ITALIAN CHICKEN MARINARA CASSEROLE



ITALIAN CHICKEN MARINARA CASSEROLE
Hmm, comfort food at its best.  Do try the homemade marinara sauce.  It’s delicious in this easy recipe.   I am doing intermittent fasting at the moment, which means 2 meals a day for me, so my carbs can actually be a bit higher than if I ate three squares and had snacks.  By the way, with intermittent fasting, if one gets hungry a protein and cheese snack will be fine in between, as insulin response will be next to nil.  My hubby does that quite successfully.  He likes sausage and cheese. 

NOTE: Now I've discovered that the "bread" crumbs can be made out of almond meal - homemade ground almonds in a coffee bean grinder using sliced almonds that I buy at the equivalent of Costco.  That's a whole lot cheaper than using my precious Honeyville Grains almond flour, which I prefer to keep for baking only.  Love, love, love topping my casseroles with a "breaded" topping.  So delicious.  You'll never miss breadcrumbs again.

6 cups diced rotisserie chicken (1.5 L)
21/cups Marinara Sauce, (below...whole recipe) (625 mL)
1 tsp dried oregano, OR basil, OR (5 mL)
  use fresh herbs up to 2 tbsp (30 mL)
11/cups grated Mozzarella cheese (375 mL)
Crumb Topping:
3/cup  Gluten-Free Bake Mix 2,  OR simply use almond flour (175 mL)
1/cup Parmesan cheese (60 mL)
1/cup butter, melted (60 mL)

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). 

In large bowl, combine cooked, diced chicken and Marinara Sauce.  Place in bottom of 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) baking dish.  Sprinkle with oregano, OR basil, OR fresh herbs and Mozzarella cheese.  Sprinkle with Crumb Topping below.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Crumb Topping:  In medium bowl, combine Gluten-Free Bake Mix 2, OR almond flour, Parmesan cheese and melted butter.

Yield:  6 servings
1 serving
551.0 calories
47.3 g protein
36.2 g fat
7.1 g net carbs

MARINARA SAUCE
Sometimes homemade tastes best.  This sauce is very easy to prepare.  I made it specifically for my Italian Chicken Marinara Casserole above. Pureeing the sauce ever so slightly deepens the flavor.

2 tbsp olive oil (30 mL)
1/cup finely chopped red onion (60 mL)
28 oz diced canned tomatoes (840 g)
6 oz tomato paste (180 g)
1/ cup water (125 mL)
Liquid sweetener equal to 2 tsp sugar (to balance flavors - optional) (10 mL)
1/tsp salt (2 mL)
1/tsp dried basil (2 mL)
1/tsp dried oregano (2 mL)
1/tsp dried thyme (2 mL)
1/tsp black pepper (0.5 mL)

In frying pan in olive oil, cook onion over medium high heat until turning brown.  Add tomatoes, tomato paste, water, liquid sweetener, salt, basil, oregano, thyme and pepper. Simmer gently about 5 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.  In food processor, pour mixture and pulse until the sauce is a bit finer in texture, but not juiced.

Yield:  21/cups (625 mL)
1 tbsp per serving
12.3 calories
0.2 g protein
0.7 g fat
1.4 g net carbs


For other great Low-Carb, Gluten-Free recipes by the team & me:

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