Italian Sausage Turnip Loaf

After seeing a recipe for a scalloped potato loaf with ground beef I just had to come up with a low carb. version. I had ground chicken breast not ground beef and both Mozzarella and Provolone cheese in the fridge so I changed this to an Italian flavored loaf by adding some Penzey's Italian Sausage Seasoning blend. I switched sliced turnips for the potatoes to bring the carbs down. I wanted a bit of "starch" stickiness to help the turnips stick like potato slices would so I tossed them with some gluccie powder but feel free to use xanthan gum if you don't have gluccie.

This was a little wet straight from the oven but letting it cool helped thicken it up. If you are impatient or hungry, feel free to scoop it out of the pan and eat it immediately.

Italian Sausage Turnip Loaf 22 oz turnips, peeled 1/2 tsp. glucomannan powder or xanthan gum 2 tsp. olive oil 1 lb. ground chicken breast seasoned with 1 tablespoon Italian sausage seasoning or 1 lb. lean bulk Italian sausage. 1/2 cup chopped onion 1-1/8 cups , drain after measuring. 1/4 tsp. unrefined sea salt 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper 4 cup. baby spinach leaves 6 slices part skim Mozzarella cheese* (23 gm each) 7 slices Asiago cheese* (18 gm each) 2 tbsp. Chopped parsley for garnish 1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Spray parchment and sides with cooking spray. Using a mandoline or food processor, thinly slice the turnips. Toss with gluccie powder or xanthan gum. Set aside. 2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the Italian sausage and onion; cook for 7 minutes until the meat is no longer pink, breaking it up as it cooks. Stir in the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Add spinach, cook just until wilted, gently mixing it in to aid in wilting. 3. Arrange overlapping turnip slices on the bottom of the pan so the entire bottom is covered. Line the perimeter of the pan with overlapping turnip slices. Place 2 slices of mozzarella over the bottom layer of turnips. Cut 5 slices of mozzarella in half. Place 2 half slices of cheese against the turnips on both of the longer sides of the pan and one half on both of the shorter sides. Place one half in each of the corners of the pan. Spread ⅓ of the sausage mixture on top of the cheese. Arrange another layer of overlapping turnip slices over the sausage mixture. Place 2 more slices of cheese on top of the turnips. Continue layer turnip slices, sausage and cheese ending with a layer of turnips. 4. Bake 70-90 minutes or until turnips are tender. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes; loosen sides and flip onto a plate. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired and cut into 8 slices. 5. *I used both kinds of cheese but you can use all Mozzarella or all Asiago if you want to. Servings: 8 Nutrition Facts Serving size: 1/8 of a recipe (8.1 ounces). Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet. Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients. Amount Per Serving Calories 212.62 Total Fat 10g Saturated Fat 5.06g Cholesterol 61.39mg Sodium 502.73mg Potassium 561.64mg Total Carbohydrates 9.28g Fiber 2.76g Sugar 4.77g Protein 21.71g