Italian Food - Indulge!

Love Italian food but hate the calories? Take heart - there are ways to have some popular Italian food and eat it, too!

It is true that Italian foods can be very high in calories. Take garlic bread as a prime example. Most restaurants serve an eight-ounce piece of garlic bread with their dinners. This is the equivalent of seven slices of white bread and 40 grams of fat, which comes from the butter, olive oil and cheese. Another example - antipasto. This tallies up a whopping 47 grams of fat and more sodium than is recommended for an entire day.

As stated, however, this doesn't mean you have to give up Italian food all together. There is some healthy menu choices available to you. Put them into practice and enjoy!

Let's begin with the bread and butter. If you can, pass on this entirely. If you just can't pass it up, allow yourself one small slice and then move the breadbasket and the butter out of your reach.

Since you now know the calorie and fat content of garlic bread, skip this part of the meal. It may be hard the first few times, but eventually you'll do so easily. Just remember that there are 40 grams of fat sitting there. That fact in itself should be reason enough to pass on it. Think of your heart and do it a huge favor!

Go ahead and enjoy pizza. The key here is in knowing how to eat it and/or prepare it. Start off with a thin crust pizza. The deeper a crust is the higher the calories and carbohydrates are. Also avoid stuffed crusts. They are stuffed all right - with fat and calories and furthermore, there is enough food on a pizza without sticking more in the crust of it. Instead of fatty pepperoni, spice up the pizza with red pepper flakes. You'll save yourself oodles of fat and calories and still get the taste of a savory spice.

Here are some more pizza toppings that complement your pizza and keep it reasonable in calories, fat and flavor along with making it much healthier for you.

Black olives
Broccoli
Garlic
Grilled chicken
Feta cheese
Green Peppers
Roasted Red Peppers
Lean Ham
Mushrooms
Onions
Shrimp
Spinach
Tomatoes

If you make a pizza at home, use low to non-fat cheeses. They've come a long way and the Mozzarella is excellent. A combination of low-fat or non-fat cheese is good on top of a homemade pizza, too. Cheddar and Mozzarella make an excellent pair atop a pizza. For the sauce on your pizza, use tomato sauce, or if ordering from a restaurant request it. Some good ones to try are:

Bolognese
Light wine
Mushroom sauce
Marinara
Primavera without the cream
Red or white clam sauce

Restaurants serve pasta and pizza dishes in a size that is equal to two servings. Either share one dish with someone, settle for a side order as your main meal, or ask for a container to put half in before the dinner comes and take the rest home with you. You'll get two meals out of your order and a huge break in calories.

Unfortunately, Lasagna, manicotti, cannelloni, stuffed shells and ravioli are high in calories and fat and should be avoided in restaurants. What you can do, however, is learn to cook these dishes for yourself so you can control the ingredients, drastically reducing fat and calories while still getting the yummy taste. Learning how to do this isn't too difficult and should be something you put into practice with all your cooking and baking to achieve permanent weight loss goals anyway.

Recipes:

Red Italian Vinaigrette
Ingredients
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon minced onion
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a jar; cover tightly and shake vigorously. Chill.
Recipe makes 1-1/2 cup vinaigrette.
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Quick Italian Chicken and Rice
Ingredients:
Combine:
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
One clove minced garlic
1-tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet; cook three minutes.

Add:
Two cans of (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano - do not drain - and three Boil-in-Bags prepared (use package directions) rice. Cook three minutes on medium-high heat. Stir in cooked rice, 1-cup grated Parmesan cheese and 2-cups diced, cooked chicken; heat through.
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Veal Gorgonzola
Juicy veal cutlets with a tangy Gorgonzola sauce are a perfect marriage of ingredients typical of the Lombardy region of northern Italy, where lush green pastures, fresh mountain air and cool streams produce excellent dairy products and wonderful veal. Gorgonzola is a cow's milk cheese named for the town of Gorgonzola in Lombardy. Like its cousins Roquefort and Stilton, it has a piquant flavor and blue veining produced by mold spores that age with the cheese. You can find domestic Gorgonzola, crumbled and ready to use in the supermarket. The veal and pasta take just minutes to make.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons flour
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Two, 6-ounce veal cutlets
Olive oil spray
1/2 cup skim milk
2-1/2 tablespoons crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Directions:
Place flour on plate and season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip veal in flour, coating both sides; shake off extra.
Heat small, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and spray with olive oil. Brown cutlets one at a time, two minutes on the first side, one minute on the second. Transfer to serving dish; season with salt and pepper. Add milk to skillet and scrape up brown bits on bottom, about 30 seconds. Add Gorgonzola and stir to melt. Taste; add pepper if desired. Spoon over cutlets and serve.
Notes: It is best to use a skillet that just fits the veal in one layer. If it is too big, the sauce will evaporate.
Serving Suggestions: Serve with the following recipe, Fresh Linguine with Sweet Pimentos. Creamy Gorgonzola calls for a big red wine such as Merlot.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories: 445
Carbohydrates: 12.9g
Protein: 46.6g
Total Fat: 20.5
Saturated Fat: 12.2g
Cholesterol: 147mg
Fiber: 0
Sodium: 291mg
Calories from fat: 41%
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Fresh Linguine with Sweet Pimentos
Ingredients:
3 ounces spinach linguine
1 teaspoon olive oil
3/4 cup drained sweet pimento, cut into 1/4-inch strips
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Cook linguine in boiling water, three minutes if fresh, nine minutes if dried. Drain and return to pot with about 2-tablespoons cooking water. Add oil and pimento; season to taste. Toss well.
Recipe makes two servings.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories: 161
Carbohydrates: 28.2
Protein: 4.2g
Total Fat: 2.9g
Saturated Fat: 0.4g
Cholesterol: 0
Fiber: 1.5g
Calories from fat: 16%
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Easy Spinach Lasagna
Source: AICR
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, or to taste
1-1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded or grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
One egg
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano, or to taste
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
4-5 cups low fat prepared marinara sauce, divided
12 pieces dry, oven-ready lasagna noodles
1/4-1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley or basil, for garnish (optional)
Additional marinara sauce to serve with lasagna (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Take from the oven; cut butter into bits and add to them. Stir until it has just melted and pecans are coated. Return to the oven and toast for about 10 minutes more.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion turns opaque, three to four minutes.
Stir in spinach and nutmeg. Cook, stirring, until liquid is absorbed, about three minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove and spread into a shallow dish. Let cool about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella, egg, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
Measure and set aside 1-cup of marinara sauce. From the remaining sauce, pour enough into a 7-1/2 x 12 x 1-3/4-inch baking pan to cover bottom. Cover with three uncooked lasagna noodles. Sprinkle noodles with salt and pepper, if desired. Top with 1/3 of the spinach, followed by 1/3 of the cheese mixture. Repeat layering to use all the noodles. Pour reserved marinara sauce over top to cover. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover dish with foil and bake 40 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until noodles are cooked through, about five minutes.
Let cool slightly. Cut into 12 sections and serve. If desired, garnish with parsley or basil, and serve with additional sauce on the side.
Lasagna can be frozen up to four weeks. Tightly wrap cooled pan of lasagna in foil, then seal tightly in a plastic bag. Defrost in an oven preheated to 350-degrees, or in a microwave, until completely hot throughout.
Nutritional information per serving:
Calories: 227
Total Fat: 9g
Saturated Fat: 3g
Carbohydrate: 27g
Protein: 12g
Fiber: 2g
Sodium: 679
Diabetic Exchanges: 2 Vegetable, 1-1/2 Starch, 1-1/2 Fat
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