Italian turkey-eggplant stacks

“The trouble with eating Italian food is that 5 or 6 days later you’re hungry again.” ~George Miller, British writer

Admittedly, Italian food can be … filling. Rich. Luscious. Delicious.

I love it. Sofia Loren loves it. She said, “Everything you see, I owe to pasta.”

I love that she is happy with her curves and is not like so many women in popular culture today who are trying to be a size 0. Healthy is good, moderation is good. A little meat on the bones is good. 🙂

I have always been partial to pasta. I’d rather eat a big bowl of pasta than a big bowl of ice cream! It’s wonderful.

However, when I start feeling that I need to lose a few pounds, it is one of the things I have to cut back on for awhile.

Not so I can be a size 0. That will never happen; just so I can be healthy and feel strong.

Right now I’m working on just that; I’d like to lose about 10 pounds, and I’ve cut out pasta. I’m eating small portions of brown rice and quinoa and things like that, instead, for the time being.

I decided tonight to make a low-carb Italian dinner for myself tonight, as I was alone at home and hungry for those wonderful flavors.

I ended up with a recipe that included ground turkey, eggplant, mushrooms, and roasted tomatoes, all topped with shredded Grana Padano. If you have parmesan, you can use that as a substitute.

Here’s the recipe:

Mama Steph’s turkey-eggplant stacks

Ingredients:

1/2 medium eggplant, cut into 3/4 to 1 inch slices (5 or 6 slices)

4 Roma tomatoes, sliced lengthwise into about four slices each

6-7 whole mushrooms, sliced into 4 slices each (or more, if you’d like)

small can of tomato sauce (8oz)

Spices: oregano, basil, parsley, fennel seed, garlic powder

salt and pepper

1 pound ground turkey

Method:

On a baking sheet with a lip, drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil and spread across baking surface.

Place sliced eggplant and tomatoes on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with the spices and salt and pepper.

Place baking sheet under the broiler. Broil for five minutes, then turn all veggies over and broil for five minutes more. Remove from oven.

In a medium mixing bowl, place ground turkey, 3/4 teaspoon salt and pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, 3/4 tsp each basil and oregano.

Form the turkey into 6-8 thin patties. Place in preheated nonstick skillet, and cook 3-4 minutes on each side over medium heat.

Remove from skillet. Wipe skillet out carefully with paper towel, and then put back on burner.

Add tomato sauce to the skillet, and season to taste with the Italian seasonings and salt and pepper.

Warm the sauce, and add the mushrooms. Simmer for a couple of minutes. Then add the eggplant and tomatoes to sauce. Let heat through in the sauce. Taste for seasoning.

On a small plate, place one cooked and seasoned turkey patty.

Top the patty with one slice of eggplant, a couple of tomato slices, and a drizzle of the tomato sauce.

Grate parmesan or Grana Padano over the stack and sprinkle with parsley. Serves about 4.

Enjoy!