Burger Parmigiana over Non-Watery Zoodles

This evening I didn't have any meat thawed for dinner so I grabbed a bag of burgers that I had made several months ago, double wrapped and froze (raw). I added them to a skillet with some olive oil, covered the pan and cooked over medium heat until they thawed and cooked (it took about 15-20 minutes). I flipped them a couple times. I moved the burgers aside to a plate and added 1/2 of a diced Vidalia onion to the pan and cooked for about 5 to 7 minutes until translucent and caramelized. I returned the 3 burgers to the pan with the onions and poured a jar of Classico's Riserva Arrabbiata sauce over top of the burgers. I wanted a spicy sauce to contrast the sweetness from the Vidalia onions. I covered the pan and simmered the burgers on low for about 20 minutes. While I was cooking the burgers, I pulled out my Paderno Spiralizer and quickly made a huge pile of zoodles using 5 medium-large zucchinis. It took about 3 to 4 minutes. They are so much fresher than those you purchase pre-spiralized in the store and when you realize how quickly you can make a bunch at a fraction of the cost, it will easily justify purchasing this spiralizer. Plus, I think there is something fun about using it. It cleans up so easily by simply rinsing with water and lightly wiping with a paper towel with a drop of dish soap. Just shake it off and place on the counter or in a dish rack and allow it to dry naturally overnight. One of the things many don't like about using zoodles is they can be so watery. I found a way to take care of that by layering the raw zoodles between paper towels (lightly salting to help draw out excess liquid), rolling them up and allowing to wick out the excess liquid. I actually dedicated an entire blog post on "How to Make Non-Watery Zoodles" that you can find by clicking the bolded blog title with that name on the line above.

After the burgers simmered in the sauce, I removed the pot from the heat and topped each with a slice of Bel Gioioso fresh mozzarella cheese and topped with a pinch of dried basil and gave the cheese a few minutes to melt. After my zoodles had sat for a while (at least 30 minutes, but the longer the better...you can make them the night before, roll-up and place in the fridge overnight), I did a quick saute in a bit of olive oil in a nonstick pan (just a couple of minutes on medium high while tossing frequently). I cooked half of the zoodles I made and did it in 2 separate batches. I rolled up the other half of uncooked zoodles and placed on a plate in the fridge to use in the next day or two. I transferred the cooked zoodles to a mesh strainer over a bowl to allow any juices from cooking to drain off. To store leftover cooked zoodles, I line a bowl with a white paper towel and place the zoodles on that and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. I served the Burger Parmigiana over zoodles and we added finely grated Parmesan cheese to our burgers at the table before eating. I snapped a few photos below. Enjoy!

               

Pizza Pasta - Served over "Non-Watery" Zoodles

This evening I made "Pizza Pasta". What is pizza pasta you might wonder? It's pretty simple. I made zoodles (actually squoodles since I used yellow summer squash instead of zucchini). I used my foolproof method for "how to make non-watery zoodles." While they were sitting all salted and rolled up in paper towels to extract their excess juices, I proceeded to make the "sauce" which I modeled after what I would typically put on top of pizza. It's important when making the sauce to put over zoodles, that your sauce not be watery; the thicker the sauce the better. I made a thick meaty sauce using ground beef, onions, mushrooms, black olives, diced pepperoni and red pepper flakes. I used about 1-1/2 cups of one of my favorite jarred sauces that contains no added sugar; DelGrosso's Fireworks Pasta Sauce which is a little spicy but extremely flavorful. I topped our bowls of  "Pizza Pasta" with shredded Parmigiano Reggiano. It was delicious with all the flavor of pizza but the look, texture and feel of pasta. I snapped a couple photos below as well as the easy peasy recipe. If you'd like to see my little tutorial on "How to Make Non-Watery Zoodles", click here: Non-Watery Zoodles. Enjoy!

Pizza Pasta

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced or quartered
1/3 cup sliced black olives (I used Kalamata olives)
15-20 slices pepperoni, diced
1-1/2 cups pasta sauce
Pinch red pepper flakes, optional
Cooked zoodles

Directions:

In a large skillet or dutch oven, brown ground beef and onions in olive oil over medium high heat, breaking beef into chunks as it browns. Add mushrooms and continue to cook uncovered until juices are evaporated. Add olives and pepperoni; cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Add pasta sauce and red pepper flakes; simmer on low about 10 minutes. Server over cooked zoodles.

*Note: Add or use your own personal favorite pizza toppings such as peppers, sausage, etc.

