Gochujang pork ragù

Name: Gochujang pork ragù
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 1 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 celery stick, finely chopped; 1 carrot, finely chopped; 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 500g pork mince; 1 tbsp tomato purée; 2 tbsp gochujang; 150ml white wine (optional); 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes; 1 bay leaf; 150g oyster mushrooms; 300g dried tagliatelle; Finely grated parmesan to serve

By: Pollyanna Coupland
Food producer, delicious.

Published: 5 Jan 23
Updated: 18 Mar 24

Test kitchen approved

Going beyond Italy’s larder of ingredients when making pasta sauces can produce incredible results. This ragù recipe is completely transformed thanks to the addition of just a few ingredients, notably Korean gochujang – which gives it a complex depth of heat and umami, lifting the porky tomato sauce to exciting new heights.

Next time: try the chilli paste in gochujang fish pie.

Serves 4
Hands-on time 20 min. Simmering time 45 min

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Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
500g pork mince
1 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp gochujang
150ml white wine (optional)
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
150g oyster mushrooms
300g dried tagliatelle
Finely grated parmesan to serve

Method

Put a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the vegetable oil. Once hot, add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic with a pinch of salt and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften. Tip in the pork mince, turn up the heat and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring regularly until browned all over.
Add the tomato purée and gochujang, cook for another minute, then pour in the wine (if using) and simmer until reduced by half (about 5 minutes). Add the tinned tomatoes, bay leaf and mushrooms, bring back to a gentle simmer, then turn down the heat, cover and gently simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for 15 more minutes, or until the sauce is rich and thickened.
Once the sauce is ready, cook the tagliatelle in salted boiling water according to the packet instructions. Drain, reserving a cup of the pasta water, then mix through the ragù, tossing with enough pasta water to emulsify the sauce. Serve with plenty of grated parmesan and cracked black pepper.

Recipe from January 2023 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 583kcals
Fat: 16.6g (4.9g saturated)
Protein: 36.5g
Carbohydrates: 68.3g (11.5g sugars)
Fibre: 7.5g
Salt: 0.6g

delicious. tips

As with all ragù, this sauce tastes even better the next day when the flavours have had time to develop overnight. This makes it an excellent candidate for batch-cooking and freezing. Just defrost and gently reheat the sauce before tossing with pasta.
Gochujang is a Korean fermented chilli bean paste with a fiery, sweet and salty flavour. It is available from supermarkets now, but we’d recommend getting a Korean brand from an Asian supermarket or online. If using a supermarket brand, you may need to up the quantity.

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Gochujang pork ragù

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