Category Archives: Italian Inspired Recipes

Italian Inspired Recipes, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Poultry, Recipes

For Cinco de Mayo, Italian Enchiladas

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

This is one of those holidays that’s like St. Patrick’s Day where it doesn’t matter what your heritage is, you celebrate the day because it’s fun. And in this case, the food is delicious and wonderful. Now for those of you who really Italian fun and maybe want to combine Italian with Mexican, I ran across this recipe for Italian Enchiladas. Why not? It combines two terrific food cultures and it tastes great. I adapted the recipe for my low carb lifestyle and I’m happy to share it. Viva la Enchilada!

Italian Enchiladas with Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

6 low carb Tortillas
3/4 cup Ricotta Cheese
1 Chicken Breast baked or roasted and chopped
3/4 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup chopped Baby Spinach
1 Egg
1/2 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 cup Salsa
3/4 cup Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mix ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, egg, and spinach.

Add 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon chile powder to a small bowl and mix together. Sprinkle over the chopped chicken and mix together.

Heat tortillas in a package in the microwave for 1 minute or warm individually on the stove. Wrap in a towel or foil to keep warm.

Spoon 1/4 of the ricotta mixture down the middle of the tortilla, top with seasoned chicken and roll up.

Spread 1/4 cup of the pasta sauce on the bottom of the baking pan or a stove-to-oven skillet, such as a cast iron or copper clad one. Place the rolled tortilla into the pan, seam side down. Prepare the next one and place it into the pan until all are done. Pour the remaining pasta sauce over the enchiladas and top with the rest of the mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes until the cheese is lightly browned and it bubbles around the edges. Let cool for about 15 minutes, then serve garnished with chopped scallions and sour cream, if you wish.

Makes 4 servings: (one enchilada per serving)

Nutrition Information:
Calories: 178.2 Fat: 10.7 g Net Carbs: 4.0 g Protein: 14.4 g

Another view of the Italian Enchilada on a not-so-colorful plate.

For this recipe, I used a very tasty Pumpkin Pasta Sauce from Cucina Antica. It is lower carb’d than others that I looked at although I also like Raley’s Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce as well. You can use a regular pasta sauce if you prefer rather than going with the pumpkin one.

Are you going to give this recipe a try? Let me know what you think.

Breads, Breakfast & Brunch, Italian Inspired Recipes, Pork, Poultry, Recipes

White Pizza for a change of pace

Every once in a while, a body wants a packed-with-goodness pizza. That’s not always easy to do when you’re watching your carbohydrates. But it’s not impossible. You can use a couple of substitutes for the pizza crust that are pretty good, like chicken, portobello mushrooms, sliced eggplant, low carb tortillas, and this one I used for this recipe, a cauliflower pizza. Now, if you don’t like cauliflower, then choose one of the other options and just follow the toppings part of the recipe.

I made a vegetable-packed white sauce pizza. In this case the white sauce is simply an Alfredo pasta sauce. I used Classico because it is pretty low in carbs, but there are others that are also good for it. Check the jar and if it is around 3 net carbs per 1/4 cup, you’re in the ballpark. The taste of this is really great and the vegetables can be pretty flexible to what you like on it. Want it completely vegetarian, leave off the chicken and bacon, but it will have cheese. I’ve listed the carb counts for the crust separate from the toppings and the total combined as well. The crust is good for any pizza you’d like to make.

White Sauce Vegetable and Chicken Pizza

For the Pizza Cauliflower Crust
2 1/2 cups Cauliflower, grated
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 Egg, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon Ground Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Dried Basil

For the Toppings:
1/2 cup Brussels sprouts, sliced or shredded
1/2 cup Mushrooms, pieces or slices
1/2 cup Kale, chopped or torn
1/2 cup Spinach, chopped or torn
3 tablespoons Bell Peppers, chopped
1/4 cup Onions, chopped
1 1/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese, shredded
1 cup Alfredo sauce (Classico)
1 cup Chicken Breast, cooked and sliced or shredded
2 slices Thick Bacon, cooked and crumbled

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F.)

Crust:

Put your raw cauliflower in the food processor and pulse until it resembles rice or couscous. Or you can grate it by hand with a food grater. Put the grated cauliflower on a clean towel (flour sack towers are great for this), fold the towel over the cauliflower and squeeze to get as much water as possible out of the vegetable.

Put the dried cauliflower in a bowl and add the parmesan cheese, oregano, garlic powder, and dried basil. Mix in the egg, a dash of salt, and stir until completely blended. You can form it into ball at this point.

Put a sheet of parchment paper over a round stone or on a baking sheet. I used a baking pan lined with foil and it also works. Spray the foil with baking spray before you put the cauliflower in it. Shape the cauliflower dough into round pizza or a rectangle. Press it firmly together.

Bake for about 20 minutes until the crust is a golden brown. Pull it out and let it rest about five minutes, then add your toppings.

Vegetable Pizza

Prepare all the vegetables while the crust is cooking. Only the chicken and bacon are pre-cooked, although you can parboil the Brussels sprouts if you cut them in slices so that they aren’t too crunchy. Put them in a pan of boiling water for three minutes, then rinse in cold water and drain. OR put them in a bowl in the microwave for three minutes then drain.

