Our friend Kate is going to leave on a road trip from OR to as far flung as LA and is coming to dinner. We’re headed to Southeast Asia soon to visit friends that we’ve not seen in too many years gone. I’m trying to clean out our fridge of veggies so here we go. While making this I thought to myself, is this the first savoury dish I’ve made without bacon? LOL

Basically I cooked the zucchini in the oven as a pasta replacement, made a red beef sauce and a flour free cheese sauce. So low low carbs in this concoction.

Cheese Sauce

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tblsp butter
• 4 oz Philly smooth cream cheese
• 2 tsp mustard
• 1 tsp white pepper
• Few strands saffron
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 2 cups sharp cheddar

Heat cream to simmer. Add the butter, cream cheese and spices. Do not boil! Stir for about 5 minutes simmering very gently at a medium heat. Remove from stove and stir in cheese until smooth.

Next, the zucchini.

• 5 large zucchini
• French Provence herbs
• Ground pepper to taste
• Course salt to taste
• Olive oil
• Onion powder

Slice long thick slices of the zucchini, toss in the olive oil and herb mix. Roast in oven for 30 minutes at 375F, or until well cooked but not soft and squishy. You need to be able to lift them to layer them.

Last layer, the beef tomato sauce.

• 1 red onion
• 1 white onion or 2 shallots
• 4 tbl olive oil
• 2 tbl butter
• 1 lb ground beef
• 4 tbl oregano
• 1 tbl herbs Provence
• Ground pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooked tomato
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 12 olives, chopped
• 4 sweet pickled peppers
• 2 tsp garlic crushed

Fry the onions in the oil and butter mix, add the ground beef when translucent. Cook through until mince is cooked. Add the cooked tomatoes (you can use raw but it will take longer to cook) and herbs and spices. Simmer, adding the rest of the ingredients and cook until a rich red colour. That’s how I know when it’s ready, food just kind of tells you by smell and how it looks. I used the same cast iron skillet for this dish, just removed half of the red sauce, then layered the zucchini and cheese sauce. Question is, what it the right order? I doubt it changes the flavour, but this should be fine. Top it with paprika, oregano and Herbs Provence then if you like, more sharp cheddar cheese or parmesan before baking for 30 minutes at 350F.

Serve with lovely butter lettuce and some rolls, keto if you have them!

Cheers, see you in a couple of weeks!

Had this delicious platter at Cheese Bar for brunch with roasted tomato soup and a hazelnut pear roquefort salad. Utterly delicious.

Fresh mozzarella in olive oil and prosciutto.