        

Low Carb Pasta Night - Always a Sunday Night Favorite

Today was a scorcher here. I believe we made it to our high of 93 degrees. Even though hubby and I got up and walked before 9:00 this morning, it was still miserable by the time we finished a little after 10:00. So miserable that I actually made myself a refreshing smoothie when we finished. I put almond butter, berries, chia seeds, unsweetened cashew milk, etc. in it and it was just what I needed. Looks like the 90s are here for the remainder of the week. All I can say is YUCK!

This evening we had "pasta" for dinner. I used yellow summer squash as the pasta for mine. Since I was only making the low carb pasta for myself, I used my julienne peeler to make my own little portion for one. The guys had brown rice spaghetti for theirs. I kept our meal simple and took advantage of one of the many good jarred sauces out there made with all natural ingredients and no added sugar. I used DelGrosso's Fireworks Sauce (it's spicy), but I doctored it quite a bit by adding all kinds of goodies. I browned 1-1/4 pounds of ground beef, diced Vidalia onion, diced yellow summer squash, diced small eggplant, one sliced small carrot, 1-1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms, and then pre-cooked all my add-ins, then added the sauce and simmered it with the lid slightly ajar for about 30 minutes to thicken the sauce (you don't want watery sauce with veggie noodles). We had side salads to go along with our pasta. Using a jarred sauce without any junk and sugars added allows you to make a homemade meal with a little bit of help; there are a number of good sauces on the market, you just need to check the labels. I snapped a photo below. If you've never made zoodles or squoodles (LOL) before, here's a link to a little tutorial I did that shows you how to avoid watery zoodles: How to Make Non-Watery Zoodles. The exact same application applies to making yellow summer squash noodles, too. Enjoy!

         

Summer Pasta Ragout & Costco Finds For This Week

Today was a busy day. It was both disappointing and exciting at the same time. We got up early to, once again, clear my kitchen counters and get ready for our tile installer who was scheduled to come and begin work on our kitchen backsplash first thing this morning. As I mentioned before, I had regretfully given up on the mosaic travertine border I had originally selected and had my heart set on and had instead settled for bronze metallic tile inserts on our travertine backsplash tile. When our installer arrived and I laid out what I wanted him to do...he didn't seem to think it was a good idea. He said he would do it but in his professional opinion didn't feel it would look right or that I would be happy with the results. He noticed the piece of travertine border I had sitting on the floor in the kitchen that I had planned to take back and return. He really liked it and thought that would be a much better look. I told him that was what I really wanted but didn't think it would work on my wall area. He showed me what he would do with it and laid it out -- and it is going to work after all! So...our mission tomorrow is to try and find 15 pieces of this travertine border. One of my sons is going to try and find it across town near his work. If he doesn't find it, hubby and I will once AGAIN be driving all over town after work tomorrow trying to find it. So...as disappointing as it was not to get my backsplash started today...in the end, if we can find the border, I will have what I had my heart set on from the beginning. We selected and purchased our wall paint and then ran all our the place doing our other weekly errands which included a trip to Costco.

My sons came for dinner this evening and since we ran around all day, I just kept dinner simple. I made a thick meat sauce using a spicy jarred Arrabbiata sauce that I added to a pound of browned ground round beef, diced yellow squash, and sliced fresh mushrooms. I made zucchini pasta with my Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer to serve the thick meaty ragout on. It's quicker to use when I have more than a couple of portions of "pasta" to make. I snapped a quick photo of my "Summer Pasta Ragout" as well as a few of my new Costco finds. I found a 2-pound jar of Ghee (clarified butter) for $10.99; a 2-pound bag of organic chia seeds for $10.59 (on sale); a 2-pound bag of organic pistachios in shell for $13.99 and last but not least...a 3-pound bag of my favorite kind of organic golden ground flax for $4.99 (on sale). The photos are below. Enjoy!

 

Lasagna Pie (Grain-free)...Who said Lasagna Needed to Be Square?

This evening I made Lasagna Pie...which is basically a round lasagna baked in a deep dish 10-inch pie dish. I made a quick meat sauce with 1 pound of browned ground sirloin and 2/3 of a 26-ounce jar of DelGrosso's Fireworks sauce. I used 4 of my grain-free tortillas as noodles and then layered it with fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella, finely grated Parmesan, thinly sliced provolone and ricotta cheese. It was simple to put together. I baked it uncovered in a 350 degree F oven for about 45 minutes and then let it sit for 15 minutes so the cheese would set up a bit and not run out when I cut the lasagna. It turned out great. I snapped photos of the layering process below as well as the recipe for the "tortilla-noodles". Enjoy!

