I had quite a bit of success eating keto over the last year and I actually lost over 70 lbs pretty easily. One of the drawbacks though is that occasionally one really wants some pasta! Fortunately, I found a way to fix that issue. Instead of spaghetti noodles made with the traditional, high carbohydrate noodles, I use “zoodles.” If you want a gluten-free option, these are perfect for you as well. These are noodles made from zucchini and they really couldn’t be much easier to use and are quicker than pasta. You can buy them frozen in most grocery stores now or you can make your own much more inexpensively. I also used almond flour in the meatballs as a binder instead of other, less ketogenic ingredients.
Ingredients:
- Meatballs
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 lb Italian Sausage
- 1/4 Bell Pepper
- 1/2 stalk Celery
- 2 Cloves Garlic (Mashed with Sea Salt)
- 1 Green Onion
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2 Tbsp Almond Flour or Meal
- Red Pepper Flakes (To taste)
- Sauce
- 1 6 oz. can Jumbo Ripe Olives
- 1 4 oz. or 8 oz. can Mushrooms
- 1 15 oz. can Organic Tomato Sauce
- 1 6 oz. can Organic Tomato Paste
- 3/4 Bell Pepper diced
- 2 Cloves Garlic (Mashed with Sea Salt)
- Italian Seasoning (To taste)
- Rosemary (To taste – I crush fresh when I have it but dried is ok, I use a mortar and pestle for it as well)
- Italian Flat Leaf Parsley chopped (To taste)
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- Red Pepper Flakes (To taste)
- Zoodles
- 2 medium sized Zucchini (Or 2 packages of frozen “Zoodles”)
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 Tbsp Ghee or 1 Tbsp Real Butter
- 2 Tbsp Chicken bouillon
Method:
- Meatballs
- Mince 1/2 stalk celery
- Chop green onion and 1/4 bell pepper
- Mash 2 cloves of garlic into a paste using a fork with a little coarse sea salt
- Mix ground beef, Italian sausage, eggs, celery, onion, garlic, red pepper and almond flour or meal together in a large bowl. Be careful not to overwork the meat or it will be tough and have a less pleasant texture
- Form meatballs to your preferred size and place them in a cast iron skillet
- Put the skillet and meatballs in a 350-degree oven for 20-30 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 155 degrees and are nice and browned. (The time really will depend on the size of the meatballs)
- Sauce
- Put the remaining 3/4 of the chopped bell pepper, drained olives. and drained mushrooms into a #8 Cast Iron Skillet
with ghee or butter and olive oil
- Saute them until the bell pepper is just starting to get a little tender
- Add Tomato sauce and paste and stir all together
- Bring to a simmer and add Italian seasoning, rosemary, red pepper and garlic
- Let it simmer for 30-35 minutes, then add in the chopped parsley about 5 minutes before serving
- Put the remaining 3/4 of the chopped bell pepper, drained olives. and drained mushrooms into a #8 Cast Iron Skillet
with ghee or butter and olive oil
- Zoodles
- Fresh Zucchini
- Wash and cut the stems/ends from the zucchini
- Using a peeler or a Vegetable Spiralizer / Noodle Maker
cut the zucchini into thin strips. You don’t need a really expensive tool for this. I have one like at the link and it is basically a pencil sharpener for vegetables. I have also used a peeler to do the same thing
- Saute the noodles in a #10 Cast Iron Skillet
with olive oil, chicken bouillon and ghee or butter for 5-6 minutes or just until starting to get tender but still al dente
- Drain them well (That really is all there is to it!)
- Frozen Zoodles
- Remove from package
- Put in a medium #10 Cast Iron Skillet
- When they start to release some water, add chicken bouillon
- Cook for 6-7 minutes
- Drain well
- Saute in olive oil and ghee or butter for 2-3 minutes (That really is all there is to it!)
- Fresh Zucchini
- Bringing it all together
- Put a bed of noodles on a plate
- Place desired amount of meatballs on the noodles ( I make them BIG so 2 is usually enough)
- Spoon sauce over the meatballs and noodles
- Top with fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano (I guess one could use the stuff from that green plastic container but it really isn’t even close to the same thing!)
- Enjoy!
cut the zucchini into thin strips. You don’t need a really expensive tool for this. I have one like at the link and it is basically a pencil sharpener for vegetables. I have also used a peeler to do the same thing
with olive oil, chicken bouillon and ghee or butter for 5-6 minutes or just until starting to get tender but still al dente
Something that I am asked very frequently is along the lines of “I thought you couldn’t cook acidic foods or tomato-based foods in cast iron. Can you?”
Here’s the deal, you absolutely can. The trick is to not leave the food in the pan when it is done. Remove it and serve it, put any leftover amount into a container, then immediately rinse out your cast iron. If your seasoning is pretty well developed, you won’t have any problem at all. Here is another post of mine that explains more about it as well.
Tips for the Care & Feeding of Cast Iron
Here is the pan immediately after I cooked the tomato sauce in it…
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