Before the final cheese is spread and the pizza cooked.
Before the final cheese is spread and the pizza cooked.

Spread half of the Mozzarella cheese over the crust, then spread the Alfredo sauce over the top of that. Distribute the chicken and vegetables evenly over the crust and top with the bacon pieces. Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella over the top and bake for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Cut and serve. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Information per serving (crust and toppings):
Calories: 418 Fat: 26.2 g Net Carbs: 9.7 g Protein: 36.4 g

Nutrition Information per serving (crust only):
Calories: 92.5 Fat: 5.1 g Net Carbs: 2.5 g Protein: 8.1 g

Nutrition Information per serving (toppings only):
Calories: 325.8 Fat: 21.1 g Net Carbs: 7.2 g Protein: 28.3 g

Breads, Italian Inspired Recipes, Main Dish, Recipes, Vegetarian

Creating a pizza like take and bake

All during the Olympics, I kept seeing an advertisement for a take and bake pizza with chicken, bacon, and artichoke hearts.  Man, did my taste buds scream for a piece of that.  Instead of giving in to the urge to buy a high carb pizza, I made a low carb one instead.  In fact, I made it two ways that are very similar, but both are filled with more meat and vegetables than the take and bake version.  Here’s how I made mine.

For the crust, I used LC Foods low carb pizza crust that you can purchase pre-made or buy the pizza flour mix and make your own.  You can also use a cauliflower pizza crust, a chicken pizza crust, or this flax meal flat bread crust.  I wouldn’t recommend the chicken crust since you’re putting chicken on top, but it would still work.

Pre-cook the crust as described in the previous links so it is partially cooked.

Made with zucchini and asparagus added.

Chicken, Bacon, Artichoke, Zucchini and Asparagus Pizza

For the toppings:
1 cup cooked Chicken Breast or Thighs, chopped or shredded
1/2 cup Artichoke Hearts, cut into bite-sized pieces
4 slices of thick-sliced Bacon, cooked and broken into pieces
1/2 cup Alfredo Sauce, such as Barilla (look for lowest carb one)
1 Zucchini, thinkly sliced
4 spears Aspargus, medium spears, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Crushed Red Chile Peppers, dried (optional)
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees (F.)

Put pizza crust on a pizza stone or pan, then spread with the Alfredo sauce, taking it as close to the edge as possible. Put the zucchini slices on top of the sauce, placing them evenly around the pizza. Distribute the chicken next, then the artichoke hearts, followed by the asparagus pieces. Sprinkle the crushed red peppers on, if you wish, then cover the top with mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle on a little Parmesan cheese now or add it after the pizza comes out of the oven.

Bake for about 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and lightly browned. I kind of like my cheese a little more crusty, so I cook it a little longer. Let cool for 5 minutes for the cheese to firm up, then cut and serve.

Makes eight slices or four servings.

Nutrition Information per serving (without crust):
Calories: 230 Fat: 15.2 g Net Carbs:4.2 g Protein: 16.5 g

Made with spinach added.

Chicken, Bacon, Artichoke and Spinach Pizza

Variation on the basic pizza:

1 cup cooked Chicken Breast or Thighs, chopped or shredded
1/2 cup Artichoke Hearts, cut into bite-sized pieces
4 slices of thick-sliced Bacon, cooked and broken into pieces
1/2 cup Alfredo Sauce, such as Barilla (look for lowest carb one)
1 cup Baby Spinach
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese to taste

Make the same way as above, but replace the zucchini layer with spinach leaves.

Makes eight slices or four servings.

Nutrition Information per serving(without crust):
Calories:222 Fat:5.2 Net Carbs: 2.7 g Protein: 16.1

Depending on the type of crust you use, the carb count will vary from about 1 net carb to 3 net carbs additional. The LC Foods pizza crust is 3 net carbs.

Want to go vegetarian? Leave off the bacon and the chicken and add more zucchini and asparagus or spinach to the pizza, along with a cup of the artichoke hearts.

Breads, Italian Inspired Recipes, Pork, Product Review

Product Review & Pizza Recipe

2 Comments

LC-Pizza & Bagel Flour

I’ve been meaning to try LC Foods flour for making pizza, calzones, bagels, and English muffins for quite some time now. The only recipe actually included on the package is for pizza. I found a bagel recipe that sounded good and I tried that one before I tried to make a pizza. I can say that it works very well for the bagels. So this week, I mixed up the pizza dough and had a go of it.

First, this is a fine-textured flour that is excellent for baking these types of breads. LC Foods has severl milled flours in their online store that can be used for a variety of baking including pasta, cake, and bread, as well as the one for pizza. The flour is not as low priced as regular wheat flour, but it is a low carb flour and it’s worth the difference for a flour that is low in carbs and still produces a product that rises with yeast, tastes like bread, although not entirely like its wheat counterpart, but close enough that you can enjoy it. It’s also a sturdy pizza bread.