Thin layer of sauce in the bottom

1st tortilla-noodle layer

1st layer of thinly sliced provolone

1st layer of meat sauce

Layer of fresh mozzarella (or regular mozzarella)

2nd tortilla-noodle layer

2nd layer of meat sauce

2nd layer of thinly sliced provolone

3rd layer of meat sauce

Dollops of ricotta cheese

Thin layer of shredded mozzarella

3rd and final layer of tortilla-noodles (2 cut to fit)

Fourth and final layer of meat sauce on top

Finely grated Parmesan cheese

Second and final layer of shredded mozzarella

Grain-free Tortillas or "Lasagna Noodles" 

Ingredients:

1 cup egg whites or Egg Beaters
3 tablespoons water
1/2 cup blanched almond flour
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons ground golden flax
4 teaspoons finely grated Parmesan
Dash of sea salt
Generous dash of ground chipotle chile (or other seasoning of choice such as smoked paprika, etc.)

Directions:

To make the tortillas/noodles, whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl to form a smooth, thin batter (makes approximately 1-1/2 cups batter). Lightly spray an 8 or 10-inch non-stick skillet with olive oil spray and heat over medium-high heat. Pour a few tablespoons batter into hot skillet, tilting the pan and using a circular motion to evenly distribute the batter in the bottom to make an approximate 6-inch tortilla. Cook approximately 1 to 2 minutes, until very lightly browned and cooked around edges. Carefully loosen and flip using a rubber spatula; cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and repeat for remaining tortillas (lightly re-spraying pan for each). Add a little additional water if batter needs to be thinned to swirl around the skillet. Makes approximately 8 to 10 6-inch tortillas.

         

Find 100's of FREE eBooks here:  FREE Grain-Free eBooks

Sunday's Pasta Night -- Family Dinner

This evening the family got together to celebrate my youngest son's birthday. He requested pasta with spicy sauce filled with chicken breast chunks, Italian chicken sausage, yellow bell pepper, red bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, and diced zucchini. He wanted it over whole wheat penne (my family is not wheat free). It was an easy meal to prepare so that I could eat it too with very little effort. Except for the pasta, everything was the same -- I simply enjoyed mine over "angel hair zucchini pasta" instead (cut with my julienne vegetable peeler). It was delicious! This is a good example of how easy it is to eat wheat free even when you are surrounded by family or friends that still eat wheat -- I have actually been doing this for over 1-1/2 years and it is second nature now. While they were enjoying garlic rolls with their meal, I enjoyed a biscuit with mine. Everyone just left so I'm going to post a quick picture of my meal. Enjoy!

      

Spaghetti w/ Thick & Rich Meat Sauce -- Low Carb & Wheat/Grain Free

This evening I put together a quick and easy dinner. It's been a while since I made spaghetti with meat sauce and I had a package of ground sirloin in the fridge that needed to be used. I browned my ground beef and broke it up into small pieces as it browned and cooked it with some diced onion and then tossed in some sliced fresh mushrooms near the end. Once my meat and veggies were cooked, I poured in a jar of DelGrosso pasta sauce and simmered it for about 20 minutes to blend the flavors. The flavor of sauce I used tonight was their Vodka sauce which is made with heavy cream, so it is nice and rich tasting. I like that particular brand because it has no added sugar and is made with all natural ingredients and its good to have on hand to make a quick meal when you don't have time to make your own sauce or just don't want to. This sauce is a bit pricey ($7-8.00 per jar)...but I always keep my eyes open for sales and last week our Publix had them for 50% off...so I picked up a few jars at $3.50 each. I never pay the regular price...I just grab a few when they go on sale. It is one of the few "convenience" foods that I don't mind buying because this sauce is made with all the same ingredients I would use if I made it myself. I served this thick and rich meat sauce over yellow squash "spaghetti noodles" that I made with my julienne vegetable peeler. They are so quick and easy to make. You don't have to buy a special gadget if you don't want to -- you can simply use your standard vegetable peeler and make ribbon "pasta" with it, too. I also have a spirelli and a spiral vegetable slicer...but unless you are making a large amount for many people, I find the little handheld vegetable peeler type gadget to be the most convenient and easiest to clean up afterward too. Below is the simple recipe for yellow squash or zucchini noodles as well as a couple of photos of my dinner tonight. Enjoy!

