Low Carb Mushroom & Gorgonzola Lasagna. 4g carbs for a delicious pasta dish. Sounds unreal but it is true!
A very rich and satisfying meal that is keto-perfect and uncomplicated to make. Yet, so scrumptious it could definitely be on offer in a Michelin-star restaurant.
Despite the absence of meat of any kind, you’re looking at a hefty ketogenic meal. Best served with just a few salad leaves on the side and enjoyed when you’re really hungry. Mushrooms, Gorgonzola, Mascarpone and cream, together with egg-based pasta sheets, make it a macronutrient-filled and satisfying meal indeed. Trust me when I promise you that you will not want dessert after this!
The King of Blue Cheeses.
Let’s talk about Gorgonzola for a minute. It belongs to the blue cheese family and is one of the famed Italian dairy products which include Parmigiano, Pecorino, Ricotta, Mascarpone and Mozzarella. Its characteristic blue veins are the result of mould spores. It may sound gross, but blue veined cheeses are delicious. Once upon a time, artisan cheese-makers would let Gorgonzola cheese ripen in damp caves, and mould spores would naturally infiltrate the cheese, which would develop green veins. Nowadays, however, specific mould spores are injected in the cheese curds to ensure consistency of colonisation as it matures, and the veins are blue.
Here is an interesting – albeit utterly useless – fact: the London Stock Exchange has the nickname ‘Gorgonzola Hall’ because the marble floor is reminiscent of the veins in the cheese.
If you think of blue cheese as smelling like sweaty old socks, you’re absolutely right. It is the aging process that develops both the flavour and the smell, so the more matured the Gorgonzola, the more odorous and spicy it becomes. If you come across ‘Gorgonzola Piccante’ or ‘Mountain Gorgonzola’ be prepared for an unforgettable sensory experience.
For this Low Carb Mushroom & Gorgonzola Lasagna, you want to use ‘Gorgonzola Dolce’. It’s basically a cheese that was allowed to mature for about 3 months, so it’s creamy, sweet and mild. A matured Gorgonzola would have a crumbly texture and be way too overpowering for this recipe.
As an alternative, you could use Dolcelatte, another Italian blue cheese that is absolutely divine. Again, you should opt for the younger, creamier and less potent variety. Even with the milder blue cheese options, this dish retains a strong overall flavour, so choose your blue cheese cautiously.
In case you can’t stop thinking about sweaty old socks …hee-hee, be thankful that I didn’t ask you to use Casu Marzu cheese to make this recipe….! Check this video of Gordon Ramsey eating it. Would you try it?…
How To Make Low Carb Mushroom & Gorgonzola Lasagna.
A couple of weeks ago I posted my Queenketo Low Carb Pasta #2 recipe for lasagna sheets. You’ll need to get those baked before you do anything else. But fear not, as it’s very easy and very quick – just a few minutes in the oven and you’ll have the best keto lasagna sheets ever. If you can make them in advance (only half the recipe is required), you’ll save yourself a bit of time.
Sauté the mushrooms, make the cheesy sauce, and grate the Parmigiano (use a wedge of fresh Parmigiano Reggiano, rather than the rubbish pre-grated varieties). Then build the lasagna layers and bake.
I sprinkle pieces of Pecan nuts over the top of my Low Carb Mushroom & Gorgonzola Lasagna, just to add a bit of crunch – but it’s entirely optional.
Enjoy!
- Yield: 2
- Serving: ½
- Calories: 1132
- Fat: 98g
- Net Carbs: 4g
- Protein: 47g
- 250g (1/2 recipe) queenketo pasta #2 lasagna sheets
- 250g closed cup chestnut mushrooms
- 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) (U.S. option HERE)
- 2 TBSP (a handful) of chopped fresh parsley
- 1 garlic clove (minced)
- a sprinkle of organic broth granules
- fine Himalayan pink salt (U.S. option HERE)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 10g unsalted butter
- 80g Gorgonzola dolce (creamy, sweet variety)
- 100g Mascarpone
- 100g double cream
- ½ tsp guar gum (U.S. option HERE)
- 100g fresh Parmigiano Reggiano
- (optional) a few crushed pecan nuts (U.S. option HERE)
- cut lasagna sheets so that you have 4 equal layers ready to stack.
- wash, dry and thinly slice mushrooms.
