April 17th, 2008
Travelling Pasta
My favourite food is pasta but for some reason my husband does not want to eat this everyday. Last week, I had a four day trip, away on my own and naughtily I decided to indulge. On the first evening I ate spinach and mushroom cannelloni, washed down with two enormous glasses of house white. What the wine lacked in quality it made up for in quantity. I’ve never seen such big glasses. The work I had planned to do that evening had to be shelved. The second evening brought spaghetti in a Neapolitan sauce, which was very deliciously supplemented with a good Pinot Grigiot. On the third night, as I was eating with others, I had a pleasant veggie curry but I have to say the company made up for the lack of pasta. For my last evening I ate a wonderful dish of penne and roasted vegetables with fresh parmesan, which was enhanced by a chilled fresh chardonnay.
As a vegetarian I strongly recommend pasta when travelling (and when not) because it is available in most pubs and restaurants as a veggie option. Most dishes are quick to prepare and it is difficult to produce bad pasta. There’s a wonderful variety of types and textures of pastas and sauces, so you never get bored. Think of roasted vegetable lasagne in a creamy cheese sauce.
Perhaps I should mention that I do advocate healthy eating for everyday life and when at home, which is most of the time, we cook from scratch, using loads of fresh vegetables and we only drink wine at weekends, but you can’t be good all the time.
I won’t tell you about the apple pie, topped with toffee crumble and custard I ate on my first evening away, because I should be on a diet, like Chantal, but a good friend did assure me that calories don’t count when you’re travelling.
