Easy Eats: Korean-inspired bolognese
Korean and Italian flavours blend deliciously to create a tasty spin on a family favourite.
- prepare
- cook
- 6 servings
- Easy
The rise in recent years in the popularity of Korean food in New Zealand (along with the cooking show Culinary Class Wars) inspired me to incorporate Korean flavours into one of our most loved and versatile family meals.
Spring onion, ginger and garlic are the starting point here. Mushrooms and carrots help build a deep savoury flavour and foundational Korean ingredient: Gochujang adds fermented depth and a little kick.
Ideally pork and beef mince are both used here, though if you can only get one or the other, it’ll still be great. The ragù is simmered with tomatoes like the traditional version before being finished with a drizzle of sesame oil, a scattering of thinly sliced spring onion and a generous helping of parmesan. The fusion of flavours here is rich and umami, with a subtle sweetness from a little brown sugar.
I really like to serve this sauce with a wide pasta like pappardelle or fettuccine, but it would also be great with egg noodles or a really good quality udon.
The sauce will freeze brilliantly so is a great one to batch cook.
Ingredients
- 3 spring onions
- Oil, for sauteing
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 Tbsp finely diced ginger
- 200g white button mushrooms, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 750g pork and beef mince (a 50/50 mix is ideal)
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 ½ Tbsp gochujang
- 1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- Pappardelle pasta, cooked, to serve
- Finely grated parmesan, to serve
- Salt, as needed
Instructions
- Thinly slice the white part of the spring onion along with half of the green part.
- Heat a generous glug of oil to a sauté pan over a medium-high heat. Add the spring onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms along with a pinch of salt. When the mushrooms are reduced in volume by half and are glossy, add the carrots.
- Cook the carrots for a few minutes before raising the heat to high. Add the beef and pork mince. Brown the mince for a few minutes, breaking up any large chunks.
- Once the meat is well-browned, add the soy sauce and gochujang. Stir through.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, cup of water and brown sugar. Bring to a boil.
- Simmer rapidly for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the sesame oil. Taste and season further as desired.
- Serve the bolognese sauce tossed through al-dente pappardelle. Thinly slice the remaining spring onion and sprinkle over the pasta, along with a generous sprinkle of finely grated parmesan, just before serving.
