Italian Delicacies

Manicotti and Lasagna

These were handed down through the family from Chef Allan’s Italian great-grandmother’s traditional recipes. We know they’re at least 200 years old. They’re naturally low carbohydrate and sugar free. 

The Sauce. Most tomato sauces use sugar! Why?  Unripe tomatoes!  Ripe tomatoes are naturally sweet, and cook-up even sweeter.  They still have carbohydrates and must be used sparingly, but they’re nothing like regular sugar laden sauce – taste-wise or carb-wise. 

A delicious genuine sauce of this style and region of Italy, uses large chunks of tomato, herbs, olive oil, and mild whole garlic cloves. It cooks up “chunky”, “liquidy”, and very flavorful, with none of the rancid garlic taste that can come from improper cooking.  Great grandma Maria would simmer her sauce all day, beginning in the morning, for the evening meal.  Amazingly, we now have a bottled sauce that is just like hers - Timpones! Super Low Carbohydrate! Not a couple of grams of carbohydrates per tablespoon, but 5 GRAMS PER HALF CUP!!!  All natural real ingredients and uses RIPE tomatoes. 

Mama Maria’s Traditional Lasagna (Naturally Low Carb)
Servings, 6 (freezes/reheats very well).  8.4 grams carbohydrates per serving (1/6 slice of batch)

Besides the sauce, another secret of great traditional Italian food is home made crepe/egg noodles.  That’s how Maria made it.  The only difference was she used a little white wheat flour. You can too if it fits your carbohydrate intake parameters, otherwise, this higher egg content is no-compromise (except they’re a bit more delicate and tricky to handle while cooking – practice your technique). 

Finally, it is important to use only WHOLE MILK Ricotta and Mozzarella. That’s what they used traditionally, and does it ever make a difference in flavor and texture!  And, it’s lower carbohydrate than “low fat” or “skim” cheeses!

If you want a meat sauce:  We make ours without meat, because we enjoy the delicate flavor of the tomato sauce.  But if you generally use a meat sauce, adding meat may be more to your taste and make the Lasagna more enjoyable to you. Prior to making the noodles, sauté beef, sausage or your favorite meat in it’s own fat, or with a little virgin olive oil, then stir in the Timpones tomato sauce and simmer for approximately 5 minutes.  

For the noodles/crepes, you'll need a frying or crepe pan suitable for the size crepes you’ll be making. A larger size is thinner, a bit more difficult to work with, and makes a thinner Lasagna. A smaller size makes a thicker Lasagna pie.  You’ll need a round cake baking pan, to fit the size crepes you’ll be making.

The Ricotta Mix:

1½  Cups Whole Milk Ricotta

½ t Black Pepper (we use course ground, but you can adjust to taste) - ¾ Teaspoon (or more if you like spicy!) 

1 T Chef Allan’s no carbohydrate Italian Rush seasoning blend (available from Low Carb Yummies)

1 T Chef Allan's low carbohydrate Garlic Blast seasoning blend

½ t Chef Allan's Seasoned Salt

Blend all ingredients together by hand, and let sit.  Best if made at least a few hours or a day prior, so the seasonings have time to bloom and infuse the ricotta cheese.

Egg Noodle Crepes:

(these proportions are for 4 crepes for a 4 layer Lasagna)

In measuring cup, beat 4 eggs with:

¾ t (heaping) Chef Allan’s zero carbohydrate Italian Rush seasoning blend

¼ t (heaping) Ground Black Pepper (we use course ground, but you can adjust to taste)

2  T Heavy cream (whipping cream)

¼ t (heaping) Chef Allan's low carbohydrate Garlic Blast seasoning blend

1/8th t or 2 Pinch of Salt

If you want to add some flour, and substitute soy for the traditional wheat flour, try using 2 T Low Carb Yummies unsweetened bake mix (no carb soy protein isolate), carbolite low carb bake mix, or soy flour. (or use nothing at all – it still works)

Preheat skillet or crepe pan with 1 T virgin olive oil. Pour ¼ of egg mixture into skillet (that’s why we used the measuring cup). Move pan quickly to MAKE SURE MIX COVERS BOTTOM OF PAN EVENLY! If you don’t you’ll have thin spots that break easily when handling.  Don’t worry if they break though, it will all come together in the cake pan anyway.  Let the noodles cool completely before using.

Next, ready:
1 cup Timpones Tomato Sauce
Your Ricotta Mix
1 ½ Cup Whole Milk Mozzarella, (sliced to allow for covering each layer)

GREASE PAN WELL (with virgin olive oil or butter), Then:
Spread 4 T of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan. Next, BEFORE you place noodle in the pan, gently spoon about a third of your ricotta mix onto the noodle, and gently spread, being careful not to tear noodle.  Place in pan, then gently spread four Tbsp tomato sauce on it, and top with about ¼ of your mozzarella. Repeat for the next noodle. DO NOT put any ricotta on the fourth noodle. Just place in pan, and cover with remaining tomato sauce, and remaining mozzarella.

Bake at 400 for approx 40 minutes, or till the mozzarella is browned/unbrowned to your liking (check to make sure you aren’t burning it).  Nice served with parmesan, crushed dried red chili pepper or chef Allan's Italian Rush blend (if you want it spicier), Chef Allan's low carbohydrate Garlic Blast seasoning blend if you want more non-spicy Italian flavor, salt and pepper (warn people to taste it first though, because this recipe is already nice and spicy!)

 Manicotti

For a change of pace, manicotti is a nice choice, and a bit exotic. 

The carbohydrates in eggs are insignificant.  The carbohydrates in this and the lasagna recipe are in the tomato sauce (10 per cup) and the Ricotta (about 2 grams per ¼ cup, depending on the brand).  The entire lasagna pie for instance, is 50.4 grams.  Manicotti is basically the same, only mozzarella is not typically used.  So you can modify the recipe, and serving size can vary according to how many of the crepe/noodles you make, how thick they are, and what size they are.  Just keep in mind that the total of the ingredients for the entire batch given here, is about 50 carbohydrates, and divide accordingly.

Ricotta Mixture: Same as above lasagna recipe

Noodles:  Same as noodles for the Lasagna. For large thin crepes, or smaller thick ones, use one egg per noodle/crepe. Or if you want smaller thinner ones, use a half egg per noodle/crepe.

Preparation: 
Basically the same as the lasagna, except you spread the ricotta on the noodle with no mozzarella, primarily near the middle (to make a filling) and then roll it up. Place noodles in a baking dish, and pour enough sauce on them, and in the pan, so that the noodles are covered about ½ way up.  Topping with mozzarella is optional.  Nice served with grated parmesan (remember to warn people to taste it before putting on any spices or additional salt/pepper).

Nutritional info is important to us because we are diabetics and dieters ourselves. Some carb-counts are from manufacturers, all are "to the best of our knowledge".

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