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:

1. If necessary chop up your meat of choice into bite size pieces, then brown in a big pot.
2. Dice or mince your onion to your preference. Once your meat is browned add the onion.
3. 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.
4. Start to bring a second pot filled with water to a boil.
5. Add the garlic a few minutes before adding your sauce. Leaving on direct heat for much longer will burn it.
6. Add your sauce and let everything simmer together at low heat while you cook your pasta.
7. 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

Leave a comment if you tried this recipe out and liked it. What different ingredients would you include?