So, this post is dedicated to my friend Carly who has become a runner. She does all sorts of races now and has completed her first half-marathon, with a second one coming up October 15th! (Go Carly!)
I told her I would make a pasta dish in her honor since many athletes choose to load up on carbs the night before a big race.
I found this recipe on a website called No Meat Athlete.The main reason I picked this one (here is the original recipe) is because the author made it the night before he was running the Baltimore Marathon. Now, Carly isn't running the full marathon, but she is doing the Baltimore Half Marathon, so I thought this recipe would be perfect.
I can tell you off the bat that I changed this recipe slightly, and ONLY for the reason of convenience. The original actually looked great and I would have used it as is if I had the right ingredients and a little more time.
The first minor thing that changed was that the author used whole wheat pasta and I used garden vegetable pasta. I actually had whole wheat pasta in the house, but the garden vegetable was already open so I didn't want to open a new box. I also only used a half a box, not a full box.
The second minor thing that I changed was not using green beans, which the recipe calls for (and is a vegetable Carly likes). I used asparagus instead, again, only because I already HAD it in the house, and we didn't have any green beans. It was an easy switch, so not a big deal.
Lastly, this author made his own pesto. That's impressive! I didn't because 1) I didn't have the ingredients in the house to make the pesto, 2) we actually have had a Knorr Pesto Sauce Mix sitting in our cabinet for like, 2 years, that needed to be used, and 3) I just didn't have the time to make my own so the shortcut was great!
So, if you want to use green beans and make your own pesto, go to the link above for the original recipe. I won't be posting the pesto recipe here.
All in all, the recipe turned out well! My husband inhaled his dinner, so I guess he liked it. I never was the biggest pesto person, and this was tasty, but not my ultimate favorite, only because I am not in love with pesto.
It's a relatively easy recipe to make and from start to finish, I would say it took maybe 45 minutes. That could be a little generous though, it may have taken me less. I didn't pay so close attention because I was trying to find recipes to make for the Yom Kippur feast this Friday at the same time!!
So, Carly, I hope you like the idea of this dish that I found just for you. Good luck running!! I know you will do great!
And now, the recipe (with my changes/shortcuts). This could probably serve 2-3 people with using just half a box of pasta. 4 if you use smaller portions!
Ingredients:
1 Knorr Pesto Sauce Mix packet
1/4 cup olive oil (for pesto)
3/4 cup water (for pesto)
1/2 box spaghetti of your choosing (whole wheat, garden veggie, plain)
3-4 small/medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
3/4 cup asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces (or you can use green beans or any other veggie you like!)
Directions:
Place the potatoes in a large pot (you'll be using it for the pasta, too) and fill with as much water as you'd use to make pasta.
The potatoes should be covered with a few inches of water. Salt the water to taste, then bring to a boil.
When the potatoes are close to being tender (usually takes around 8-10 minutes), add the vegetable you are using and allow them to cook.
When the vegetable and potatoes are tender, remove them with a slotted spoon and transfer to a separate bowl. Cover with foil to keep warm.
Put the pasta in the boiling water and cook.
** If using a sauce mix, it takes just a few minutes so do this while the pasta is cooking.
Place the pasta, potatoes, and vegetable in a large bowl. Mix in the pesto to coat everything. Serve with more Parmesan cheese! (The author also used salt and pepper at the end to taste, but we didn't).
Enjoy!
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