Sausage Tortilla Casserole
This little dish came together very quickly for lunch today. Not many ingredients but plenty of Mexican flavor. When I saw that had exactly 8 oz. homemade pork sausage, 1 leek and 1/2 of a large yellow squash in my refrigerator, I wanted to create a dish just use these use up. I have to admit, the final result was quite tasty! I’ll definitely do this recipe again! You could substitute ground beef into this recipe with a tasty result as well. This will make 3 nice servings but with the corn tortilla in it, it’s a bit carby. If you’re at maintenance and can afford the extra 3 carbs, I’d use TWO corn tortillas in this. I use La Banderita corn tortillas, on the rare occasion I add them to a recipe. They run 9 net carbs per 6″ tortilla. If you’d prefer not to use tortillas or just can’t afford those carbs today, chop up a little baby corn into this dish instead to drop the carb count. This dish is not suitable until Atkins Pre-Maintenance or Maintenance. This dish would not be suitable for Paleo or Primal tables.
INGREDIENTS:
8 oz. lean ground pork or bulk pork sausage
1 leek, sliced lengthwise, washed of all dirt and sliced
5 oz. yellow squash, diced
¼ c. red bell pepper, diced
3 sprigs chopped cilantro
Sprinkle chili powder
1 corn tortilla, sliced into quite small pieces
6 oz. Cheddar cheese grated, or a mixture of American and Cheddar
DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º. In a non-stick skillet, brown sausage or ground pork until no longer pink. Add chopped squash, red pepper and saute a few minutes, stirring frequently. Add sliced leeks and continue sauteing/stirring until veggies are done. Add cilantro, chili powder and sliced corn tortilla. Stir. I baked mine in the same skillet I sauteed it all in, but you can spoon up the casserole into a greased baking dish if you prefer. Top with the grated cheese and pop into 350º oven for about 20-minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with a guacamole salad on the side if you have avocados on hand. Sadly, today, I did not.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 3 servings, each contains:
414 calories
30.1 g fat
12.53 g carbs, 1.98 g fiber, 10.66 g NET CARBS
24.4 g protein
540 mg potassium
570 mg sodium
23% RDA Vitamin A, 36% B6, 43% B12, 37% C, 28% calcium, 15% copper, 23% iron, 16% magnesium, 16% manganese, 28% niacin, 59% phosphorous, 44% riboflavin, 49% selenium, 57% thiamin, 43% zinc
Yum! Easy and creative. I bet it would be good with a chicken sausage too for a lighter version!
Welcome, Britathere! You betcha chicken sausage would work in this. But it’s so mild in flavor, you might not taste the meat as much as with pork sausage. If you try that, I hope you’ll let me know how that comes out flavor-wise. I rarely buy chicken sausage since my low-fat eating is a thing of the past. But I might be tempted to try it again! I’ve seen it at Sam’s.
this is just a brilliant idea. as a 62 year old guy, i’m learning to cook low carb. i would not have thought of this and i love mexican dishes. so simple but fun and offers some variety. too often i end up just grilling a steak or hamburger with some vegetables along side. gets boring. thanks for posting this. i’ll serve it with a dollop of fat free greek yoghurt. that subs for sour cream perfectly.
Hope ya like this one, Frank! Both of us sure did. Sure was easy to make! We just love Mexican food flavors, too.