Chicken Dishes/ Non Vegetarian/ Recipes/ Vegetarian

Runner’s World Pasta

Its Patriots Day tomorrow which means the Boston Marathon will kick off at about 9:30 am for the elite runners. There will be a lot of carb loading tonight and so just in time for that, here is a very simple pasta recipe, inspired by a recipe that we had read in Runner’s World. Training for half marathons and marathons usually span over 6 months. Mileage is built up gradually and one day of the week is reserved for “LSD” – long slow distance running. Aparna and I reserved Saturday for our long runs and so Friday night would be carb loading night and we usually would make this pasta. Carb-loading is really moot for an Indian family that eats rice everyday, but nevertheless runners follow rituals and our ritual was this pasta. We just refer to it as “Runner’s World” pasta since it is the origin for this recipe.

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Ingredients

Rigatoni - 16 oz
Shitake mushrooms - 10 to 12
Asparagus Spears - 10 to 15
Garlic - 5 cloves, peeled and crushed
Olive oil - 2 tablespoons
Crushed red pepper flakes
Salt
Crushed black pepper

Instructions

Cook the rigatoni as per instructions on the box. It must be cooked al dente.

Drain the pasta and set aside.

Cut the shitake mushrooms into strips and the asparagus spears diagonally into 1 inch pieces.

Heat a wok on medium flame and add the olive oil.

Once the oil is heated, add the garlic cloves and cook till they are lightly browned.

Add the mushrooms and asparagus and cook till they are cripsy.

Add the drained pasta to the vegetables and salt to taste and stir the pasta so it mixes with the vegetables.

Drizzle with olive oil, add some crushed black pepper and red pepper and serve hot. We like to eat this with pesto chicken.

Note:

Each issue of Runners World features a celebrity chef who likes to run, along with one of their recipes. In this case, the original recipe calls for parsley and parmesan cheese, we modified it to our liking.
The original recipe does not include the pesto chicken, we add it for the proteins. This is optional, especially if you are vegetarian!
You can use dried shitake mushrooms if the fresh ones are not available. Reconstitute the mushrooms in hot water and drain them prior to use.

April 14, 2013 By Rajesh