Low-Carb Lasagne

I received so many text messages when I posted on Gracious Goodness about turning my low carb Easy Wraps into lasagne sheets that I decided I had to blog the recipe the very next time I made it.  So here it is! 

In our house, whenever I make a tomato “bolognese” sauce, it is an open invitation to include any veggies that I have found looking a little sad and lonely in my fridge.  As a result every time I make a sauce it tends to look a little different from the time before, much to the frustration of my husband when I make one that he particularly likes! 

So, the sauce recipe I write will be the base recipe that I follow, please feel free to personalise the ingredients to what you have in the fridge or the garden on the day.  Finely chopped carrots, beans, broccoli, sweet potato, peas, handfuls of basil, parsley, chives and more have all found their way into my sauces at one time or another. 

Lasagne is traditionally made up of three components layered on top of each other – the beef and tomato sauce, a flat pasta sheet and a cheesy bechamel sauce.  You continue to layer these on top of each other until you have reached the capacity of your dish or run out of ingredients!   

To make this lasagne low in carbohydrate I have substituted the traditional pasta for my low carb easy wraps and have created a delicious creamy, cheesy sauce using cottage cheese and egg whites instead of a traditional bechamel made with butter, flour and milk. Before you screw up your nose at the thought of cottage cheese or egg whites and dismiss this recipe, just wait… I have a husband and two children who do not eat cottage cheese.  They eat this sauce and love it! It doesn’t taste like cottage cheese, it tastes creamy, cheesy and simply delicious.  And best of all you don’t have to precook it, so prep work is a breeze. 

If I am on a mission I can have all the components of this dish made within 30-40 minutes, another 30 minutes in the oven and dinner is on the table in a bit over an hour.  Putting my lasagne together is even easier if I have low carb easy wraps in the fridge, prepped for lunches throughout the week.  Instead of salad wraps the family gets a hot lunch of lasagne leftovers, winning!  So let’s get cooking…

Tomato “bolognese” Sauce Ingredients:

1 medium onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 500g lean mince 800g tomato passata or x2 400g tins chopped tomato 1 cup water 1/4 cup tomato paste 1-2 beef stock cubes or 1 tbs homemade Beef stock concentrate Salt Pepper Herbs, a generous handful if fresh, finely chopped or 1-2 tsp dried Italian herbs Optional extra vegetables such as carrot, beans, broccoli, etc

Method:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

Cook onion and garlic, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened.

Add mince. Cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, for 6 to 8 minutes or until browned. 

If using optional extra vegetables add them in now and saute till soft. 

Add tomato passata, tomato paste, water, beef stock concentrate, herbs.  

Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 to 30 minutes or until thick.

Season with salt and pepper.   Set aside.

Pasta Substitute

Make a double batch of the Gracious Goodness LCHF Easy Wraps

Low Carb Creamy Cheesy Sauce Ingredients:

500g cottage cheese 2 egg whites 2 tbs parmesan cheese, grated Salt Pepper Herbs, a small handful if fresh or 1/2 tsp dried italian herbs

300g cheese of your choice, grated (extra)

Method:

Place all the ingredients, except extra cheese, in a blender and blitz until smooth and creamy.  Set aside.

Putting it all together:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Find a nice big dish to hold your lasagne and lightly grease with oil to stop things from sticking and make washing up easier.  Gather all your components close to each other to make layering easy.

Start with 1/3 of your tomato “bolognese” sauce, top with a LCHF wrap then layer with 1/3 of the low carb creamy, cheesy sauce.

Repeat this layering step until all your ingredients are used. Top with the extra cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until top is golden brown and crispy.

Serve and enjoy.  My dish made 6 large adult size servings.

A note from Gracious Goodness :

Bolognese sauces are an excellent opportunity to hide veggies.  If you want to make them inconspicuous to suspicious eyes make sure you puree them first by blitzing whilst raw in a food processor or blender prior to adding to the sauce.  When they cook down they should almost dissolve into the tomato sauce, leaving nothing but nutrients to be found…

I normally make my LCHF easy wraps whilst my tomato “bolognese” sauce is simmering and thickening.

You can substitute ricotta cheese for cottage cheese if you prefer.  And also whole egg for the egg white.  This was actually the way that I always used to make my low carb cheese sauce (ricotta + whole egg) until I discovered how much lighter and creamier the cottage cheese and egg whites were!

Nutritionally ricotta and cottage cheese are quite similar, the biggest difference being that cottage cheese tends to be much lower in fat.

It is perfectly fine to use whatever light tasting cheese you have in the fridge for the extra cheese component.  Commercially shredded pizza cheese is convenient but grating your own means no added anti caking agents and preservatives.

This is a seriously yummy main meal that is economical, easy to prepare and feeds a crowd.  Left overs reheat well and taste great the next day!

Sandra xo