Hello Recipe Club,

Dana Carpender helps take the mystery out of low-carb eating with accurate carbohydrate counts for each dish, information on low-carb packaged foods, cooking hints, and money saving advice. And with one-dish meals, dinner salads, and quick desserts, cooks will spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying fabulous meals at the kitchen table with family and friends.

Today's Theme is...When in Rome…..Italian Night at the House

Tuscan Soup

This Italian-style soup somehow manages to be delicate and substantial at the same time. Really addictive.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

16 ounces (455 g) hot Italian sausage links
2 quarts (1.9 L) chicken broth
1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
1/2 head cauliflower, sliced 1/4" (6.25 mm) thick
6 cups (120 g) chopped kale
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Preparation:

First, sauté the sausage until done. Remove from your skillet, and let it cool a little while you . . .

Start heating the chicken broth and cream in a big, heavy-bottomed saucepan, over medium heat. Add both the vegetables to the soup.

Okay, your sausage is cool enough to handle! Slice it on the diagonal, about 1/2" (1.25 cm) thick. I like to cut each slice in half, too, to make more bites of sausage, but that's not essential. Put the sliced sausage in the soup too.

Stir in the red pepper flakes and the garlic. Turn the burner to lowest heat, and let the whole thing simmer for an hour, stirring now and then.

Each serving with: 487 calories; 41 g fat; 20 g protein; 10 g carbohydrate; 2 g dietary fiber; 8 g usable carb.

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Marcelle Flint's Zucchini Lasagna

Our tester, Ray, says this is as good as restaurant lasagna!

Makes 8 big servings at Marcelle's house

Ingredients:

1 pound (455 g) ground beef
1 garlic clove, minced
1 15-ounce (420 g) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 14-ounce (400 g) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup (75 g) grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
4 medium zucchini
2 tablespoons low-carb bake mix
1 cup (120 g) shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

In a large skillet, brown beef with garlic, breaking the beef up well. Drain off any fat. Stir in tomato sauce, salt, basil, oregano, thyme and marjoram; simmer uncovered, 10 minutes.

In bowl, combine ricotta cheese, 1/2 of Parmesan cheese and egg.

Scrub zucchini, slice lengthwise into approximately 1/8" (3.125 mm)-thick slices. (Ray noted that this was not simple with a knife. If you have a mandoline cutter—the sort of thing you just slide the food over a blade—use it!)

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly oil a 13" × 9" (32.5 × 22.5 cm) baking dish.

Layer 1/2 of zucchini in oiled baking dish, sprinkle with 1/2 of bake mix. Top with 1/2 of ricotta cheese mixture and 1/2 of meat mixture, then with 1/2 of mozzarella cheese. Top with remaining zucchini, sprinkle with remaining bake mix. 

Top with remaining ricotta cheese mixture, meat mixture, and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese over top. Bake, uncovered, 1 hour. Let stand about 15 minutes before serving.

Each serving having: 377 calories; 27 g fat; 24 g protein; 10 g carbohydrate; 2 g dietary fiber; 8 g usable carb.

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Italian Walnut Cake

This traditional Italian cake is a clear demonstration that a few simple ingredients, properly combined, can yield extraordinary results. If it takes you a few days to eat up all of your Italian Walnut Cake, the Splenda on top will melt, leaving a glazed look instead of powdery whiteness, but it will still taste wonderful. This would be fabulous with a simple cup of espresso.

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:

12 ounces (340 g) walnuts
1/2 cup (100 g) polyol sweetener, divided
4 eggs
1 pinch cream of tartar
3/4 cup (18 g) Splenda
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons (30 g) extra Splenda for topping

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray a 9" (22.5 cm) springform pan with nonstick cooking spray, and line the bottom with a circle of baking parchment, or a reusable Teflon pan liner.

Put the walnuts in your food processor with the S-blade in place. Pulse till nuts are chopped medium-fine. Add 2 tablespoons (25 g) of the polyol sweetener, and pulse until nuts are finely ground but not oily. (Don't overprocess. You don't want nut butter!)

Separate your eggs. Since even the tiniest speck of egg yolk will cause the whites to stubbornly refuse to whip, do yourself a big favor and separate each one into a small dish or cup before adding the white to the bowl you plan to whip them in! 

Then, if you break one yolk, you've only messed up that white. (Give that one to the dog, or save it for scrambled eggs for breakfast.) Put the whites in a deep, narrow mixing bowl and put the yolks in a larger mixing bowl.

Add the pinch of cream of tartar to the whites and, using your electric mixer (not a blender or food processor!), whip egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, beat the yolks with the rest of the polyol sweetener and all of the Splenda, until the mixture is pale yellow and very creamy—at least 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in the lemon zest and the salt.

Stir the ground walnuts into the yolk mixture—you can use the electric mixer, but the mixture will be so thick, I think a spoon is easier. When that's well combined, gently fold in the egg whites, using a rubber scraper, a third at a time, incorporating each third well before adding the next. 

When all the egg whites are folded in, gently pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45 minutes. Sprinkle top with the 2 additional tablespoons Splenda while cake is hot, then let cool before serving. Cut in thin wedges to serve.

Each serving with: 194 calories; 18 g fat; 9 g protein; 4 g carbohydrate; 1 g dietary fiber; 3 g usable carb. Carb count does not include polyol sweetener.