Saturday, January 14, 2023

FOUR CHEESE WHOLE-WHEAT LASAGNA

Yes, lasagna!  Diabetics whose blood sugar is controlled can usually have lasagna. Just be sure you use whole-grain lasagna noodles and not the regular ones (there are also no/low carb products on the market today).  Read the label and use spaghetti sauce with no sugar or very little sugar.  Do not try to save a little money by using less than the 1 pound of ground meat.  You need the protein to counteract the carbs!  Skip the garlic bread (tears here, too!) and enjoy with a healthy green salad or some steamed broccoli.  Having said that, ENJOY!

1 lb extra-lean ground beef (chicken or turkey, if you prefer)
1 chopped medium onion
1 brick (8-oz) Neufchatel cheese, softened
1 cup 2% low-fat cottage cheese
1 pkg (8-oz) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg, beaten
1 jar (24-oz) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14.5-oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 tsp dried oregano
12 whole-wheat (or other whole-grain)* lasagna noodles, cooked

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown the meat and onions in a large nonstick skillet until meat is no longer pink; stirring often to crumble the meat.

Meanwhile, mix the Neufchatel cheese, cottage cheese, 1 1/2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, and the egg together in a mixing bowl until well blended; set aside.

Drain the meat well and return to the skillet that you have wiped out with a paper towel to get any excess fat.  Stir in the spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, and oregano; simmer together for 5 minutes.  Remove skillet from the heat.  Spoon 1 cup of the mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan or dish.  Top with layers as follows; layer of 3 lasagna noodles, layer of 1 cup of the cheese mixture, and a layer of 1 cup of the meat sauce.  Repeat the layers two more times.  Top with the remaining noodles, meat sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan.  Cover the lasagna with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until heated through.  Remove the foil after 40 minutes.

Allow lasagna to stand for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.

*You may substitute your choice of a low carb pasta.

Yield: 12 servings
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