My Maw-Maw’s lasagna was a two day process. Her sauce started with pounds of fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, a little sugar, and some other stuff that she kept secret. It literally took her all day. She would let it “think” (her words) in the refrigerator overnight. After all that, I’d let it think too!

I don’t go to that trouble, maybe that’s why her’s was so much better. It’s basically the same recipe, except for the pasta, and homemade sauce, and believe it or not she used more cheese. I wonder what she would think of her little Italian grandson not eating pasta, much-less him making her lasagna without it, and using store bought sauce (GASP). I used to make my own sauce to avoid the sugar added to most store bought brands, then I discovered Rao’s. All the ingredients are easily pronounced, occur in nature, and none are sugar. If you don’t want to use all the meat called for in this recipe, don’t cut out one, use half of each. This isn’t a dish you will make in an hour, and it isn’t low calorie, but it is low carb, and very delicious!

ingredients:

FOR THE NOODLES:
4 large eggs
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

FOR THE FILLING:
There are two fillings going on here,
meat-sauce filling,
1 lb ground beef
1 lb Italian sausage
1 large white onion, diced
16 oz baby-bella mushrooms, sliced and large diced
1 – 24 oz jar Rao’s Homemade Tomato Basil Marinara sauce, divided

ricotta cheese filling:
2 large eggs
1 – 15 oz Whole milk Ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1/2 cup grated Asiago
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 cups shredded mozzarella

Instructons:

FOR THE NOODLES:
You can make these a day or two ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator, or even longer and store them in the freezer.

Preheat oven to 375℉, line a 11×17″ baking pan with parchment paper. If you have two, line them both, as you will be doing this step twice.

In a large mixing bowl, using a hand mixer, cream together:
2 large eggs
4 oz softened cream cheese

Add, and thoroughly combine:
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Using a spatula, fold in:
1 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.

Spread mixture onto the baking pan, making a nice even layer.
Bake in center of oven for about 20 minutes, until golden, keeping an eye on it.
While that batch is baking, make a second batch.
When the first batch is done baking, remove layer from dish, leaving on the parchment, and place in refrigerator to cool.

Line dish with another sheet of parchment.
Spread mixture onto the baking pan, making a nice even layer.
Bake in center of oven for about 20 minutes, until golden, keeping an eye on it.
Remove layer from dish, leaving on the parchment, and place in refrigerator to cool.

FOR THE FILLING:
Meat sauce filling:
To a large pot over medium-high heat add ground beef and Italian sausage. Cook, breaking up into small bits, until mostly browned. Add onions and mushrooms and continue to brown. Once meat is fully browned and mushrooms and onions are soft, drain excess fat and add Rao’s Homemade Tomato Basil Marinara sauce, reserving 1/2 cup. Reduce to low, cover, and simmer for about an hour. If you want to let it think overnight, be my guest.

Ricotta cheese filling:
in a large bowl combine eggs, whole milk ricotta cheese, dried parsley, grated Asiago, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir really well.

Assembly:

Using a knife or pizza wheel, cut noodle sheets into strips:

I am 100% sure there is a better way to do this, but I cut a two inch strip from the long side each 11×17″ sheet, then cut the resulting 9×17 sheets into four, making a total of eight 4 1/4″ noodles. I then cut six inches off those two inch strips, put the two together and you get a ninth noodle, which works out perfectly since you need three for each layer and there are three noodle layers. This of course leaves me with 2 2×6 pieces to “taste test”(wink)

Spray or wipe sides and bottom of 13x9x2.5″ baking dish with olive oil, then coat bottom with the 1/2 cup of reserved Rao’s.

Top that with your first noodle layer.

Layer a third of the meat sauce,
1 cup mozzarella,
half of the ricotta.

Add second noodle layer,
a third of the meat sauce,
1 cup mozzarella,
the rest of the ricotta.

Add third noodle layer,
top with remaining meat sauce,
cover with remaining cup of mozzarella.

Bake at 400℉ for about 20 minutes, until top is golden and bubbly.

According to cronometer, a serving (defined as 1/12th of the pan), contains:
438 Calories, 27g Protein, 8.3g Carbs, 32.4g Fat, 0.6g Fiber, 7.7g Net Carbs,
4.4g Sugars (25%Protein, 7% Carbs, 68% Fat for those keto-ers into macros)

Chaffle= Cheese Waffle. Heads-up: You’ll need a waffle iron. It only takes a few minutes to mix up a chaffle recipe with just two ingredients for the basic recipe: eggs and cheese. This can be customized with a variety of options: I add parmesan and use them in place of bread for Pork Belly Sandwiches and hamburgers. I also make rueben sandwiches using swiss and ground caraway for the chaffle. They also make a very nice sandwich, hamburger bun, and pizza chaffle (adding 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning to the batter). 

Chaffles are really becoming a thing with keto lifestylers. They’re way easier to make than most keto bread recipes and they’re very easy to customize. You can turn a basic recipe into your own delicious creation; savory to sweet and all between. You can also change the kind of cheese you use, changing the flavor and texture greatly. Cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese are the two most common choices, but you can also add in parmesan, cream cheese, or any other cheese that melts well. 

The cook time is about four minutes, and if you cook it properly, you end up with a crispy, cheesy, delicious waffle that can be used in a wide variety of applications.

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 8oz mozzarella
• 1/4 c parmesan
• 1/2 C super fine almond flour

Instructions:

• The above recipe makes 8 chaffles.
• Heat the mini waffle iron.
• While the waffle iron is heating, mix the ingredients in a bowl until combined.
• Spoon out 1/4 C mix into the waffle maker and cook for about 4 minutes, or until waffles are desired crispness.
• Carefully remove from waffle maker.

There are a couple things you’ll want to know to make your chaffles crispy. 

• First , don’t eat your chaffles right out of the waffle iron. They’ll be soggy at first, but if you let them sit for 3-4 minutes, they’ll crisp up. 
• If you plan on making chaffles ahead of time and reheating them, you may want to employ an air fryer. It can be difficult to get chaffles crispy again once they’ve been in a fridge or freezer. An air fryer will dehydrate them and crisp them back up in just a few minutes. 
• You can reheat chaffles by heating them in a dry pan for 1-2 minutes a side, or you can put them in a 300-degree Fahrenheit oven for 3-4 minutes, or until heated.