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!

Low Carb Fries (Chips)

Sometimes you really just need a big pile of fries to make a meal perfect. But with 15g of carbohydrates per 100g of potato, it's not an option for someone eating a low carb diet. Enter the turnip. With just over 4g of carbs per 100g, it's the perfect option for making a crispy serving of keto-friendly chips.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Turnip? Ew. Your Mum made you eat it mashed with boiled ham and soggy potatoes on Sundays. Gross.
I'm not going to lie to you- they don't taste exactly like potato chips. Hold on, don't leave yet- hear me out!

The cinnamon takes some of the turnipyness away, while the parmesan and oil give the chips a lovely crisp coating. Each one is a treat to bite into, particularly when you haven't had potato fries in months. Trust me, try these once and you'll never look back.

Serve with a juicy steak or, if you're really looking for some comfort food, a gorgeous cheese-filled beef burger.

Ingredients
1 Turnip
3 Tablespoons Dried Grated Cheese (I used Castelli which is a mixture of hard cheeses)
2 Tablespoons Fresh Grated Parmesan (I used this one from Tesco)
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/390F.

2. Chop the turnip into chunky chip-size slices, about a half an inch thick. Place in a mixing bowl.

3. Coat evenly with about a tablespoon of olive oil. For easy all-over coating, I love this Filippo Berio spray.

4. In a separate bowl, mix the cinnamon, dried cheese, parmesan and a pinch each of salt and pepper.

5. Sprinkle about half the mixture over the turnip pieces and stir so the seasoning is well distributed. Add the other half and mix again. Try to make sure each fry has an even coating.

6. Space out evenly on a grease-proof sheet or baking tray, and place in the oven for 30 minutes, turning once during cooking. Once the fries have turned a lovely golden brown and crispy they are ready to come out.

7. While the chips are still hot, sprinkle over with a pinch or two of salt. Adding the salt while the oil is still hot allows it to cling easier to the fries, and makes them taste extra delicious.

Serve!