Running food: how 10 minutes turn into half an hour

Good running, requires good food. Fast running, requires… eh yes, fast food. Not so much in the sense of hamburgers from the golden M, but rather a good pasta dish that can be prepared quickly. Time is at the essence (as we all know). Spending hours in the kitchen is not the first thing that comes to your mind when a quality dinner is supposed to fit in between getting the little princess to bed and the evening movie (which comes of course from a DVR, so there’s no starting time per se. However running 100km a week sets a defininte hard stop with the eyes shutting themselves at around midnight).

Pasta is the optimal basis in both ways, it’s high carb food and is prepared itself in about 5 mins. The secret to success is in the sauce and the selected wine that goes with it. Today, we opt for a vitamin C rich lemon balm sauce with salmon, which goes well together with an Italian light red wine, e.g. a Valpolicella

Sauce Ingredients (for 4 portions, approx. 330kcal/portion):

• 300g salmon filet, without the skin
• 250ml fish stock
• 150g crème fraiche
• 2-3 tablespoons of sauce thickener
• 1 knife point of lemon peel, 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• ½ bunch of leman balm
• salt, pepper, pinch of sugar

How to prepare:

First, make sure the salmon filet is clean, then cut it in stripes or cubes.

Secondly, mix the fish stock with the crème fraiche in a pot and let it boil up. Add the sauce thickener and let it cook for another 2 minutes until the sauce becomes a bit viscid

Thirdly, add the salmon stripes carefully, reduce the heat and let it continue for 3 mins. Adjust the taste with salt, pepper, sugar, lemon peel and lemon juice.

Fourthly, clean and cut the lemon balm into small pieces and add it.

Finally it’s the pasta that’s still missing, boil up water, add some salt and olive oil to it. Tagliatelle or Linguine go well with this sauce, Spaghetti work as well. Fresh pasta is of course the preferred option.

The original recipe says that it takes 10 minutes to prepare, but that’s, well bollocks. Never made it under half an hour, However, one is for sure, this dish is worth it. The light red wine fits well to the slight cremy sauce and helps very well to relax the legs. Most importantly enjoy in good company!

Tags: dinner, lemon, lemon balm, pasta, salmon