Cooling Buckwheat Sedanini

Eating cold pasta dishes and Asian noodle salads is incredibly popular, and it's the ultimate way to enjoy a fresh, cooling meal on warm days. This is our quick and trendy take on an Asian celebrity dish – a creamy, cold gochujang pasta made with gluten-free da Carla Bovete Sedanini. Many people ask themselves: is buckwheat gluten-free? And the answer is yes! Despite its name, buckwheat is a completely natural, gluten-free herb that's wonderfully gentle on the stomach. Its unique, nutty flavour profile pairs perfectly with Asian flavours like Korean chilli, peanut and sesame. What's more, the little tubes of the sedanini do a fantastic job of soaking up the creamy sauce, so every bite becomes a full flavour experience. The dish is also ideal for packed lunches, as the buckwheat pasta keeps its perfect al dente bite even the next day.

Our Bovete Sedanini isn't just a smart gluten-free alternative to regular pasta, it's also a real functional nutritional powerhouse, packed with complete plant-based protein, magnesium, iron and zinc. In this recipe, you quickly whip up a cold, creamy sauce where peanut butter, tahini and the popular chilli paste gochujang meet crisp cucumber, roasted sesame and fresh spring onion. To give the sauce maximum function and flavour, we stir in da Carla Nutritional Yeast for a deep umami boost of B vitamins, and balance the creaminess with a refreshing splash of da Carla Apple Cider Vinegar that makes the whole dish wonderfully balanced and kind to your gut flora. A super-quick, flavourful and modern meal ready in twenty minutes!

ingredients

• approx. 165 g da Carla Bovete Sedanini
• 2 st eggs
• 1 msk peanut butter
• 1 msk tahini
• 1–2 tsk gochujang (or more to taste)
• 1 msk mayonnaise
• 2 msk da Carla Nutritional Yeast
• 1 msk da Carla Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 msk soy sauce or tamari
• 2 msk cold water
• 0.5 st cucumber
• 1 st spring onion
• 1 msk sesame seeds, roasted

Method

• Bring salted water to the boil in a saucepan. Cook the da Carla Bovete Sedanini according to the instructions on the pack. At the same time, add the eggs and let them cook for exactly 6.5 minutes to get them perfectly soft-boiled with that lovely creamy, "jammy" yolk.
• Drain the pasta in a colander and immediately rinse it under ice-cold water until the pasta is completely cold. Let it drain thoroughly. Also rinse the eggs cold, peel and halve them.
• Meanwhile, stir together peanut butter, tahini, gochujang, mayo, nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar and soy sauce in a large bowl. Whisk in the cold water, one tablespoon at a time, until you have a smooth, runny but creamy sauce.
• Quickly roast the sesame seeds in a dry, hot frying pan until they turn golden and smell nutty. Set aside.
• Cut the cucumber into thin sticks and slice the spring onion thinly.
• Fold the cold pasta into the bowl with the sauce. Stir so the sauce coats and fills the sedanini tubes completely. Also fold in half of the sliced spring onion.
• Arrange the pasta in two deep bowls or pack it straight into lunch boxes. Arrange the cucumber and spring onion nicely on top. Top with the halved eggs, the roasted sesame seeds and serve.

Tips for variation: This cold dish can be built on endlessly. If you want to add more greens, it's perfect to quickly stir-fry a little pak choi or a handful of baby spinach for 1–2 minutes and add to the bowl. For extra crunch and saltiness on top, it's delicious to crumble over a sheet of nori or sprinkle on a spoonful of furikake. If you want to swap the egg for another protein, crispy fried firm tofu, marinated tempeh or edamame beans work just as well!