food

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Runner’s Pasta recipe

A few years ago (well, actually about 10!), Runner’s World SA featured this recipe by Graeme Shapiro (owner and chef at Wild Poppy Cafe Fremantle in Perth, Australia). We’ve since made it more times than I care to remember and it never fails to please all your taste buds. And if you don’t have all the ingredients, fear not, as I’ve tried various combinations of more or less the same ingredients, leave out some, add other – you’re bound to still have a winner.

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The Runner’s Paste

  • 1 box (500g) fusilli or fresh taglierini pasta
  • 1 packet (250g) basil pesto or olive tapenade
  • 1 jar (200g) artichoke hearts
  • 150g calamata olives (stones removed)
  • 150g roasted pepers
  • 2 handfuls (30g) fresh basil – torn into pieces
  • 100g pine nuts (or slithered almonds) – toasted (pop under the oven grill for a few minutes)
  • 100g sun-dried tomatoes (preferably marinated) – finely sliced
  • 250g cooked bacon – dice into pieces (smoked salmon/smoked chicken breast/tuna are other great options)
  • 200g goats cheese or feta – crumbled into pieces

Method

Place the cooked pasta into a large bowl, add the pesto and toss through to coat the pasta. Add the rest of the ingredients. If you are serving the pasta warm, add the cheese last just before serving. Garnish with fresh basil or parmesan/pecorino shavings.

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Eating on the run – is it rude to say no?

(by Gerry le Roux)

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I’ll never forget, years ago, chatting to a good friend (lets call him Pete) while running with the back-of-the-pack gang at one of those massive Johannesburg summer races, when the subject turned to eating on the run.

Pete had a very amusing “principle” on the subject: it’s rude to say no when a friendly spectator or helper offers you something to eat during a race. As a result, he obviously had his share of weird eat-and-run anecdotes – fish and chips (offered by a spectator with a huge toothless grin) on the Cape Flats, home-brewed beer from a shebeen in Soweto, church-bazaar fudge in a small Karoo town, and a generous helping of Old Brown Sherry presented by a group of very jolly, scantily-clad students during the sub-zero temperature Rhodes Run. Luckily for Pete, he had a strong constitution, and most of these culinary delights were handled without any adverse consequences.

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