Elena For Reels

I have never heard of ketogenic diet before so imagine my reaction when Tashi told me he wanted to try it.  Thank goodness, information was just a click away so I was able to research about it and plan for Tashi’s low carb high fat meals for the coming week.  The first dish I ended up fixing was zucchini lasagna with turkey meat sauce and I was glad it turned out good.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large zucchini, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• red pepper flakes
• 1 – 14 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cup marinara sauce
• 2 teaspoon dried oregano
• basil, finely chopped
• parsley, finely chopped
• 2 cups spinach
• 15 oz part skim ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a deep 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. Slice zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices. Pat dry using paper towel.
3. To prepare the meat sauce, cook and stir ground turkey in a large skillet over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Add in garlic, onion, bell pepper, and pepper flakes; cook and stir until meat is brown. Stir in tomato sauce, marinara sauce, basil, and oregano. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Meanwhile, stir egg, ricotta, Parmesan, and parsley together in a bowl until well combined. 
5. To assemble lasagna, spread 1/2 of the meat sauce into the bottom of prepared pan. Then layer 1/2 the zucchini slices, 1/2 the ricotta mixture, 1 cup of the spinach, then 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat by layering the remaining meat sauce, zucchini slices, ricotta mixture, spinach, and mozzarella. Cover with foil.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Note: I noticed that the lasagna was a bit watery.  Upon further research, I learned that this can be avoided by grilling/roasting the zucchini first. I will do this the next time I prepare this dish.  

Recipe adapted from All Recipes

People who love to eat are always the best people. – Julia Child