Uploaded January 2017 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
No fishing today. The lake is covered by thin ice, and the winds are howling! I’m stuck inside today. So let’s cook. You know what I miss most on my low-carb diet is pasta. I found a new low-carb recipe for gnocchi that I just have to try! It’s much like pasta and I like it at least as much! See below for the recipes.
Juanelo’s Mother’s Pasta (Tomato) Sauce with Pork:
• 1½ LB. of pork spareribs (pork neck bones also work well)
• Garlic powder
• Salt (very little) and pepper
• Olive oil (enough to cover bottom of a pot)
• 5 to 10 cloves of garlic
3 large (29 oz.) cans of Hunts Tomato Sauce
• 4 ounces of red wine
• 1½ white onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of basil pesto (homemade or store bought)
• 1 teaspoon of sugar or artificial sweetener equivalent
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional)
Trim fat from the pork if you wish. Sprinkle pork with garlic powder, a small amount of salt, and freshly ground pepper. Add olive oil to pot. Heat oil on low and toast the cloves until light brown, but do not burn them. Discard the garlic cloves, turn the heat up on the oil to medium, then add the pork to the pot. Brown the pork on each side. Remove the pork to a clean dish and set aside.
Into the flavored oil, pour the 3 cans of Hunts Tomato Sauce. Rinse out the sauce cans with the wine and add that to the sauce too. Turn the heat down and allow the sauce to simmer slowly. The sauce must cook for the next four hours from the time it first begins to simmer. Stir the sauce every 10 minutes. Do not let the sauce burn to the bottom of the pot. Once simmering, add the chopped onion, pesto, sweetener, oregano and red pepper flakes. Cover the pot but allow some steam to escape by offsetting the lid. After the sauce has simmered for 2 hours, add the pork into the sauce. Also add any browned meatballs you may have prepared. Continue the simmering for another 2 hours.
Juanelo’s Mother’s Easy Meatball Recipe:
• 1 to 1¼ LB. of ground chuck
• 2 eggs
• ⅓ cup plus 1 TBS. of bread crumbs (unseasoned or seasoned)
• ⅓ cup plus 1 TBS. of parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper (very little salt, as the meatballs contain parmesan)
1 Tablespoon of basil pesto
• Olive oil (enough to cover bottom of a frying pan to a depth of about ½ inch)
Make sure your hands are moist. In a large mixing bowl work with your fingers the ground chuck and the next five ingredients until all ingredients are evenly incorporated. When completely blended, shape the meat into round balls of about 1½ inches in diameter. Place on a clean dish. Recipe makes from 14 to 20 meatballs.
Heat the frying pan with olive oil to medium-high. Place the meatballs in the oil and brown them until outside is browned. Continually turn each meatball around as they fry to brown them as evenly as possible. Remove meatballs to a clean dish.
Add meatballs to tomato sauce for the last 2 hours of simmering.
Juanelo’s Low-Carb Gnocchi:
(Inspired by Laura Dolson’s Low-Carb Gnocchi: verywell.com/low-carb-gnocchi-2242179)
Ingredients:
1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained (wrung out)
1 15 or 16 oz. container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt for the gnocchi
1 teaspoon of salt for the pot of water
½ teaspoon pepper
pinch nutmeg
1 egg
2 cups Carb Counter Instant Mashers (or potato flakes if not worried about carbs)
¼ cup of low-carb flour (or regular all purpose flour)
Preparation:
1) Wring out of the spinach by squeezing it inside a mesh strainer. Put spinach in food processor with steel blade. Process a few seconds to break down the spinach.
2) Add ricotta cheese, salt and spices. Process with the spinach. Taste for flavor and salt content.
3) Add egg and process to blend.
4) Add Instant Mashers (or potato flakes) ¼ cup at a time, and process until blended.
5) If necessary to make a workable dough add ¼ cup of flour to the processor. You want the mixture to be stiff enough to roll into small balls that keep their shape.
6) Roll mixture into small balls, ¾ inch in diameter. Gently roll on the back of a fork to make grooves if you’d like.
Chill the gnocchi 1 hour in the freezer. Bring at least 3 quarts of water with the teaspoon of salt just to a boil in a large pot. Just a simmer is good. Put them into the water, up to 20 at a time. When they rise to the surface they are done - remove and drain well. You can use any sauce you want.