Lasagna w/ Grain-free "Noodles" -- Low Carb & Wheat Free

This evening I decided to make Lasagna w/ Grain-free Noodles. For the noodles, I used my grain-free tortilla/wraps to use as my noodles and then layered them with fresh mozzarella, shredded Parmigiano Reggiano, ricotta and shredded regular mozzarella. One of my sons and my daughter came for dinner this evening so I thought that might be something they would both enjoy. I browned a pound of ground sirloin with diced onion and seasoned it with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, a bit of Italian seasoning and a little fennel seeds to give it a sausage-like flavor. I poured in 3/4 of a jar of Rao's Arrabbiata sauce and then layered it with my "noodles" (it's better to serve your lasagna with additional sauce than to make it too saucy). As I got ready to cut the tortillas to fit into a rectangular lasagna pan, I found myself suddenly questioning why...if pizza can be rectangular, why can't lasagna be round? So, obviously you know what the answer to that question was...I made a round lasagna! LOL (I'm such a rebel).  ;-)  I so hate driving between the lines...it's more fun to drive ON them! I just happen to own a deep dish 10-inch round pie dish...so I just plopped my perfectly fitting "noodles" in and layered my lasagna. I used a bit of cayenne, onion powder and a pinch of Italian seasoning in my grain-free noodles. The lasagna turned out beautiful. I snapped a few photos for you to see below along with the recipe for my grain-free "noodles". Enjoy!

Tired of watery grain-free lasagna -- there is no water on this plate! 

Lasagna w/ Grain-free "Noodles"

This evening I tried an experiment using my grain-free tortillas to make "noodles" to make lasagna with. In case you haven't read my blog this week, I will give you a recap on my "tortilla extravaganza" by beginning with Tuesday when I created grain-free tortillas to wrap around my Grilled Beef Fajitas w/ Chipotle Lime Marinade (they worked fabulously). My tortilla extravaganza continued on into Wednesday when I tested the tortillas as "noodles" in my Mexican Style Beef & Tortilla Noodle Soup (they turned out awesome as noodles for soup). If that wasn't enough, my tortilla streak continued on into Thursday when I tested them as oven baked NOritos, a grain-free snack chip modeled after Doritos (a quick and easy healthy chip substitution). Well, tonight I capped off my tortilla extravaganza with Lasagna w/ Grain-free "Noodles"...which used the tortillas as lasagna noodles instead of using the typical eggplant or zucchini substitution for noodles (it turned out great).

Since I wasn't sure how they would work being baked in a lasagna casserole, I made a very small "test lasagna" using a 1 quart pyrex baking dish instead of making a huge regular sized pan of lasagna. I made a thick meaty sauce (using DelGrosso pasta sauce). It's important when making "alternative lasagna" without wheat noodles to minimize liquids as much as possible. Veggie noodles and these tortilla noodles don't soak up juices the way traditional wheat noodles do. The difference between using these tortilla noodles and veggie noodles is the tortilla noodles don't ADD juices to your lasagna as it bakes (which often happens when using zucchini, eggplant, etc.). So whatever liquids you add (sauce) are what liquids you will have in your end product. When you use veggies as lasagna noodles, you typically end up with additional liquid that cooks out of the veggies as the lasagna bakes, which sometimes make it watery.

The tortilla lasagna noodles held up beautifully -- I used 3 layers of "noodles"  In addition to the meat sauce layers, I added a layer of fresh mozzarella, ricotta cheese and topped the final layer with meat sauce, shredded regular mozzarella and Parmigiano Reggiano. I did not cover the lasagna as it baked so it would not get soggy. I baked it for 40 minutes at 350 degrees F. The only "issue" I encountered was that I filled my little casserole pan too high and it bubbled over a little bit into my oven (but I frequently had that same issue when I made traditional lasagna in the past until I bought a super deep lasagna pan). The little casserole dish I used really isn't for lasagna -- but it worked perfectly for my "test lasagna" to see how the "noodles" would hold up. The final test came from my husband (who still eats wheat)...he said it had more of a "pasta-like" mouth feel and thought it tasted good..just like "regular lasagna". These noodles are "lighter" and not as dense as wheat noodles would be...and you don't walk away from the table feeling like you want to slump over and not eat again for 2 weeks!  ;-)  The lasagna was a success! I will try them next time on the rest of my wheat-eating family without telling them beforehand and see if they notice -- I'm guessing they won't!  I snapped a few photos for you to see below. Enjoy!

P.S. -- the only modification I made to my "grain-free tortilla recipe" was omit the ground chipotle chile and increase the Parmesan by 1 teaspoon (the revised recipe for lasagna noodle tortillas is below).

Can you tell the difference?

Lasagna w/ Yellow Summer Squash Noodles

Today we enjoyed another fall-like day here in the Atlanta area. It's funny how the sky looks so different all of a sudden -- beautiful clear blue skies filled with lots of big fluffy white clouds -- it actually looks like a fall sky. With our evening temps dipping into the upper 50s, it's just a matter of time before the leaves begin to turn colors and fall. Yesterday we celebrated my oldest son's birthday and had the whole family over. It's been a while since I've had all of them under the same roof at the same time! I made lasagna for dinner -- the regular kind for all of the wheat-eaters and a smaller separate one for me. It's so easy to do because everything else is exactly the same, except for the noodles.

