Gochujang Lentil Roast

This week, my continuing search for comforting winter dinners has brought me to the Korean aisle in my local supermarket, to pick up a jar of Gochujang paste. I have used it before in a few recipes here on A Different Kitchen (Korean Pulled Pork Sandwich, Cauli Roast, Salmon Noodles) and am a real fan of its sweet and smoky taste.

Gochujang is a spicy condiment made from red chilli peppers and fermented soya beans, and is definitely worth a try if you haven’t come across it before. Find it in the Asian section of a reasonable-sized supermarket or in a specialist deli.

In this dish its magical spicy warmth is the base for a hearty lentil dahl-like stew with char-roasted winter veg.

Servings

4 adult portions.

Timings

30 mins to make.

You Will Need

• a large roasting tray’s worth of chopped root veg – I used carrot, parsnip and sweet potato
• 1 red pepper
• oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 medium red chilli
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 2 tbsp gochujang paste
• 1 red onion
• 3 celery sticks
• 500g carton tomato passata
• 100g red lentils

Method

1. Switch on a fan oven to 180C.
2. Chop the root veg and red pepper into chunks and spread out in the roasting pan. Drizzle with oil and place in the oven when it’s up to temp. Leave for 30 mins.
3. Crush the garlic and place in a wok with a drizzle of oil, over a medium heat. Finely chop the chilli and add to the wok with the cumin seeds. Give it all a gentle stir and leave to sizzle for a few moments.
4. Add the onion and celery, chopped, and stir again, and add in the gochujang paste. Stir once more so the veg is coated in the lovely smokey red paste.
5. Tip in the passata. Fill the empty carton with tap water and add this also, then sprinkle in the lentils. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and leave to reduce and thicken.
6. When the roasting veg have had their 30 mins, remove the tray from the oven and scrape them into the wok. The veg should be softened and a little charred at the edges. Stir so all the veg is coated, then serve. I served mine with steamed fresh kale, as shown in my photo at the top of the post.

Customise It!

Feel free to swap in whatever roasting veg you have to hand – swede, potato, celeriac can all be contenders, so can mushroom or aubergine.

Dance classic season continues here on A Different Kitchen. Next up is the legendary Teddy Pendergrass, in the form of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, with Don’t Leave Me This Way.