, add in boiled long fusilli or choice of pasta. Mix well. If sauce seems to thick, add another ¼ cup of pasta water or high protein milk. Mix well and cook for a minute or two.
- Serve it hot with Roasted Garlicky Broccoli.