Well have I got a tasty surprise for all of you! If there was ever a dish that I was forced to choose to eat everyday for the rest of my life, this would be the dish I would choose. I give you my version of low carb lasagna which I lollipopped without any of the guilt I usually have when eating normal lasagna.
Now as some of you may have already perceived, I am quite a low maintenance cook. What I mean by that, is that I try to make things as easy as possible for myself. I won’t, for example, include high end ingredients in my food that came from super high end health food shops because lets be realistic here, it’s a) downright expensive to do that on a daily basis and b) I neither have the time or the energy to be slaving away in the kitchen following long winded recipes.
So bearing that all in mind I can gladly inform you all that this recipe was made from cheap and tasty ingredients coming from my favourite grocery store: Aldi. Nothing in this dish is too complicated to make or too expensive to buy, I am just not that kind of cook. Also if I’m going to the effort of healthy eating, it has to be something that’s easily achieved in my books anyways!
I have researched so many different variations of low carb lasagna, but there was none that I outright liked. Instead I decided to create my own recipe that suited my taste buds. Most lasagna’s do have a white sauce at the top of the dish, however most low carb versions feature this as a Greek yogurt or cottage cheese creation and neither appealed to me. As a result I decided to use a firm cupboard favourite in its place: Basil Pesto. I’m one of those that thinks pesto makes anything taste better! So what better ingredient to use as an alternative to the heavy in carbs white sauce then this green goodness!
I used my own family recipe for the bolognese sauce but feel free to play around with your own sauce as I know very well, that everyone has their favourite sauce. That’s the beauty of this recipe, anyone can play around with it to suit their own particular taste. Please find below a step by step guide to the recipe with pictures also to demonstrate just how simple this recipe is.
Also if you have any queries or comments please contact me below or on my social media pages.
Enjoy!
The Busiest Bee. 🙂
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Recipe: Low carb Lasagna.
Ingredients: (serves 4)
Bolognese Sauce
900 grams of Mince Meat (whatever meat you prefer e.g. beef, turkey etc.)
One onion
4 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons of Olive oil
One red pepper and one green pepper
3 tins of chopped tomatoes (you can also get low sugar tins in some grocery shops)
salt and pepper
Teaspoon of cinnamon
3 teaspoons Sugar substitute (usually I would put in a spoon of sugar for each can of tomatoes but with the low carb diet this obviously can’t be done so use a sugar substitute instead)
herbs (again whichever you prefer, I used oregano and mint)
Jar of basil pesto.
2 packets of buffalo mozzarella (ball form)
Grilled Courgettes
4 large courgettes sliced
salt and pepper
Olive Oil drizzled over them.
Method:
1) Heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a good sized pot. Then add the chopped onions and crushed garlic and saute on a medium heat stirring constantly until onions are soft.
2) Add the meat to the pot, ensuring that all the clumps of mince are broken up and tossed around in the oil/onion/garlic juice.
3) Add your seasoning, salt, pepper and herbs, I use a good bit of herbs as you will see in the picture but again this is to your own taste what you would prefer.
4) Once the meat has been tossed around in the herbs and seasoning, allow to brown completely on a low/medium heat, stirring every so often.
5) Add the cans of tomatoes to the mixture and turn the heat up to bring the mixture to a boil but reduce heat again once it has.
6) Once the tomatoes are stirred into the meat, more seasoning will be required such as salt, pepper, sugar and the cinnamon. Leave the mixture to simmer away on a low enough heat for about ten minutes.
7) Add the peppers and leave to simmer further for twenty minutes mixing every few minutes. It will be done when the peppers are soft.
8) For the grilled courgettes, slice 4 large courgettes at least 1 cm thick as seen in the picture below. Place on a baking tray and drizzle them with Olive oil, a lot of oil is needed but don’t panic at this because you will be wiping it all off again once courgettes are grilled. Once covered in oil, season with salt and pepper and place in a pre-heated oven @ 200*c (mine is a fan oven, I turn it up high but when they are in oven I turn it down to 180*c).
9) It is important to check your courgettes every few minutes and turn them over regularly as they can burn quite easily. By slicing them thick, it will ensure they do not break apart when cooked.
10) While waiting for courgettes and sauce to cook, slice your two balls of mozzarella.
11) Once courgettes are done, place them in a bowl that is covered in kitchen paper. The kitchen paper will soak up unnecessary oil and you can dab at the rest on top with more kitchen paper.
12) Once sauce is done, you can begin layering your lasagna in a oven dish. One layer meat, one layer courgette, another layer of meat, another layer of courgette. On the top layer you spread out the jar of green pesto. Over this place the slices of Mozzarella. Place in oven and cook for about 10 minutes @ 180*c or until cheese has fully melted.
13) Once ready leave to the side to cool and set for 10 minutes and then you’re good to go.
WARNING: This dish will not be as firm to serve as normal lasagna so beware it will be sloppy but the good kind of sloppy
**Top Tip**: Throughout the cooking of the meat sauce, you may find some of the fat off the meat will melt to the surface of the sauce. This can be easily skimmed off with a spoon.
I loved the upstairs, downstairs aspects of the novel also, the staff of ‘Deyning Park’ all provide wonderfully to this lovely novel.
The Busiest Bee 