Chicken, Pancetta & Mushroom 'Pasta'

I love pasta dishes. When I went to college I could whip up a surprisingly good pasta bake with pretty much anything I found in the cupboard. Lasagne, ravioli, tagliatelle... I love it all and it's been one of the hardest things to cut out.

I've been making this chicken & pancetta dish for years and with the recent cold weather I seriously needed some familiar comfort food. This time, instead of pasta, I used thinly sliced and boiled celeriac to hold onto the sauce and bulk up the dish.

Celeraic is a great vegetable, mild in taste and low in carbohydrate (there's about 7g net carbs per 100g).  I'm looking forward to figuring out some other uses for it!

Ingredients (Serves 2 Hungry Low Carbers)

4 Diced Chicken Fillets
100g Diced Pancetta (you can use regular bacon rashers if you prefer)
250ml Double Cream
1 Diced White Onion
6 Sliced Mushrooms
1 Chicken Stock Cube (Kallo do a great gluten and lactose free one!)
50g Grated Parmesan
Garlic Granules
Salt & Black Pepper To Taste

100g Celeraic, peeled and sliced into 1cm strips

Method

1. Fry the pancetta in a small amount of oil (I use coconut oil) over a high heat until it's just about to turn crispy, then set aside.

2. Turn down the heat to medium. Using the grease from the pancetta, fry the onion until translucent. Add the mushrooms and fry until slightly soft. You'll be letting the whole dish simmer later so you don't want to overcook at this stage. Set aside.

3. Still using the same frying pan (you might need to add a little more oil at this stage),  add the diced chicken and begin to fry over a medium heat. Crumble in the chicken stock cube and continue to fry until the chicken begins to brown.

4. Add your pancetta, onions and mushrooms back into the pan and fry together for 5 minutes, stirring all the time.

5. Turn the heat down low and pour in the double cream. Mix well and allow to simmer for a minute.

6. Add in the parmesan, garlic granules and salt and black pepper to taste. If you want to use fresh garlic instead of the granules, add half a crushed clove when frying the onion. Stir well so the cheese melts into the cream.

7. Let the whole mixture simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

8. Now for the 'pasta'. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and add in the celeriac slices. Bring it back up to the boil and allow to simmer. I think it works best when the celeriac is slightly al dente- that takes about 10 minutes.

9. Drain the celeraic slices and toss with the chicken and pancetta so they are well coated with sauce. Serve!

This is a low carb dish, but I'm not your momma- if you're trying to control your net carb count do your own math!

Easy Low Carb Breakfast Muffins

These keto breakfast muffins are so simple to make and really tasty to boot! If you've read the blog before you'll know that I'm always trying to find new ways to eat eggs. I hate eggs. But I love these muffins.

This is what I like to think of as the 'classic' recipe, but you can pretty much fill them to suit your taste. They're also a great way of using up leftovers or those odds and ends in the fridge which are about to go off.

This recipe makes six muffins, which S and I love to eat warm on a Sunday morning. You can equally make them ahead of time and grab one on your way out to work in the morning- keto breakfasts can be a time-consuming affair. They'll keep for a day or two in an airtight container.

Ingredients (makes 6 muffins)

6 slices of pancetta

2 eggs

1/2 a white onion, finely diced

3/4 cup of double cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 cup of grated cheddar cheese

Method

Preheat the oven to 220/430 degrees and grease your muffin tray with a spray oil.

1. Heat a little oil or butter in a frying pan- I used ghee- and fry off your pancetta slices.

2. When crispy, set aside and saute the onions in the bacon grease.

3. Chop the pancetta into small pieces and mix with the onions. Evenly distribute the mixture into the muffin tray.

4. In a bowl, break the two eggs and add the cream and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

5. Pour the mixture into the muffin trays, covering the pancetta and onion.

6. Top with grated cheddar cheese.

7. Bake in your preheated oven for 15 minutes et voilà!

Get creative with your fillings and try adding mushrooms, peppers or chorizo! If you like your food on the spicy side, sprinkling some chili flakes into the egg mixture will add a nice kick.

Carb Count: With the ingredients I used, these muffins work out at a very respectable 1.5g net carbs each. If you're watching your carb count, make sure to do your own math.