Low-fat/fat-free taste

[catwoman]

Well, we had lasagna last night that I made using whole-wheat lasagna noodles, fat-free ricotta & mozzarella, etc. I used real Parmesan (the pricey Regiano stuff) and some real mozzarella on the top. Used ground buffalo & Glen Muir Portabello pasta sauce.

I added quite a bit of dried basil leaves & some Splenda to the sauce to kick it up a little.

But the ricotta was bland. If I switch to part-skim ricotta, it might have more flavor, since fat gives flavor to foods. But I would prefer NOT to add more fat.

Any suggestions?

I wish I had some software on calculating nutritional values & calories of recipes. I used to use Weight Watchers' e-Tools, but dropped it because many ingredients weren't in its database.

BTW, the buffalo is much leaner (3g fat/3.5 oz), lower in cholesterol (40mg) and calories (120) than beef or chicken. I had to go to the net to find nutritional data for buffalo (bison).

When I get the recipe nailed down pat, I'll share it!

 

[PJmomrunner]

Hi Marsha:

I use a lot of fresh garlic to kick up the flavor in things fat free and there is a product made by Morningstar Farms, available in the freezer section, called veggie crumbles that is a ground meat substitute. It comes in two flavors, "Grillers Recipe" which is beef-like, and "Sausage Recipe" which tastes like italian sausage. The italian sausage flavor is particularly good and would work well with your lasagna, if you like lasagna with sausage flavor. (You could go half and half with the buffalo maybe. It's really easy to use because you don't have to brown it or anything--just layer it in frozen or add it to sauce) It is pretty high in sodium unfortunately, but even used sparingly it adds a lot of flavor. You didn't ask, but a trick to get the non-fat cheeses to brown on the top is to spray the top with Pam. (Spray the foil too and it won't stick to the cheese--especially important if you are using that precious parmesan on the top--all that nice flavor won't peel off.)