(a.k.a, my “Dolce far Niente”, post workout, body and mind, replenishment treat)
As I always mention as pertains to consuming grains and meat, I try to think “outside of the box”, in that instead of going Grain and Gluten free and meatless, I consume papaya enzymes , which assist in digesting gluten and animal protein. It allows me to enjoy these treats, which I don’t feel compelled to give up.
Anyhoo, normally after a workout, I am well spent, wanting to rest and relax, and replenish the body with nutrients. Immediately after my workout comes my post workout smoothie, but two to three hours later, the hunger for real food kicks in.
Those few hours after a weekend workout are my time, and I love, stop, be in the moment, and make a treat such as Pasta with turkey meatballs and Napolitana Sauce
In all honesty, I don't have my sauce like I truly want it, the original sauce recipe is below, and I am always trying new variations.
Now I know why pasta makers stand over a pot of sauce with a wooden spoon, giving a taste, thinking a bit, and feeling that the sauce is OK, but not quite right. It's a fun challenge to try to get where you are trying to get, even if you don't know where "it" is……………….
Napolitana Sauce (still "tinkering" with recipe)
** Original recipe calls for two 14oz cans of tin tomatoes but I try to avoid tomatoes in cans, there is plenty of info on the web about how to preserve your own tomatoes
**1/2 cup chicken stock (from pasture raised chicken), prepared
**2T tomato paste (from a jar, I avoid tomato paste in cans)
**1t organic paprika
**1/2 – 1t dried organic chili flakes (or 2 pinches)
**2t organic brown sugar (I consume very little if any refined sugar, so this two teaspoons a few times a year is acceptable, I’m looking to see how to replace it in the recipe, perhaps with a quality honey)
**Pink Himalayan Salt (or alternately Celtic Sea Salt, AVOID TABLE SALT)
**Organic Coarse Ground Black Pepper
Meatballs
**2 garlic cloves, crushed
**1 pound of pasture raised ground turkey (you can replaced this with grass fed beef or bison, I TOTALLY avoid commercial poultry and beef, to find pasture raised near you go here)
**2 oz dried bread crumbs from a quality bread (which is subjective I know, I avoid breads with toxic oils and other questionable ingredients. To me, a quality bread is something like Sami’s Bakery Millet and Flax Bread)
**10g organic (fresh if possible) parsley, finely chopped, if not used dried
**2t dried organic oregano
**Pink Himalayan Salt (or alternately, Celtic Sea Salt)
**Organic coarse ground black pepper
**2tbsp organic tomato paste (from glass jar, avoid canned tomato paste)
**1-2 Tbsp organic virgin olive oil
….and also
**10oz of quality organic spaghetti, or any long pasta of your choice
**Grass Fed Parmesan Cheese (or as least cheese from cows with organic feed), freshly grated (AVOID CONVENTIONAL DAIRY)
DIRECTIONS
Put all the sauce ingredients together in a small pot on the stove and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and starts to thicken.
While that is on the go, mix all the meatball ingredients (turkey, garlic, breadcrumbs, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper and tomato paste) together, and roll into small to medium sized meatballs.
Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the meatballs until they turn brown on all sides. Remove and drain on paper towel.
Add the browned meatballs to the Napolitana sauce and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, and cook your pasta to al dente.
Toss some of the sauce through the pasta, portion it out and then top with meatballs and more sauce.
Serve with loads of freshly grated grass fed Parmesan (I avoid Commercial Dairy Products).
Getting back to this whole “Dolce far Niente” thing, it goes back to an article I recently wrote called
“Dolce far Niente” (Italian for “The Sweetness of Doing Nothing”), based on that line from the "Eat, Pray, Love" movie. I’m becoming a master of it, that is, being in the moment.
After that weekend workout, I just wanna chill out and replenish the body with some quality food. There is always an inclination by the unenlightened to “pig out” on any junk food after exercise, but quality food will restore the body to pristine state.
One "scientific" note I will slip in here is that tomatoes are high in the antioxidant Lycopene that fights prostate cancer and studies show Lycopene fights breast cancer, and strangely enough, more lycopene is available for health and healing when tomatoes are cooked as opposed to raw.
And, there is always plenty of leftovers to take to work or heat up the next day.
~stay healthy~
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