I love pasta, but pasta doesn't love me. If I eat it as consistently as I would like to, the spikes in blood glucose and insulin always lead to breakouts and bloating. In fact, studies have actually found increased insulin levels are directly tied to acne.(1)
But I love pasta. Especially lasagna. And this Halloween, I want to be able to make a big ol' dish of lasagna to share with my family, but not feel AWFUL the next day. And boy, have I found the perfect recipe. Enter my low-carb Zucchini Lasagna recipe. Whip this up on Halloween and your friends and family won't even realize they're not eating pasta.
This recipe comes in at around 15g net carbohydrates and 35g of protein per serving. Meaning you're going to be feeling perfectly satiated after this meal!
If you're vegetarian, you can feel free to swap out the turkey for 2 cups cooked lentils, although be aware that this will significantly increase the starch content of the meal. You can also try completely removing the turkey all-together.
Check out the full recipe below!
Zucchini Sundried Tomato Lasagna
Serves 5
Ingredients:
3 large zucchini, thinly sliced into long strips
1 pound ground turkey
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. olive oil
pinch of sea salt
pinch of black pepper
Cheese Layer Ingredients:
9 oz. ricotta (grass-fed)
2 oz. pecorino, grated + extra for sprinkling
1 egg
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
pinch of sea salt
pinch of black pepper
Sundried Tomato Sauce Ingredients:
1 cup sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil (can also use the oil from the sundried tomatoes)
1/2 cup cannellini beans, cooked
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
pinch of sea salt
pinch of black pepper
optional 1/4 cup water if sauce needs thinning.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a pan over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Add the turkey, cayenne, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Sauté until cooked all the way through. Remove from heat.
In a food processor, add all of the cheese layer ingredients. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
In the same food processor, add all of the sundried tomato sauce ingredients. Blend until smooth.
In a 6x9 inch ovenproof baking dish, first add 1/4 of the tomato sauce. Smooth to cover the entire bottom of the dish. Next add the zucchini strips, layering to cover the entire bottom of the dish. Add 1/2 of the cheese sauce and 1/2 of the turkey. Repeat the tomato sauce, zucchini, cheese and turkey layers. On the top layer, add the remaining tomato sauce and add a sprinkle of grated pecorino.
Bake for 45 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes (trust me on this one) before eating.
Enjoy! And happy Halloween!
Your Nutritionist,
Autumn
Autumn Elle Nutrition
This was so good! After first bite, my husband said, "Wow". Thank you for the recipe!