Italian Meatballs in Tomato Alfredo Sauce!

I've bought this sauce canned before, but this homemade version blows it out of the water! It was so good I wanted to drink it with a straw! Even if you make your own meatball recipe please try this sauce I know you'll love it as much as I did!

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 egg
1/4 cup grated parmesan (green can is fine)
1/2 tsp. onion powder
2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
2 cloves garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste


For the sauce:

1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp. fresh basil
1 cup chicken stock
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (green can is fine)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. Splenda or equivalent sweetener of choice (I used liquid Splenda for less carbs)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

For the sauce

1. Heat a medium sauce pan to medium heat and add olive oil. Saute onions for 5 minutes until translucent then add minced garlic and saute for 30 seconds longer.
2. Add the balsamic vinegar and the Worcestershire sauce, stir and cook for one minute.
3. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken stock, crushed red pepper, and Splenda. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Simmer on low heat while you make and cook the meatballs.

 For the meatballs

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Mix the ground beef, ground pork, egg, parmesan, onion powder, 2 tbsp fresh basil, 2 cloves galic minced, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Form meatballs and place on cookie sheet. (I got 20 good sized meatballs out of the mixture.)
4. Bake in oven for 25 minutes until done.

Meanwhile stir in parmesan cheese, heavy cream, and basil into the sauce. Add meatballs into the sauce and simmer for an extra 5 minutes.

Serve meatballs with sauce on their own, with zucchini ribbons, or low carb pasta.

Yields 5 servings of 4 meatballs with sauce each


Carb counts from fatsecret.com

Net carbs per serving:
10.2

It seems a little high for induction so it might be better suited to OWL. Even though the carb count is a little high you get a lot of sauce in each serving and there are no "mystery" ingredients like corn syrup, cornstarch, or any type of added sugar so its definitely better for you than store bought sauce, not to mention much, much, tastier!!!


Update: On October 17, 2010

I had alot of leftovers so I ate them today. The sauce was just as amazingly good if not better than yesterday. It holds up very well to reheating. Also, after all the servings of meatballs were gone (I shared, honest) I still had alot of sauce left over. Maybe about another serving of sauce. So this would bring the carb count considerably down. Yay! That means you would get 5 servings of 4 meatballs with about 1/2 cup of sauce plus have an extra 1/2 to 3/4 of sauce left over. Don't throw it away! It is too good to be wasted! Use it on a low carb pizza, pasta, or toss it on some italian sausage with peppers.

Here is the carb count per serving afer having 6 servings of sauce:
Net carbs: 8.5

Chicken Milano

I've made this recipe several times and every time it blows me away! It's something i'd expect to get served at an Italian restaurant! It would be delicious served with mashed cauliflower, zucchini ribbons, or low carb pasta if your plan allows it.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic minced
2 Tbsp sun dried tomatoes chopped
3 large basil leaves chopped in ribbons
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast sliced thin
salt and pepper to taste

Seves 4


Directions:
1. Cut the chicken breasts in to thin slices and season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. In a medium skillet heat the olive oil and add the pieces of chicken.
3. Meanwhile in a medium saucepan melt the butter, add the minced garlic and the sun dried tomatoes. Cook for 30 seconds and add chicken broth. Let simmer on low for 8-10 minutes until the tomatoes are soft.
4. When the tomatoes are soft, add the cream and simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes while chicken finishes cooking, stirring occasionally.  You might need to cook the chicken in batches like I did because it didn't all fit in the pan at the same time. Remove the cooked chicken to a plate and keep warm while the rest of the chicken cooks.
5. During the last 5 minutes add the parmesan cheese and the basil to the cream sauce.
6. Serve chicken on a plate and cover with the sauce.


Carb counts from fatsecret.com

4 servings
Net carbs per serving 3.24