Creamy Gochujang Pasta with Spicy-Savory Sauce

For a four-serving prep, cook the pasta and make the creamy sauce in one session, then cool and portion leftovers for later meals. Finish each bowl with parsley when serving; gochujang, garlic, cream, and cheese create rich, spicy-savory noodles with a smooth, coating sauce.

Fusilli Corti Bucati, identified as bucatini in the recipe, gives the sauce a tubular pasta base, although any preferred pasta shape may be used. Butter and olive oil carry the minced garlic before gochujang, heavy cream, and shredded Parmesan or cheddar go in. Parmesan makes the result more Alfredo-like, while cheddar gives it a mac-and-cheese-style character; both are explicitly offered choices. The cheese is stirred into the warm cream for the finished sauce.

Bring the water to a rolling boil, optionally salt it, and cook the pasta for 7 to 12 minutes until it reaches your preferred texture. In the sauté pan, garlic should smell fragrant after 30 to 60 seconds, not browned or scorched. The sauce is ready when gochujang, cream, and cheese have cooked for 1 to 2 minutes and look slightly thickened; burned garlic is the key mistake to avoid.

Serve the pasta with the optional parsley, or pair it with grilled chicken, shrimp, tofu, steak, or sautéed or roasted bell peppers, zucchini, or mushrooms. For planned leftovers, cool the finished pasta before placing portions in an airtight container; the article also suggests kimchi or Korean-style pickled radishes alongside it.