Fuel for a running giraffe and girlfriend! (Rice & Pasta Dishes)

Member Name: KingHerrod

Product:	Rice & Pasta Dishes
Date:	02/02/02 (450 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Low in fat, tasty

Disadvantages: May get all over your giraffe!

"MrKing?" questions my friend Geoffrey the sometimes mad mohican giraffe. "Yes, Geoffrey." I reply, in my most courteous manner. "Can I go running with MissLorraine?" He asks. "I would think so, Geoffrey dear chap." "Oh goodie goodie, I must eat some pop tarts to fuel my body, so it can run run run." Exclaims the giraffe. "Geoffrey, pop tarts are not much good for fuelling the giraffe body." I explain. "They are not full of the right kind of slow-releasing complex carbohydrates, in fact Geoffrey, I do not know why we let you eat pop tarts all the time and we need to sort your diet out." I go on, thinking to myself that we have let this giraffe get away with far too much.

"MrKing are complex carbohydrates difficult to work out, are they complicated to talk too?" Questions the giraffe as his strange brain starts to think, oh yes he thinks a lot.

"No Geoffrey. Complex carbohydrates are a form of nutrition, our body needs all kinds of vitamins, minerals and all sorts, our body also needs protein and carbohydrates. Pasta is high in a certain kind of carbohydrate, the complex kind. Complex carbohydrates are a good source of energy for the body. But this is not a quick burst of energy, complex carbohydrates provide a time release of energy, it generates energy slowly over the 24 hour period after you have eaten the source of complex carbohydrate, by transferring to glucose in the muscles, which is then released during exercise, such as that run you want to go on." I explained.

The giraffe cocked his head to one side and was is deep thought and then exclaimed, "can I have some pasta then please?" We have been teaching him manners recently.

So, we embarked on a pasta eating spree, you see Lorraine, my partner is running the London Marathon for the Whiz Kids charity (they help with mobility for kids that cannot get around) and Geo
ffrey has decided to keep her company on her training runs. Now, I am not sure that Lorraine is that pleased about this and Geoffrey can become distracted when he sees a pesky cat, whipping out his axe and stalking the damn pussy in the bushes. Lorraine then has to drag him away and I am sure that this destroys her rhythm. But, the good thing is that when they get back in, they are both so tired that they just curl up on the sofa, all quiet like and that is bliss. Getting back to point, as a little family we obviously now have to eat a lot of pasta and so I will share Geoffrey's favourite pasta recipe and mine. I did not devise it, but it is adapted from a recipe book.

PASTA WITH SPINACH AND MUSHROOM (OR HOBBIT PASTA!)

Serves two

Ingredients:

One ordinary sized bag of spinach, preferably organic baby leaf.

10 or so mushrooms.

One small onion chopped up, organic, if you can.

One clove of garlic, crushed or finely sliced.

Pine Nuts.

White wine.

A Fresh block of parmesan cheese.

Ground nutmeg.

Pasta, whatever shape you like really, but not any of the long stuff, we use Organic Gemilli.

Olive oil.

Salt and Pepper.

With all of the above ingredients, I always find organic best, the flavour is better, fewer preservatives and additives have been used in the ingredients growth and production and to be honest, I started to get better from my illness quicker when I turned to organic food. Try the organic pasta, you really taste the difference.

Start by chopping up your onion and getting your garlic peeled and in the crusher. Chop your mushrooms and get your block of parmesan cheese and slice about 12 thin strips.

Place a large dollop of olive oil in a large frying pan, set a ring on your hob to its lowest setting and place the frying pan on the hot hob. Chuck in your onion and garlic, add some freshly ground salt a
nd pepper and leave it all to sweat on a low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Whilst the onions and garlic are sweating, boil a full kettle of water and put your pasta into a pan, I never measure it, but I suppose about a mug and a half will do it for two, but you know experiment and find out how much you like.

Then place your mushrooms into the frying pan and turn the heat up slightly, giving it all a good stir with a wooden spoon (which is also good for hitting on the base of an empty pan, when you want to drum. Sorry, Geoffrey wanted me to tell you that, I said it was pointless, but indulge him will you?)

Now pour you boiling water onto your pasta. (Make sure it is in a pan, you know don't just put your pasta on the work surface and pour the boiling water on it, you will make a mess and may hurt yourself. Let me tell you Geoffrey did this and he burnt his hooves, it was very sore and he was a very sorry Giraffe!) Add some salt and a drop of olive oil to the boiling water (it helps to stop the pasta sticking) and stir your pasta, place on a hob at a high heat and then wait. The pasta will take about 12 minutes to cook and you should stir it a couple of times to stop it sticking together.

Add your spinach to the frying pan, do not worry when spinach is cooked it shrinks, so you need more leaves than you would think, leave it to cook for about 4 minutes, occasionally folding in the spinach to place the un-cooked leaves to the bottom of the pan.

When the spinach is cooked and shrunk you are ready to add the wine and the pine nuts. Pour in a good half glass of wine and sprinkle in the nuts, how much you add is all up to your personal taste, but you need a good sprinkling of nuts to get their flavour. Now turn up the heat to evaporate the alcohol and to let the wine flavour infuse your meal. Leave it on a high heat for a minute or so and then turn back down to a low heat.

Ok, the spinach an
d mushrooms are simmering, now check your pasta, it should be al dente, which means the pasta should still be slightly firm when bitten and not soggy and droopy, like well, if you have a rude mind, go into overdrive, if not, just ignore the failed attempt at innuendo.

Drain the al dente pasta and place back into the pan, then take your spinach mix and pour into the pasta and mix well. It may be wise to inform you of another of Geoffrey's mistakes here. He used too small a pan for the pasta, so when he poured the spinach mix into it, well it rather overflowed. Pasta overflowed on the floor and on the worktop and somehow ended up dribbling down Geoffrey's nose. I chuckled and then nearly lost my hair as Geoffrey got a bit cross and waived his axe in my general direction, Lorraine just scowled at us and made us clear up our mess.

There we are, serve in two bowls, place the sliced parmesan on the top and sprinkle a little nutmeg on the top. There it is, if you are not cack-handed you will be able to serve this dish in a rather presentable way. If you have hooves and are a bit of a clumsy oaf, then it will look a bit messy. But it all tastes the same.

Just to let you know, this one time, Geoffrey must have had a pop tart craving, I walked into the kitchen to find a blackberry pop tart sliced and simmering in with the spinach. I have to say it tasted disgusting, but do you know Lorraine did not notice. Geoffrey said it made the dish rather "yum". But then he is a strange chap.

You can even jazz this up a bit, add some chestnut mushrooms and some chilli infused olive oil, it really changes the flavour. Experiment with different wines, the darker whites add a fuller flavour. Most of all enjoy.

Pasta is great, this may sound complex to make, but it is easy peasy, even Geoffrey has the hang of it now. Most of all, pasta is good for you, one serving contains a mere 100 calories, with less than half a
gram of fat (not including the sauce).

If you are watching the London Marathon on TV, watch out for a sweet lady running with a giraffe trailing behind on the look out for nasty cats. They will be fuelled on pasta and not pop tarts and probably if it is near the end looking rather bedraggled. But give them a cheer.

For those of you worried that with only two bowls poor Geoffrey goes hungry it is OK he shares mine, he is a small giraffe you know!

Summary: