Category Archives: Italian Inspired Recipes

Breads, Italian Inspired Recipes, Main Dish, Poultry, Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Easy Ways to Warm the Heart

From me to you with love, here’s a few recipes to warm your heart or that of your special someone. I’m going to start with a delicious and quick to fix dinner of Parmesan Chicken. This is so good that it should really make a hit with your honey bun or the whole family. Pair it up with the wonderful taste of roasted celery root or kohlrabi.

This is based on a recipe from a mayonnaise company and it takes only a little adjustment or two to make it low carb. One of those adjustments is to make your bread crumbs from a low carb bread. If you don’t have a bread made up, a quick way to do it is to make a cracker bread. You only need a little, so here’s how you can do it.


Quick Almond Flax Cracker Crumbs

2 tablespoons Almond Meal
1 tablespoon ground Flax Meal
pinch Salt
1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon Olive Oil or Coconut Oil
1 tablespoon Water

Mix together almond flour and flax meal. Add salt, oil and water. Mix well. You want a spreadable paste. Spray a pie tin or cookie sheet with baking spray. Spread the dough over the pan to about 1/4 inch thickness and about 3″ x 3″ square. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes until lightly browned. Let it cool. Crumble the crackers to make crumbs. Makes about 1/4 cup of crumbs.

Batter is shaped into a square, then baked until brown around the edges.

 

Nutrition Info for whole recipe

Calories: 216.8 Fat: 21.6 g Net Carbs: 1.5 g Protein: 3.8 g

One tablespoon is about 0.4 g

 

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, fresh
4 boneless, skinless Chicken Breast halves or 4 large Chicken Thighs*
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 teaspoons seasoned Low Carb Bread or Cracker Crumbs

Preheat oven to 425° (F)

Combine mayonnaise with cheese in a small bowl. Wash off chicken and dry with paper towels. Place in a baking pan and sprinkle with Italian seasonings and salt. Spread the mayonnaise mixture evenly over each piece of chicken, then sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Bake until chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 20 minutes to 25 minutes. The thighs may take a little longer to cook. Check at 20 minutes and cover the pan with foil if the tops are getting too brown and the chicken isn’t quite done.

Remove from oven and let the chicken rest a few minutes before serving.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 195 Fat: 14.2 Net Carbs: 0.7 g Protein: 15.7 g

* If you can’t find large thighs, plan for two thighs per serving.

Quick Roasted Celery Root

Honestly, I love the taste and texture of celery root, also called celeriac. It’s a strange-looking root, but the flavor is wonderful. With just a hint of celery flavor, it’s like adding celery salt to your vegetable. While it isn’t exactly a potato flavor, it comes closer to both the taste and texture of potato than anything else I’ve found, which makes it really satisfying with this type of meal.

1/2 Celery Root, cleaned, peeled and cut into large cubes
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Seasoning salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend

Preheat oven to 425 degrees(F).

Bring a medium-sized pot half-filled with water to a boil. Put the cleaned and cut up celery root in the boiling water and boil for about 10 minutes. Check that the pieces are fork tender. Drain and dry the cubes.

In a tin pan or cake pan, put the olive oil and seasonings and mix together with a spoon. Add the celery root cubes and make sure they are coated with oil and seasonings. You could also put the oil and seasonings in a plastic baggie, then add the celery root to the baggies and roll them around with your fingers to coat. Then pour the vegetable and oil into the pan and spread around.

Put in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn each piece over and cook for another 10 minutes. Pieces should be lightly browned on each side.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 93.3 Fat: 7.3 g Net Carbs: 6 g Protein: 1.2 g

Coming Soon…

Look for some fast and yummy chocolate candy recipes tomorrow. I have three of them lined up that are taste-tested in my house.

Posted on 2/11/2014

Beef, Italian Inspired Recipes, Main Dish, Recipes

Delicious Spaghetti Loaf

My grandmother served this often on Sundays and it was a favorite. Use spaghetti squash to keep the carbs low.  Or if you want the true taste of pasta, use a combination of 1 cup spaghetti and 2 cups spaghetti squash, which will raise the net carbs per serving to about 11.5 g.   For comparison, if you make this recipe with just 2 cups spaghetti pasta, the net carbs will be about 14.4 g.  Using just spaghetti squash comes in at 7.1 g.

I made this using Dreamfield’s pasta, but as of 04-14, it has been proven that this pasta is not low-carb nor is it ok for diabetics to use. My photo still shows pasta, but when making this use spaghetti squash instead to stay low carb.

Grandmother’s Spaghetti Loaf

2 lbs. Ground Beef
2 cups Canned Tomatoes, diced
1 cup Onions, diced or chopped
1 tablespoon Italian Seasonings
1 teaspoon ground oregano
2 large Eggs
1/2 cup Sweet peppers, chopped
3 cups cooked spaghetti squash
1 tablespoon Garlic, minced
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

Cook the spaghetti squash* until done (al dente). Put in a large bowl. Turn on the oven to preheat to 350 degrees (F.)

Add the rest of the ingredients. Wash your hands and mix with your hands until the ingredients are mixed well together. Pour into a baking dish and form into a loaf. Sprinkle the top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes until the meat is done and the top is browned and slightly crispy.

Makes 8 servings

Nutrition Info:
With spaghetti squash: 1/8th of recipe
Calories: 240.4 Fat: 4.1 g Net Carbs: 7.1 g Protein: 28.1 g

For comparison, if you make this recipe with 2 cups spaghetti pasta, the net carbs will be about 14.4 g.

Tip:  You can cook the spaghetti squash in the oven by cutting it in half, putting both sides face up on a cookie sheet and putting it in a 385 degree (F) oven and roasting it for about 40 minutes. Or, you can poke slits in the squash with a knife, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the mircowave for about 5 minutes on high. The squash is done when the outside skin is soft. Let cool, them cut it open and remove the seeds from the strands of squash, then pull the strands out and separate them.

Posted on  2/5/2014

Italian Inspired Recipes, Main Dish, Pork, Recipes

Zucchini and Sausage Bake

This is a delicious, Italian style casserole that makes an easy, flavorful week night dish or make it on the weekend and have it later in the week. It reheats well. I’ve based this recipe on one that Mom Kelly, PK’s mama, came up with one day. I’ve swapped the jack cheese out for mozzarella cheese and added bell pepper into the mix. This is a half recipe, but can be doubled easily to serve up to 10 people. You can swap the sausage for ground beef or ground turkey or even diced chicken.

Sausage Zucchini Bake

3 cups Zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch (about 3 medium-sized)
1/2 lb Pork Sausage
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan Reggiano Cheese, grated
1 clove minced Garlic
1/4 cup chopped Sweet Peppers
1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
2 cups Pasta Sauce

Wash and slice zucchini into 1/4-inch pieces. Place in pan with enough water to cover. Add chopped garlic and salt. Cook until tender but do not overcook. When done, drain in colander and gently mash to remove as much water as possible. Meanwhile, in a frying pan brown sausage, drain well.

Mix zucchini, sausage and shredded mozarella cheese together, reserving some of the cheese. Put into ovenproof dish leaving room for the juices. Top with spaghetti sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle Parmesan over top. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 25 to 40 minutes or until well browned on top.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Nutrition Info per serving (4 servings):
Calories: 396 Fat: 31.6 g Net Carbs: 8.3 g Protein: 22.9 g

OK for all phases of Atkins & likely for South Beach also. I don’t have a SB food list for phase 1.

Original post on 1/3/2014

Italian Inspired Recipes, Main Dish, Poultry, Recipes

Adapting Chicken Parmesan to Low Carb


Moved from my Live Journal blog where is was published July 26, 2012.

I love food, almost any food, but Italian is a real favorite. How can you go wrong with cheese and pasta? Oops, pasta. That’s the problem with Italian and a low carb lifestyle.

(Note from 05/06/14 – I have been using Dreamfields, which claimed to have a 5 nc pasta, however, those claims are apparently incorrect and the pasta is not low carb.  All I can say is that I have been using it and it appeared to not impact my weight loss.  Other people have had issues with it.  So, use an alternative to pasta for this dish.)  

My recipe this week is for Chicken Parmesan with pasta. But you don’t need to serve it over pasta. You can make zucchini noodles by slicing the zucchini into long, thin strips and dropping them in boiling water for three to five minutes before draining and putting them on the bottom of your casserole dish. You can also substitute in spaghetti squash, which has a slightly nutty flavor and is also a delicious pasta substitute.

Chicken Parmesan Over Pasta

Ingredients:

3 large skinless Chicken Breast halves, butterflied and pounded
1 large Eggs, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon Water
1 tablespoon Oil
1/2 cup Pork Rinds, crunched up to the consistency of flour
1/2 cup finely grated grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1 to 1 1/2 cups Pasta Sauce, to taste (I use a tomato basil sauce with around 3 net carbs per 1/2 cup)
Salt and Pepper to preference
1/2 teaspoon Italian Herbs
2 cups cooked Zucchini strips or 2 cups Spaghetti Squash
Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Cook whichever squash you are using for your pasta and keep it warm until ready to serve.

Combine eggs, water, 2 teaspoons of olive oil, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning and set aside. Combine crushed pork rinds and finely grated Parmesan cheese .

Heat oil in a heavy skillet.

Dip chicken breasts in egg mixture, then into pork rind crumbs, then cook in the skillet for 6 to 8 minutes per side until lightly browned.

Drain pasta and pour over the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking pan, arrange chicken breasts over the top, then spoon pasta sauce evenly over the breasts and pasta. Top with mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.

Makes 3 to 6 servings depending on how hungry you are.

Per 1/6 of recipe: Carbs: 4 – Calories: 345

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 9/16/2012 12:39 AM

Condiments and Sauces, Italian Inspired Recipes, Recipes

Celebrate spring with a Spring Time Pasta

Spring has arrived… at least in my part of the world. It’s a lovely spring day with trees budding out, some almost in full leaf and the temperatures are sweater weather. Other places… well, some of you are still digging out of snow. Down under, folks are getting ready for fall, so it might well be pretty warm. So some of these vegetables in this gorgeous spring pasta may not be available, so make it with whatever you can muster up. It will still be delicious.

The idea with a Pasta Primavera (Spring Pasta) is to use vegetables that you can get fresh at the market so that it’s bursting with goodness and flavor. For the pasta part, I used Dreamfield pasta, which claims to have 5 effective net carbs per serving.  Generally, I eat about half a serving because it’s quite a lot of pasta. Recently I have heard that this claim is not true and the pasta is no lower carb’d than any other one.  I have also heard some people say that Dreamfield does affect their glycemic count, so if that is an issue, you can substitute in spaghetti squash or even shredded or thinly sliced zucchini or omit it altogether.  All I can say is that I have used it and it didn’t seem to slow my weight loss but this kind of thing will vary from person to person, so to be safe, use one of the other alternatives.  My recipe is based on one from Chef John at AllRecipes.com, but with a few modifications.

This recipe does use a pesto sauce. You can use a purchased one or make your own fresh. I’ve included the pesto recipe I created for this dish.

Spring Time Pasta
aka Pasta Primavera

2 cups Zucchini, sliced
1 cup Broccoli, fresh chopped or diced
6 spears fresh Asparagus, sliced
1 cup Leeks, sliced both white and green
3 tablespoons Green Onions, finely sliced
2 cups Brussels sprouts, shredded or sliced
1 tablespoon Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Mushrooms, sliced and cut into pieces
1 cup Chicken Broth or bullion
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded

Prepare all vegetables. Cut asparagus on the diagonal to expose more surface.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, then add garlic, onions and leeks and sauté until the onion is translucent. Add mushrooms, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Cook and stir for about five minutes. Add chicken broth and the rest of the vegetables. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Prepare enough Dreamfield pasta (I used angel hair spaghetti) to serve however many are eating at the meal. Measurement and cooking instructions are on the spaghetti box.

Per serving, mix 1 cup pasta and 1 cup vegetables together and add 1 tablespoon pesto sauce. (Recipe below.) Toss together and let sit about five minutes, then toss again before serving.

Nutrition Info: (for vegetable mix only – pasta is not included):
Calories:46 Fat: 0.2 Net Carbs: 6.6 g Protein: 2.9 g

Spinach Asparagus Pesto

This pesto can be made with basil instead of spinach, which is the usual for pesto, but I had spinach on hand and lots of fresh asparagus, so I thought, why not? It is very yummy and worth the little bit of effort to make, especially if you have a food processor. You can put any extra in a jar in the refrigerator to be used later. Just try to use it within a week or two. In addition to being a great sauce for the vegetable dish above, it is also wonderful on fish, chicken or pork.

2 cups Baby Spinach, fresh,, packed
1/2 cup Parsley
4 spears Asparagus, fresh – parboiled
1/3 to 1/2 cup Olive Oil
3 cloves Garlic,
1/4 cup Pine Nuts
1 teaspoon ground Oregano
1 teaspoon fresh or ground Basil
Salt, dash
Black Pepper

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 325 degrees. Spray a pie tin or something similar with cooking spray. Spread the pine nuts over them to toast. Toast about four minutes, then stir or shake them around and cook another two or three minutes.

Par-boil 4 spears of asparagus – bring water to a boil and put the asparagus in for about two minutes. Cut into pieces and put in your food processor along with the rest of the ingredients. Process until all the ingredients are finely chopped and blended. You will probably have to use a spatula to mix some down into the lower area where the blade is and process again. If the pesto seems a bit dry, add another tablespoon of olive oil.

Makes about 10 one tablespoon servings

Nutrition Info per tablespoon:
Calories: 92.3 Fat: 9.6 g Net Carbs: 1 g Protein: 1 g

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 3/20/2014