Meera Sodha's latest vegetarian recipe combines the crispy, pan-fried technique of spaghetti all’assassina from Bari, Italy, with Korean flavours. The dish features gochujang, a sweet and hot chilli paste, and sun-dried tomato paste, cooked risotto-style until the pasta is charred and crisp.
To make the dish, prepare a stock by mixing 200ml passata, 1½ tsp fine sea salt, and 650ml freshly boiled water. In a wide nonstick pan, heat 5 tbsp olive oil over medium heat and cook 4 minced garlic cloves for two minutes until pale golden. Add 1½ tbsp gochujang and 1 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste, stirring for a minute.
Add 400g spaghetti to the pan, coating it with the paste and oil using a spatula. Pour in a quarter of the stock and let it absorb without stirring. Repeat with remaining stock in three more additions, folding the pasta once between additions. The process takes about 15 minutes.
After all stock is absorbed, continue cooking until the pasta dries and becomes crispy, folding once halfway through. This should take another 10 minutes. Remove from heat, make a dent in the centre, and nestle 1-2 torn mozzarella balls into the pasta. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with togarashi before serving.
