Iga Swiatek is currently kicking butts and taking names at Wimbledon—she’ll be vying for the trophy on Saturday—but amid the competition, she’s also found time to bring attention to her surprising but intriguing meal of choice: In a post-match Q&A earlier this week, she explained that while her teammates are partial to sampling the local specialities like fish and chips off the court, she swears by a nostalgic favorite from her childhood in Poland for keeping her going through the tournament circuit: pasta with strawberries and yogurt.
Folks online were quick to fixate on this combo. A TikTok from the Wimbledon account drew in over two million views and hundreds of comments in which users expressed dismay, wonder, and curiosity. There were also plenty of Polish commenters vouching that, yes, they really do eat it—especially during summer in Poland when fresh strawberries are abundant—and, most importantly, it really is that good.
I’m the type of person who will try anything once and I tend to like most dishes, so I was less concerned with how it would taste and more interested in what it would do for me nutritionally. Mainly, I wanted to know if part of the reason Swiatek was such a fan had anything to do with how it helped her recover or fuel up before a match. Could it be that this unique dish also happened to be an ideal pre- or post-workout meal?
According to Claire Shorenstein, MS, RD, CSSD, a sports dietitian at Eat for Endurance, a dish like this does in fact hit a lot of the nutrition considerations for athletes. She’s careful to note that everyone has unique needs and preferences, and there are a number of factors—like exercise duration, intensity, time of day, how long you have to digest, and how well you tolerate certain foods—that can impact when and what you should consume.
For instance, Shorenstein says you’re better off concentrating on easy-to-digest carbs like plain pasta and white bread prior to a workout, because they’re the main source of energy for your body and more specifically your muscles, and will give you the biggest boost in the fastest way possible. It’s okay to eat a little fat and protein too, she says—especially if you have some time between meal and match—but these slow-digesting macros may mess with your gut if eaten in large amounts before exercise.
Post-workout is a bit of a different story. In addition to replenishing the fluids and salt lost to sweat, “you also need to eat carbs to refill your stores that were lowered during exercise, and protein to repair and rebuild your muscle tissues,” Shorenstein explains. It’s also good to include healthy fats, since they help you absorb the nutrients from the other ingredients at play, as well as an array of colorful fruits and veggies to deliver both fiber and performance-improving micronutrients and antioxidants, like zinc which combats high sweat loss.
So, back to the strawberry pasta. Thanks to the addition of strawberries (which bring some fiber) and yogurt (which packs some protein, and potentially fat, depending on whether you’re a full-fat dairy fan or not), this would probably be a better choice post-workout than before, Shorenstein says.
“Pasta is a wonderful food for active people because it’s rich in carbs,” she explains. Yogurt is also a solid option for athletes because it has calcium, which can be beneficial for everything from bone health and muscle contraction, and contains probiotics, which can help support gut health. And strawberries are a great source of vitamin C, which supports immune function and collagen production—two body functions linked to better athletic performance.
That being said, a handful of minor adjustments could make it suitable for pre-workout dining, too, like halving the amount of yogurt and berries used or opting for a low-fat yogurt over a full-fat version. But you can also eat it as-is if you’ve budgeted two to three hours for digestion ahead of your workout, Shorenstein adds.
Now that I knew it would deliver on my exercise needs, it was time to find out if it was also as tasty as promised by Swiatek. There are a number of online iterations of this classic Polish dish, from those that make use of sour cream and sweeteners like honey, to others that add cheese to the mix, but I decided to make it as dictated by the tennis star herself (and as presented in one of her recent Instagram stories): with finely chopped strawberries, full-fat yogurt, and pasta shells. Her instructions in the original interview weren’t very specific, but she later elaborated that using more strawberries (the sweeter the better) than pasta and mashing the fruit beforehand will deliver better results.
For my purposes, I used a combo of her recommendations and guidance from online recipes for ingredient quantities. The whole thing came together in as long as the pasta took to cook. While it was simmering, I diced up a pint of strawberries, threw them in a large mixing bowl with one-half cup of yogurt, mixed the two together, then drained the pasta and let it cool for a minute or two before adding it to the sauce. I mixed to combine all of that for a minute or two to coat the pasta before filling up a plate. From there, you could let it sit in the fridge for a while to cool it down (à la macaroni salad) or eat it right away warm if you don’t have time to wait (that’s what I did)—that’s all up to you and your preferences.
The results? Although I was fully prepared to love this, thinking it would be reminiscent of pierogies with fruit jam on the side, I found it to be a little lackluster. It wasn’t bad but it felt like it was missing something—the savory aspects of the pasta and yogurt plus the sweeter side of the strawberries just weren’t melding together as much as I would have liked.
But I’m not done with this recipe. In the future, I’ll try one of the alternative versions with a tablespoon of honey or maple syrup, and maybe a sprinkling of shredded cheese for a salty edge (and extra protein!). I can definitely see it being the type of thing I’d be happy to have on hand after a long run, especially if it’s cold next time, ready to go, and already waiting for me in the fridge. And the best part? When I do finally find the perfect rendition, I’ll get to tell people that the recommendation came straight from a real life tennis pro.
Related:
- How to Turn a Plate of Pasta Into a High-Protein Dinner
- I Gave Meghan Markle’s Viral Pasta Recipe a High-Protein Makeover
- 15 Warning Signs You Might Be Underfueling Your Workouts
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