Lately I’ve been working out hard at my local Fit Body Bootcamp. The workouts are 30 super intense minutes, and are always different and challenging.
While I love how energized and fit it makes me feel, boy do I get hungry afterwards! Last night I was craving a hearty, Italian themed meal and came up with this low carb recipe for lasagna.
While there are plenty of low carb lasagna recipes on the web, each one that I’ve found is very time consuming. A labor intensive dish was not what I was looking for. I needed something that I could whip together in between taking my son to guitar lessons and helping with homework.
My time saving solution was to use simple sliced zucchini as noodles, and to mix all of the filling ingredients together rather than make many layers.
You’ll see that egg whites are used as a cheese substitute. I am really pleased with how this worked out both in flavor, consistency, and of course added protein. You’d be surprised at how similar baked egg white looks and feels to melted cheese. The family had no clue that this dish was dairy-free!
Enjoy this recipe on a day when your appetite is ferocious….this one really satisfies.
1 small spaghetti squash
4 Green Zucchinis, sliced into ⅛ inch noodles
1 teaspoon olive oil
Dash of salt and pepper
a sprinkle of dried basil
1½ pounds ground meat (turkey, beef, chicken or even ground impossible burger)
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 teaspoons Dried Oregano (OR fresh oregano)
1 (25.5 oz) jar marinara sauce
16 oz. carton egg whites
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cut the ends off the spaghetti squash and discard. Slice the rest of the spaghetti squash into 1-inch rings. Use a spoon to remove the seeds from the center of each ring. Cut the rings into half and arrange on one of the baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Using a mandoline slicer, slice the zucchini into ⅛ inch lasagna noodles. Place in a single layer on the remaining prepared baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and dried basil. Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes.
In a large skillet, place the ground meat, salt, garlic, onion and oregano over medium high heat. When the meat is browned add the marinara sauce and scrape the roasted spaghetti squash flesh into the skillet. Mix well and simmer for a 5 minutes.
In a casserole dish, make a single layer of zucchini noodles at the bottom. Top with half of the filling. Top with half of the egg whites. Top with the remaining zucchini noodles, the remaining filling, the remaining egg whites. Sprinkle a little more oregano and basil on the very top.
Reduce the oven to 375 and bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Turn on the broil for 2-3 minutes, to help evaporate some of the liquid from the top of the lasagna. Enjoy!
If you enjoy dairy then feel free to add in some fresh mozzarella on top of the egg white layers!
Calories: 380
Fat: 14g
Carbohydrates: 13g
Sodium: 987mg
Fiber: 4g
Protein: 44g
Sugar: 6g