Note, this pizza flour is not gluten-free. It is made from a blend of wheat protein isolates, resistant wheat starches, flax seed meal and vital wheat gluten. You will need to add fast rising yeast, a bit of salt, a little sugar substitute, and olive oil to the mixture. The personal-sized pizza crust makes a 7 to 8 inch pizza round that will

For those who don’t want to make a pizza crust from scratch, LC Foods also sells a pre-made, partially cooked large pizza crust. You can add your favorite toppings and bake right at home and have a great pizza in no time.

So, on to the pizza dough and the toppings I used for this personal-sized pizza. For reference, each 1/4 cup of the flour is 2 net carbs and the whole small pizza used 3/4 cup of the flour. You can also shape the pizza dough into bread sticks, calzones, and strombolis. To make bagels or English muffins, you need to refer to a recipe for those breads as they have other ingredients and measurements. I will be putting up the basic bagel recipe next week.

I do have to say that of all the low carb flours I’ve used to try to make yeast breads, this flour has done the best job of rising, browning, and tasting very good. I give this flour my five cooking spoons of approval.

5-spoons

LC Pizza with Meatballs

This is made with LC Foods pizza and bagel flour. I bought pre-made poerk meatballs from Wal-Mart that are about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. Use a low carb pasta sauce. I used Mario Batalli’s Vodka sauce, which is one of the lowest I have found.

3/4 cup LC Pizza and Bagel Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
3/4 teaspoon rapid rise Yeast
1/2 teaspoon Sugar Substitute
1/4 cup warm Water
1 1/2 teaspoons Olive Oil

Toppings:
1/ cup Onions, chopped
3 mini Sweet Peppers
1 teaspoon minced Garlic
1/4 cup Pasta Sauce
6 medium-sized Pork Meatballs
1/2 cup Mozarella Cheese
2 tablespoons Parmesan Romano Cheese

In a medium bowl, add pizza flour, salt, yeast and sugar substitute and mix together. Add the water and olive oil and stir it together until combined and it begins to form a ball. Use your hands to knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Clean the bowl, dry and lightly oil. Put the dough in the bowl and put in a warm place to rise. Cover with a plate. Allow it rise 30 to 40 minutes until the dough doubles.

Lightly oil a pizza pan or pizza stone. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F.)

Pull and stretch the dough into a circle and shape with your fingers until you have about a 7 to 8 inch round. Put on the pizza pan and bake for 5 minutes to get a partial bake on it.

Meanwhile, put a teaspoon of oil into a skillet and sauté the onions and peppers until just tender, then add garlic to the mix. Remove to a bowl. Cut the meatballs in half and if not already cooked, brown them in the skillet until they are almost done.

Spread the pizza sauce on the crust, then spread the vegetables evenly. Put the meatball halves even around the pizza and sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top, then the Parmesan Romano cheese over the top of that.

Bake for 10 more minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Let cool for a few minutes to set, then cut into pieces and serve.

Makes 2 to 4 servings, depending on how hungry you are.

Nutrition Information per one-half pizza:
Calories: 404 Fat: 21.3 g Net Carbs: 10.4 g Protein: 14.7 g

Italian Inspired Recipes, Product Review

Product Review: Dixie Carb Counters Skinni Spaghetti

1 Comment

For all that pasta is supposed to be good for a diet and the number of calories diets that include it in some form, it’s practically impossible in a low carb diet. I made a stab at Dreamfields Pasta a few years ago and actually did okay using it, but it was proven that their claims about blocked carbs were incorrect and the pasta did affect the glycemic count for those who are diabetic.

So when I saw that Dixie Carb Counters had a spaghetti out that actually looks like spaghetti, although a little curvy, I wanted to give it a try. I ordered an 8 ounce package, which is four servings, and decided to try it with my salmon with cream sauce recipe.

 

 

To begin with, it cooks in about six minutes and looks like regular spaghetti. It’s not slimy like the oriental noodles that I tried in the past. I drained it as normal, put some butter on top and then put my creamed salmon on top of that, added a little Parmesan Romano cheese and had a bite. It was delicious. While not exactly like the regular flour spaghetti, it was still very tasty and served its purpose well. I mean, really, pasta isn’t exactly loaded with flavor by itself, but serves as the medium to put those delicious sauces on. Overall, this was very satisfying and now I want to try more spaghetti with pasta sauce and meatballs.

Creamed salmon over DCC Skinny Spaghetti. Wonderful!

One note, although the package will serve four normal servings, I actually used less so I think I will get six servings from one package. Unlike regular spaghetti, it isn’t in the lower price range. Like everything that is made for low carb dieters, it is in the $8 plus price range and not readily available at grocery stores.

But the good news is that it is low carb, it looks and tastes like spaghetti, and is great for those moments that you’re craving pasta.

Nutrition Information per 2 oz (dry) serving:
Calories: 166 Fat: 3 g Net Carbs: 4 g Protein: 30 g

4-spoons

This Skinni spaghetti is available by mail from Dixie Carb Counters website or from Netrition.com.

Disclaimer: I have not received any promotional items to review and no one from any of the companies whose products I review have asked me to do so. I have purchased the product and am giving my honest opinion about it. Should any company send me a product to try, I will state it up front and will still give my honest opinion.