Low Carb Sweet Pepper Lasagna
I’m really trying to get back to some sort of normalcy with my weight loss. I had a huge setback earlier this year and since then I haven’t really felt good about taking care of myself. It’s been a chore to battle my depression as I battle manic episodes and haven’t been medicate for quite a few years. When I am having major swings it’s hard for me to get out of bed much less really get motivated to cook. I’ve been taking it day by day and trying to get out of my funk and get back into the groove. I did a low carb / keto diet for quite a while and did really good. Then, I had some pizza and it was all downhill from there. That was over a year ago.
I’ve been experimenting lately with some new recipes. Trying to pick myself up and dust myself off. Replacing vegetables for pasta when I can. Even if my family will not eat it, I know I will! My hope is that they will enjoy it just as much as I do. While I know I can’t keep pasta away from them forever, I do know that in order for me to battle my PCOS and the weight problem, I need to cut it down. I decided a lasagna was something I needed to tackle. Since making lasagna tends to be a family affair, I thought it would be easy to just put an extra pan out and make one with pasta noodles and one without.
I’ve made lasagna with zucchini and another with eggplant. Both were good and each have a very distinct flavor. I was really in the mood to make something Italian. Hubs was away out-of-town for work. This is becoming and every other week thing. So I felt it was the perfect opportunity for me to try some ‘no pasta’ lasagna! 😉
I started with some crumbled / ground Italian sausage and I diced an onion. I cooked them together until the beef was done. While that was cooking I cut the sweet peppers in half and cleaned out the seeds. I started the first layer.
Once I got the peppers lined up and the sausage was done I sprinkled it on top of the peppers. Then, I layered on some cheese. I drizzled some homemade tomato sauce made from my homemade canned tomatoes by draining the juice and blending the tomatoes into a sauce with a food processor. I kept the tomato juice though. I froze it as I can use this for homemade vegetable stock or soup starter.
I put very little on the layers and put the majority of the sauce on the top.
Once all of my layers were put together I baked on 350 for about 15 minutes. Just until the cheese melted, sauce was warmed and the peppers became soft but not mushy. You can cook it a little longer if you want yours a bit softer, but I like for mine to be warm with a bit of a crisp still.
It was similar to stuffed bell peppers in flavor. It was pretty amazing and made a nice healthy dinner and then I enjoyed leftovers for lunch for a few days.
Have you made any ‘replacement’ recipes lately; how did they turn out?
Low Carb Sweet Pepper Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 bag of sweet peppers sliced in half and seeds removed
- 1 bag of mozzarella cheese
- 1 lb of Italian sausage
- 1/2 white onion diced
- Italian sauce of your choice spaghetti, homemade tomato, canned tomatoes, pizza
- Italian seasoning of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Add the sausage and onions to a skillet.
- Add Italian seasoning of your choice if you wish to enhance the flavor; try oregano, sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder
- While the sausage is cooking, arrange the first layer of peppers in a baking dish.
- Once the sausage is done, sprinkle over the top of the peppers.
- Drizzle a little bit of sauce.
- Sprinkle with a handful or two of cheese.
- Repeat this process until pan is filled.
- On the top layer pour the remaining sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or more depending on how you like your peppers cooked.
I need to shed a few lbs, too. I don’t really want to, though, but I know I need to.
That looks pretty impressive and not very difficult to make. I may have to try it out!
I never even thought to use peppers as the “noodle”. This sounds delicious!
What a great idea to use the pepper in place of the noodles! Looks simple and delicious! Very colorful as well 🙂
I’m going to ditch the carbs in the new year so this is one way to do it! Will have to bookmark this for later. 🙂
I love those mini sweet peppers! This looks like it would be delicious.
Wow what a great idea! That looks super good and I’m a huge fan of peppers! Yum
Who knew low carb could be so delicious? That looks amazing.
This looks like an amazing replacement recipe. I know that my family would certainly enjoy it.
This is not the time of year for me to worry about weight. This dish looks very tasty.
What a delicious take on the classic lasagna. I love stuffed peppers, too, so this sounds like a dish I’ll love!
This looks so tasty. We love the peppers – so I am positive this will be a hit! Pinned
We’re not huge pepper fans, but this looks really good.
Peppers are one of my favorite foods. I never even thought to make a lasagna type meal out of them. It looks fantastic!
Oh that is a neat idea. Love to make this.
Wow, this is such a great idea! I would have never thought to try using peppers in the place of pasta noodles, I like it! I would probably like this a lot more than spaghetti squash!
I try to lower the amount of carbs in my recipes when I can too. This is actually a great way to do it.
I love how the peppers are layered. Every bite gets some sweet pepper yum!
I love how you used the peppers instead of pasta! It looks delicious!
Goodness we love those little peppers. I”ve never thought of making them as a low carb lasagna! We’ll have to give it a try, soon!
Yum! My husband is trying to be low-carb. I think he would like this for sure.
This looks great! I’ve been needing to make better nutrition choices lately… pinned this for later.
This recipe looks fantastic. I try to stay away from pasta so I will definitely be making this casserole.
I like mini sweet peppers! They are delicious. When cooking tacos, I added chopped mushrooms to the beef and no one noticed!
What a great way to make the lasagna. I love sweet peppers, and so does the hubs.
I love peppers. This would be great for my family!
I’ve made zucchini Lasagna before and it was good but never sweet pepper lasagna. This sounds amazing! And sweet peppers are pretty cheap around here this time of the year. I am making this soon! Pinned for later too.
We try to do low to no carbs during the week nights. This looks great, going on my list!
I wish I liked peppers. I should forward this to a few of my friends who are low carb.
Looks delish!! I love peppers and this looks really easy to make! Thankie!
Wow, I that you used peppers as an alternative to pasta. I bet it was so good!
One word – YUM. I love lasagna, that and pizza are my two favorite foods ever. I will have to try this idea for sure. I never thought of making a pepper lasagna!