I was in New York recently and noticed there was “white bolognese” on a few menus I saw. I had to try one of course. The one I had was great but I don’t really relate it to what I know as bolognese. It was a lighter sauce with some veggies and meat in it. I wanted to make something inspired by this, and for some reason the idea of putting chili crisp on top was intriguing to me. I also added coconut milk instead of dairy because I thought it would work well with the chili crisp. At the last minute I decided to add some harissa to the pan during the time I would normally put tomato paste in, and it added so much depth to this simple sauce.

With this delicate sauce I knew I needed some homemade pasta to go along with it.

The sauce was super simple – pork first, then carrot and celery, then garlic and harissa, then the coconut milk and bok choy. I chopped the bok choy into thin ribbons to try and match the shape of the pasta.

Top with the pistachio and chili crisp. An instant boost of crunch and depth of flavor. And of course heat!

I loved making this dish and Live streaming it on Facebook. Thank you to everyone who watched and helped me tweak the final touches!

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Pork and Coconut Tagliatelle with Chili Crisp and Bok Choy

Hand made tagliatelle tossed in a sauce of pork and coconut milk with slices of bok choy and served with a big spoonful of chili crisp and pistachio

Prep Time40

Cook Time20

Total Time1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Chinese, Italian

Keyword: Homemade, pasta, Spicy

Servings: servings

Ingredients

3 cups flour
4 eggs
1/3 pound ground pork *see note
1 large carrot diced
2 ribs celery diced
5 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons harissa paste
1/4 cup coconut cream
3/4 cup coconut milk
2 heads baby bok choy sliced into thin ribbons to mimic the noodles
1/2 cup chopped pistachio
1/4 cup chili crisp

Instructions

pasta

Add the flour to a large bowl. Whisk the eggs together, then stir them into the flour. Season with salt.
Knead the mixture together for about 5 minutes to form the pasta dough. Set aside in the fridge for a half hour.
Run the dough through your pasta roller on the thickest setting. Fold it over, then repeat about 5 times until the dough gets smooth. Turn the dial one thinner, then run the dough through. Repeat, making it thinner each time, until you get to the third thinnest setting.
Add plenty of flour to the top of the noodle sheet, then roll it up into a tube. Slice it with a knife into tagliatell, then unroll each noodle and allow to rest on a kitchen towl until ready to use.

Sauce

Cook the pork in a hot pan to brown, stirring often. If using pork sholder on this step, make sure to let it cook at least 10 minutes.
Add in the carrot and celery and cook about 10 more minutes to soften.
Add in the garlic and cook 1 minute.
Add in the harissa paste and cook 3 minutes.
Add the coconut milk and cream and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook on low for about 15 minutes.
Bring well salted water to a boil in a large pot. Drop in your pasta.
Add the bok choy to the sauce and cook 2 minutes.
When the pasta is done, add it directly from the boiling water to the sauce, adding a little pasta water with it as you go.
Stir the pasta to combine. Serve it in large bowls and top with the pistachio and chili crisp.

Notes

I made this dish twice, once using ground pork and once using finely chopped pork shoulder. I listed it as ground pork but I think I liked the chopped pork shoulder slightly better, it’s up to you! If you do use the pork shoulder, just make sure it’s nicely chopped.