No fishing today. The lake is covered by thin ice, and the winds are howling! I’m stuck inside today. So let’s cook. You know what I miss most on my low-carb diet is pasta. I found a new low-carb recipe for gnocchi that I just have to try! It’s much like pasta and I like it at least as much! See below for the recipes.
Juanelo’s Mother’s Pasta (Tomato) Sauce with Pork:
• 1½ LB. of pork spareribs (pork neck bones also work well)
• Garlic powder
• Salt (very little) and pepper
• Olive oil (enough to cover bottom of a pot)
• 5 to 10 cloves of garlic
3 large (29 oz.) cans of Hunts Tomato Sauce
• 4 ounces of red wine
• 1½ white onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of basil pesto (homemade or store bought)
• 1 teaspoon of sugar or artificial sweetener equivalent
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional)
Trim fat from the pork if you wish. Sprinkle pork with garlic powder, a small amount of salt, and freshly ground pepper. Add olive oil to pot. Heat oil on low and toast the cloves until light brown, but do not burn them. Discard the garlic cloves, turn the heat up on the oil to medium, then add the pork to the pot. Brown the pork on each side. Remove the pork to a clean dish and set aside.
Into the flavored oil, pour the 3 cans of Hunts Tomato Sauce. Rinse out the sauce cans with the wine and add that to the sauce too. Turn the heat down and allow the sauce to simmer slowly. The sauce must cook for the next four hours from the time it first begins to simmer. Stir the sauce every 10 minutes. Do not let the sauce burn to the bottom of the pot. Once simmering, add the chopped onion, pesto, sweetener, oregano and red pepper flakes. Cover the pot but allow some steam to escape by offsetting the lid. After the sauce has simmered for 2 hours, add the pork into the sauce. Also add any browned meatballs you may have prepared. Continue the simmering for another 2 hours.
Juanelo’s Mother’s Easy Meatball Recipe:
• 1 to 1¼ LB. of ground chuck
• 2 eggs
• ⅓ cup plus 1 TBS. of bread crumbs (unseasoned or seasoned)
• ⅓ cup plus 1 TBS. of parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper (very little salt, as the meatballs contain parmesan)
1 Tablespoon of basil pesto
• Olive oil (enough to cover bottom of a frying pan to a depth of about ½ inch)
Make sure your hands are moist. In a large mixing bowl work with your fingers the ground chuck and the next five ingredients until all ingredients are evenly incorporated. When completely blended, shape the meat into round balls of about 1½ inches in diameter. Place on a clean dish. Recipe makes from 14 to 20 meatballs.
Heat the frying pan with olive oil to medium-high. Place the meatballs in the oil and brown them until outside is browned. Continually turn each meatball around as they fry to brown them as evenly as possible. Remove meatballs to a clean dish.
Add meatballs to tomato sauce for the last 2 hours of simmering.
Juanelo’s Low-Carb Gnocchi:
(Inspired by Laura Dolson’s Low-Carb Gnocchi: verywell.com/low-carb-gnocchi-2242179)
Ingredients:
1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained (wrung out)
1 15 or 16 oz. container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt for the gnocchi
1 teaspoon of salt for the pot of water
½ teaspoon pepper
pinch nutmeg
1 egg
2 cups Carb Counter Instant Mashers (or potato flakes if not worried about carbs)
¼ cup of low-carb flour (or regular all purpose flour)
Preparation:
1) Wring out of the spinach by squeezing it inside a mesh strainer. Put spinach in food processor with steel blade. Process a few seconds to break down the spinach.
2) Add ricotta cheese, salt and spices. Process with the spinach. Taste for flavor and salt content.
3) Add egg and process to blend.
4) Add Instant Mashers (or potato flakes) ¼ cup at a time, and process until blended.
5) If necessary to make a workable dough add ¼ cup of flour to the processor. You want the mixture to be stiff enough to roll into small balls that keep their shape.
6) Roll mixture into small balls, ¾ inch in diameter. Gently roll on the back of a fork to make grooves if you’d like.
Chill the gnocchi 1 hour in the freezer. Bring at least 3 quarts of water with the teaspoon of salt just to a boil in a large pot. Just a simmer is good. Put them into the water, up to 20 at a time. When they rise to the surface they are done - remove and drain well. You can use any sauce you want.