I decided to try yellow summer squash for the noodles this time. Yellow summer squash tends to have a slightly sweeter flavor to me with a different flavor than zucchini -- nothing drastic, but more subtle. I made a batch of very meaty meat sauce -- I used 3 pounds of ground sirloin. I used a good jarred sauce (DelGrosso's Fireworks Sauce, which is spicy). I wanted a thick spicy meat sauce. You can use your favorite lasagna recipe to make this -- just make or buy a good sauce that doesn't contain sugar or any corn syrup as sweetener. I used 2 26-ounce jars for 3 pounds of meat that I added to the meat after I browned it along with a small diced onion (I seasoned the meat well with sea salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, 6 chopped fresh sage leaves and a few generous pinches of fennel seed to give the beef a "sausage-like flavor"). I added the sauce to the browned, seasoned beef and simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes.

The trick to making a good lasagna when you substitute zucchini or yellow squash for noodles is to make sure you don't use too much sauce, and the thicker the better. The meat sauce I made was enough to make one large deep regular lasagna for the family as well as a 9.5" x 9.5" square 3-layer wheat-free lasagna for me. The funny thing is that my younger son wanted to eat MY lasagna instead of the regular kind -- he tried the regular kind but preferred mine -- so that just proves that it really is good regardless of whether or not you are a wheat-eater! While I do believe that they all would have eaten and enjoyed it if I had just made my wheat-free version -- since this was a birthday dinner, I always cater to the birthday person (it's called mother's prerogative). Believe it or not, it's actually really easy to make a separate and smaller modified version of the same thing for yourself, if you are the only wheat-free person in your house with minimal time and effort. I just placed the casserole dishes side by side and layered them at the same time.  The amount of lasagna that I prepared last night made 12 generous portions (4 wheat-free servings in my little casserole and 8 servings in the larger regular-version casserole). I photographed my lasagna yesterday but waited until this evening to write it up and post it so I could spend the evening uninterrupted with my family. Hubby and I enjoyed having the leftovers again this evening and I sent lasagna home with the kids, too. I snapped a few photos for you to see below as well as my simple recipe for the 4-serving casserole which can easily be doubled or tripled, depending on how many you are serving. I served the lasagna with a fresh green salad on the side. Enjoy!

Lasagna w/ Yellow Summer Squash Noodles

Basic instructions: To make the 4-serving 9.5" x 9.5" casserole, I made "yellow squash noodles" by thinly slicing 3 medium yellow summer squash (about 1/4" thick), lightly sprayed them with olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper and roasted in a 400 degree F oven for about 15-20 minutes until fork-tender. In addition to the thick meaty sauce, I used fresh mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, shredded regular mozzarella cheese and shredded Parmigiano Reggiano to top the lasagna with. To make the smaller 4-serving casserole you would need the following ingredients (double the recipe to serve 8 or triple to serve 12):

INGREDIENTS:

Noodles:

3 to 4 medium yellow summer squash (or zucchini), sliced lengthwise in 1/4" slices

Meat sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil (for browning beef and onion)

1 pound ground sirloin

1/4 cup diced onion

Seasonings to taste, optional: salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, sage and fennel seed (if you want to give a sausage-like flavor to your browned beef)

2/3 of a 26-oz jar of pasta sauce

Cheeses:

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese

8 ounces shredded regular mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup ricotta cheese (or about 1/3 of a 16-oz container)

1/3 cup shredded Parmigiano Reggiano (or regular Parmesan cheese)

INSTRUCTIONS:

This is the order I layered everything:

• Thin layer of meat sauce in the bottom of the casserole dish;
• Layer 1/3 of "noodles" (I used yellow summer squash)
• Layer the ricotta cheese
• 2nd thin layer of meat sauce
• 2nd layer of  1/3 of "noodles"
• Layer the fresh mozzarella (break up with fingers and scatter evenly)
• Layer 1/2 of the shredded regular mozzarella
• 3rd thin layer of meat sauce
• 3rd and final 1/3 layer of "noodles"
• 4th and final thin layer of meat sauce on top
• Layer remaining half of shredded mozzarella cheese
• Topped with shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Bake uncovered in a 375 degree F oven for about about 35 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let sit for about 15-20 minutes for the cheeses to cool down a bit so it isn't too hot and the cheeses can set so the lasagna doesn't slide all over the place when cut.  Serves 4.