Fuel: Strongman Bolognese
It’s the night before a big competition and you’re cooking for yourself to prevent any risk of food borne illness affecting your performance on game day. You’ve just finished up a gruelling week of strongman training or are fresh off of a win in competition and are looking for a great meal to pack in the calories and celebrate with.
In these cases, having a high calorie meal with lots of nutrients will give you your greatest chances for performing at your highest level.
In the first of this strongman-inspired series of recipes, I present you with the Strongman Bolognese. It’s easy to make and you can use whatever you’ve got on hand to meet your preferences.
Ingredients:
- Pasta (any kind will do, I prefer shorter pastas like penne)
- Some sort of meat (I used 1 lb of ground beef and 3 Italian sausages)
- Pasta sauce (store bought for simplicity sake in this recipe)
These are the essentials. Everything else adds additional nutrients and deliciousness!
Optional Ingredients I used:
- Broccoli (not the best choice of veggie for this, use what you’ve got. Peppers or spinach would have been better options for green veggies).
- Onions - a must add if you don’t want it to taste like Chef Boyardee
- Garlic - fresh is always better.
- mushrooms - free your inner hobbit.
- Spices - black pepper, red chilli flakes, dried oregano
- Fresh herbs - basil is best
Directions:
Watch the video.
Here it is rapid fire:
- If necessary chop up your meat of choice into bite size pieces, then brown in a big pot.
- Dice or mince your onion to your preference. Once your meat is browned add the onion.
- Depending on which veggies you use, add them next. Peppers will take more time to cook, broccoli took a moderate amount of time, and spinach you’ll want to add later after the sauce is added. Add mushrooms and let them cook down.
- Start to bring a second pot filled with water to a boil.
- Add the garlic a few minutes before adding your sauce. Leaving on direct heat for much longer will burn it.
- Add your sauce and let everything simmer together at low heat while you cook your pasta.
- Plate, top with fresh herbs if you’ve got them, and dig in!
N.B. While some strongmen and strength athletes might eat like this regularly, I would recommend reserving a heavy pasta meal like this to occasionally around heavy training, competition, or cheat meals.
Bon Appétit!
Fortissimus