Climber Alex Honnold is known for his incredible athletic feats. He free-soloed Yosemite’s El Cap in 2017, made first ascents in places like Greenland and Antarctica, and is currently working on a new project to free-climb the Nose.
After he finishes embarking on these challenging climbs, Honnold often needs a quick, satisfying meal to replenish his energy levels and repair muscles to maintain his recovery. So, he created a carb- and nutrient-rich pasta recipe that he relies on.
How Alex Honnold Refuels
I chatted with Honnold right before a climbing session and learned that he prefers to dig into “pasta and veggies” as his post-workout carb of choice.
The dad of two let me know that he jumps right into parenting mode when he gets back home after a climbing trip, so he relies on this “pretty scrappy” recipe because it’s a quick, one-pot meal. Plus, he notes, “Any kind of warm food after a hard day of effort is always nice.”
He likes to keep meals simple. “I’m pretty un-stressed; neither I nor my wife are real chefs; we’re just surviving—I personally think of food as just throwing fuel on the fire, he says. So, really, whatever is hanging out in the fridge will typically make it into Honnold’s carb-rich recovery meal.
I asked him to name his all-star lineup when it comes to the ingredients he would choose when cooking this recipe, and he recommended farfalle, bell pepper, spinach, onion, zucchini, and a garnish of sliced avocado (one of his go-to fats).
Honnold’s recovery meal mimics primavera pasta, a classic Italian recipe that involves cooking vegetables in butter and olive oil until they reach a tender texture with a slight crunch. This creates a delicious sauce to coat your noodles.
While Honnold has no cultural ties to this dish or childhood memories of digging into this comfort food, it honors the vegetarian lifestyle he has embraced while maintaining his stance that cooking should be stress-free. “All of my eating has a preference around how quickly I can get it done,” he says.
As a food writer living in Vermont, I embark on a slightly steep hiking trail at least once a week. While my adventures are nowhere near as awe-inspiring as Honnold’s, I decided to recreate his veggie pasta to see if it would refuel and replenish my aching muscles post-trek. I also spoke with a registered dietitian to understand how this vegetarian meal may or may not support folks in their recovery goals after intense workouts.
How to Make Alex Honnold’s Avocado Primavera Pasta
From start to finish, this recipe took me about 25 minutes to complete and yielded about two servings. Here’s what you’ll need.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces farfalle pasta
- ½ cup yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 1 bell pepper, sliced into matchsticks
- ½ cup zucchini, diced
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 ripe avocado, sliced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Recipe
- Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the farfalle pasta according to the package directions, and reserve ½ cup of pasta water before draining.
- Dump out the remaining pasta water, and heat olive oil in the same pot over medium-high heat.
- Add the yellow onion, zucchini, and bell pepper. Sauté for three to five minutes or until the onions turn translucent.
- Add the spinach and continue to sauté until the spinach begins to wilt.
- Pour the reserved ½ cup of pasta water into the pot and sauté the veggies for another minute or two. The mixture should start to resemble a brothy-looking sauce.
- Immediately add the farfalle into the pot with the vegetables.
- Transfer the pasta to a plate and garnish with sliced avocado.
- Season with salt and black pepper to your liking.
The writer recreates Honnold’s Avocado Primavera Pasta in her kitchen. (Video: Ashia Aubourg)
The Verdict: This One-Pot Meal Is Delicious and Satiating
Honnold may have a lax approach when it comes to cooking, but he is really onto something when it comes to this recipe. Between chopping up the vegetables, cooking the farfalle, and sautéing up all of the ingredients, in under 30 minutes, I prepared a version of a one-pot primavera with ease.
Each bite offers a delicious component: the zucchini is juicy, the peppers are sweet, the spinach is earthy, the onions are savory, and the avocado provides an irresistible creaminess. It’s tasty and comforting.
How to Get the Most Out of This Meal, According to a Nutritionist
Eat this dish within an hour after working out to replenish the carbs burned while exercising, says Maya Feller, a registered dietitian based in Brooklyn, New York.
“Pasta is a wonderful source of carbohydrates,” she says. Restoring carbs after intense physical activity is necessary to maintain your glycogen stores, a source of energy that helps fuel your muscles so that you can be energized enough for your next workout.
Add Beans for a Protein Boost
To improve the nutrient makeup of this dish, Feller recommends increasing the protein content. She suggests adding beans to ensure there are enough nutrients to support recovery ahead of another adventure.
People should, on average, try to eat about 15 to 30 grams of protein per meal. I did the math: Honnold’s avocado primavera recipe currently has about ten grams of protein. Adding half a cup of beans can bump the protein up to around 17 grams.
After an active hike, I made Honnold’s avocado primavera pasta again. I followed the same recipe but took Feller’s advice and added a half cup of cannellini beans into the pot while sautéing all of my vegetables. Tossing cherry tomatoes on top added a burst of sweetness. I finished my pasta with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and a hearty grating of Parmesan cheese to give it a spicy and savory finish. These simple additions contributed to an even more complex flavor.
This meal will come in clutch once I start attempting more challenging hikes. In the meantime, thoughts of this dish will be living rent-free in my head until I can make this recipe for a third time.
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