- pour EVOO in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat, and add sliced mushrooms, minced garlic, broth granules, salt and pepper;
- sauté 5-8 mins until all water has evaporated, and set aside.
- in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter then whisk in guar gum until smooth; add Gorgonzola, Mascarpone and cream and stir until melted and hot (don't worry if a few Gorgonzola lumps remain).
- combine mushrooms and cream sauce, and incorporate chopped parsley.
- pre-heat oven to 200C fan (220C static).
- grate the Parmigiano, placing 40g in one small bowl and 60g in another.
- lightly butter your lasagna/casserole bakeware and place the first layer (1/4) of pasta sheets at the bottom; spoon ¼ of the mushroom sauce (about 4 TBSP) over the pasta layer, then sprinkle ⅓ (20g) of the grated Parmesan from the 60g bowl.
- repeat twice more, then finish the 4th layer by topping with the remaining 40g of Parmesan.
- bake for 15 mins, then remove from oven, rest for 10 minutes and scatter chopped pecan nuts (optional) before serving.
Store covered and refrigerated for max 3 days. If freezing, assemble the dish but do not bake it until ready to use.
Metric kitchen scales are an inexpensive yet invaluable gadget to enable accurate measurement of ingredients. Store them upright in a cupboard or over your worktop and they'll only take up a tiny bit of space. Click HERE for the ones I use. For U.S. option click HERE.
BTW, just wanted to share that I truly appreciate your blog, and am also a crusader for low carb. I lost 120 pounds (or about 8.6 stone) 11 years ago, and have never looked back, nor gained back. Low carb has saved my life, and it’s wonderful what you are doing to spread the word, and make the LC lifestyle accessible and ever so delicious.
Hi, Antya! I have both the pasta and the sauce made (I used wild mushrooms – porcini, shiitake and oyster) and I’m wondering if it’s OK to assemble the lasagna and refrigerate overnight, baking it the next day, or if I should refrigerate the sauce/pasta and assemble just before baking. Would the sauce become absorbed if it’s assembled early? Have you ever tried assembling a day in advance?
Hi Cat, so sorry about the late reply – my bots identified your message as spam (doh!) and I’ve only just seen it. I’ve not tried assembling in advance. I would just part-bake it and finish it on the day. I’ve done that several times with no detriment to consistency or flavour. Hope I’m not too late. Sorry again.
It was no problem at all, Antya! When I didn’t see a response, I made an “executive decision” to go ahead and give it a try, assembling it a day before and refrigerating. It couldn’t have worked better. I just took it out of the fridge about 2 hours in advance in order to allow it to warm back up, then baked it. Worked perfectly,
Additionally, I used dry white wine and dry Marsala, which I evaporated with the mushrooms, and julienned about 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves to stir into the sauce at the end. Instead of the more common variety of mushrooms, I replaced them with oyster, porcini, and shiitake. Additionally, I thickened with glucomannan, which I’ve found to have less potential to make your sauce “gloopy” (for lack of a better word) than do gums.
At the end, I spritzed just a bit of fresh lemon juice to cut the unctuousness. The flavor was mind-blowingly phenomenal.
The next time, I look forward to trying it with your lupin flour pasta, just to observe the difference.
Outstanding recipe, wonderfully creative concept. Take a bow!
Wow Cat! That’s impressive, truly well done! You sound like a ‘foodie’ who knows a thing or two about food science and flavours, so I’m humbled by your laudatory comments. Love your mushroom choices, by the way: oyster, porcini and shiitake are my preferred fungi. However, they’re much higher in carbs content than plain old white or brown button mushrooms, hence why I didn’t use them here. But yes, way to go! Thank you for taking the time to leave your comments. Always appreciated.
Well, Antya, I’m a retired (and recovering!) chef and food journalist, if that counts. As a student of culinary theory, there are never any fewer than 100 random thoughts of how to vary ingredients in order to make them taste as I conceive of them, rolling around in my scattered brain. That’s why I can spot creative culinary abilities at twenty paces. And you have it in spades!!!
I was not aware that mushrooms varied that significantly in carb content from one variety to another. Will have to get up to speed on that. In any case, the lasagna didn’t knock me out of ketosis, but it should be noted that since it was so rich and satisfying, I only had a very small piece, and couldn’t even finish that. Maybe that’s why The ketostix never registered a lower ketone level. Thanks for the heads-up about differing carb counts on varietal mushrooms. Time to study up!