This baked gochujang rigatoni is a creation from my recent trip to Italy with The Getaway Co.! It's an Asian and Italian fusion dish inspired by a unique collaboration.
I was in Panzano from June 24 to July 1 for Vegan Roots In Italy organized by The Getaway Co. and co-hosted by myself, plant expert Nick Cutsumpas, and fellow vegan YouTuber Rose Lee from Cheap Lazy Vegan. Vlog coming soon!
Part of the trip schedule is hosting cooking experiences with our participants! Our first event was a hands-on gnocchi-making experience, and then Rose and I hosted a truly once-in-a-lifetime cooking demo. We created this hybrid Korean-Italian recipe that combines her simple gochujang pasta and my mozza sauce from Vegan Comfort Classics, which we elevated into a baked casserole with a crispy breadcrumb topping!
If you've never used gochujang before, it's a fermented Korean chili pepper paste that is very flavorful. It's not just spicy, but also contains garlic, and a sweetness from the starch of cooked glutinous rice. It's definitely something you should add as a pantry staple. I have a recipe for crispy gochujang cauliflower added to Korean bibimbap you can check out too!
Baked Gochujang Rigatoni
Ingredients
Vegan Mozza Sauce
- ½ C raw cashews (soaked for 20 minutes in hot water)
- 1 C unsweetened soy or oat milk
- 1 tablespoon tapioca flour
- 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
Gochujang Rigatoni
- 1 lb rigatoni
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 C unsweetened soy or oat milk
- 2 tablespoon minced garlic
- 4 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 tablespoon Korean gochujang fermented paste (use 2 tablespoon for mild)
Topping
- ⅓ C seasoned Italian-style breadcrumbs
- finely chopped Italian parsley, as garnish
Instructions
- To make the mozzarella sauce, drain the soaked cashews from the soaking water and rinse well. Add to a high-powered blender, like a Vitamix, with the remaining ingredients and blend until very very smooth. No bits of cashews should remain. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat over medium-low heat whisking constantly for about 4 to 5 minutes until it thickens and is gooey. Remove from the heat.
- Meanwhile, cook the rigatoni in a large pot of salted water. Drain but do not rinse. Reserve a cup of starchy pasta water before draining.
- Heat olive oil and all-purpose flour in a large pan over medium heat. Use a flat wooden spatula to stir it around until it thickens into a roux, cooking for about 5 minutes. Slowly pour the soy or oat milk in while continuing to push the mixture around with the wooden spatula or whisk to get it well combined. Continue to cook over medium heat until it becomes slightly thicker. Add minced garlic, tomato paste, and gochujang stirring well to combine. Continue cooking the sauce for about another 5 to 8 minutes. Add more nondairy milk and/or some starchy pasta water, a small portion at a time, if the sauce becomes too thick. Cook longer if it's too thin.
- Lower the heat on the pan of sauce, and toss in the cooked rigatoni. Combine until well coated in the sauce. If you feel it needs some reserved starchy pasta water to thicken and coat the pasta, add a little bit at a time, while continuing to heat it over low.
- Lightly coat a 9-inch x 13-inch baking pan with some olive oil. Add the sauced pasta to the baking pan. Dollop the mozza sauce all over the top. It won’t be a thick even layer but will cover almost all of the top of the pasta. Then add seasoned Italian-style bread crumbs evenly on top.
- Broil for 5 to 8 minutes to get the top browned and bubbling. Or bake in an oven preheated to 400°F for 15 to 20 minutes until bubbling. I think it depends on the oven. The top should be browned and the mozza slightly puffed.
- Before serving garnish the top of the baked pasta with finely chopped parsley.
Lauren Toyota
Lauren is a plant-based powerhouse, a former TV host turned wildly successful food creator, best-selling cookbook author, and the woman responsible for making vegan comfort food a thing worth craving. Through her blog and YouTube channel, hot for food, she’s amassed a dedicated following by recreating all the nostalgic, indulgent dishes we love—mac & cheese, burgers, cinnamon rolls—but making them entirely plant-based. No compromise on taste, no weird ingredients, just damn good food.