– Ireland’s rising chef star Donal Skehan creates delicious high-energy pasta dishes exclusively for the Bord Gáis Energy Cork City Marathon-
The energy requirements of someone doing a marathon or long work out is about 15 times resting values so food plays a big part of getting fit and healthy and pasta in particular is massively popular for essential carbo-loading.
With this in mind, high profile food blogger and cook book author Donal Skehan has teamed up with the Bord Gáis Energy Cork City Marathon to create five brand new and delicious ‘Power Pasta’ recipes to help give participants a head start in their training for the marathon, taking place on Bank Holiday Monday 7th June 2010.
With 10,000 athletes expected to take part and raise €3 million for over 150 charities this year, the marathon is one of the biggest sporting events in the country. Donal’s dishes like Speedy Spaghetti Amatriciana and Rocket Fuelled Pasta are sure to get athletes of all levels fuelled up and ready to take part whether they are running the full 26.2 miles or walking/jogging a leg of the course as part of a relay team.
Donal’s recipes will appeal to foodies and fitness enthusiasts and are available to download for FREE on www.readysteadycork.com, alongside several fitness schedules and training guides designed to help a wide range of people – from experienced athletes to first-time marathoners. Donal’s Power Pasta recipes are packed with foods and ingredients rich in protein and ‘good fats’ such as avocados, salmon, chicken and olive oil, providing vital nutrients and ensuring that there is plenty of variety in runners’ diets!
Donal says “Done right, carbo-loading gives the body the slow-release energy needed to power them through a sustained work-out. My recipes are designed to be super tasty and nutritious as well as giving you enough power to fuel you over 26.2 miles.” Donal added that “athletes who are short on time will find these recipes indispensible as race day nears since they can be put together quickly and easily by even the most inexperienced chefs who may have less time on their hands as their training intensifies”
Donal’s Power Pasta Recipes (all downloadable on www.readysteadycork.com)
· Perfect pick- me- up Penne! -Roasted garlic and tomato Pasta with Chorizo Chicken
This is a really gutsy pasta dish which is just bursting with flavours and will most definitely leave you full! I absolutely love garlic not just for it’s flavour but because it is also a really healthy ingredient. There is a lot of garlic in this dish but by roasting the bulb it really mellows out the flavour so you won’t clear the room when you eat this one! When looking for chorizo, try and pick it up in its thick sausage form rather than the thin slices, then you can slice it into nice chunky bitesize pieces.
Serves 4
1 large bulb of garlic.
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes.
1 large red onion.
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.
3 tablespoons of olive oil.
A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper.
An extra glug of olive oil.
250g of wholewheat penne pasta.
For the chicken and chorizo:
150g of chorizo, in chunky slices
4 chicken breasts
3 cloves of garlic
2-3 sprigs of rosemary
1 tablespoon of olive oil
A good pinch of ground black pepper
A good pinch of sea salt
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 4.
Slice the top off the bulb of garlic so that almost all the cloves are exposed. Place the garlic in a large roasting tray. Prepare the cherry tomatoes by slicing them in half.
Place the tomatoes in the roasting tray. Prepare the red onion by peeling and cutting into thick slices, place alongside the tomatoes and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and pour over the tomatoes, the red onion, and the garlic bulb. Sprinkle everything with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper.
Roast the tray in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the tomatoes have reduced to half their size.
While the tomatoes, onions and garlic are roasting, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack.
In a pestle and mortar or with the back of a knife, crush the garlic cloves with a little sea salt, until you have a fine paste.
Remove the leaves from the sprigs of rosemary, and add them with the mushed garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and the chicken breasts to a bowl and allow to marinade while you fry off the chorizo.
In a large hot pan, fry the chorizo pieces on each side until they are crisp, remove and set on a plate lined with kitchen paper.
You should have lots of oil left in the pan from the chorizo but if not you can add a drop of olive oil. Fry the chicken breasts in the chorizo oil for 3-4 minutes either side, depending on the size, but just make sure they are cooked through. Remove and slice thinly.
When the tomatoes, garlic and onion are cooked remove from the oven and using a fork remove the garlic from its skin and mash with all the rest of the ingredients until you have a thick mushy sauce. Tumble the cooked pasta, chicken, and chorizo into the roasting tray and mix everything together until it’s all combined. Add a little extra drizzle of olive oil and another pinch of black pepper if needed!
Serve and enjoy!