It was supposed to be a waffle….in fact, this waffle, only not so dry. But when my 25-year-old formerly non-stick waffle iron repeatedly failed on recipe attempts number two, three, and four, a savory very low-carb biscuit came into being. Our biscuit has about 2 grams of carbs when 26 are made per batch.  It turns out that lots of biscuits are easier to bake and more practical to rewarm than large waffles.

The recipe calls for a little less than a cup of cooked and seasoned ground pork and a cup or more of grated zucchini. We use only Pure Country Pork from Euphrata, WA. This farm received a Food Alliance Certification for its sustainable practices, they do not use corn feed, and the animals are free roaming.

Follow the directions in our Egg and Sausage Breakfast Rounds recipe for our pork seasoning or use your own. We brown an onion with the ground pork and add paprika, dried Italian seasoning (it’s a pretty common mix), some garlic powder and salt.  If you have cooked and seasoned ground pork already put away in the freezer from that recipe, great. Otherwise you can cook ¾ of a pound of the pork now and divide and save the other ½ pound (about 2 cups) for another day.

This low-carb biscuit is also packed with extra protein and fiber from the zucchini and the chickpea flour. Since the best biscuits are made with butter, so is ours. Only two tablespoons though, melted for an easier mix into our “flour.”  And because it was supposed to be a waffle, we have separated the eggs and whisked or beaten the egg whites for a lighter fluffier batter. All good waffle recipes use this technique. The biscuits freeze well.

Directions:
If you do not have leftover ground seasoned cooked pork, add your pork and diced onion to a skillet and cook completely. Season according to recipe or preference–you can do so after the pork has finished cooking so you can test taste it. Please refer to our directions in Egg and Sausage Breakfast Rounds (for cooking and seasoning ground pork. Remove from pan and set aside.

Heat oven to 425 degrees and line a sheet pan or cookie sheet with parchment. Biscuits should be baked in the top half of the oven, so I usually move my rack that I roast whole chickens on up one space.

Grate the zucchini and measure out 1 cup if you prefer a flatter biscuit as pictured at top of post, or 1 ½ cups grated if you want a more rounded biscuit, in which case you will roll the zucchini tightly in a clean tea towel to remove the excess water.  Once the water is removed you will be back to one cup, but it will be much more compact.
Measure ¾ cup of whole milk yogurt and add the tablespoon of vinegar to it, which will slightly curdle the yogurt giving it added flavor. Melt 2 T of butter and mix it with the 1 Tblsp of room temperature olive oil (but do not add it to the yogurt) and set aside.

In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients–the parmesan cheese, chickpea flour, and the whey or pea protein. Then add the baking soda and salt, if your pork wasn’t salted.

To the dry mixture add the grated zucchini and combine with a fork until the zucchini is mixed through.
Separate 2 eggs, placing the whites in a bowl deep enough to keep them from splattering if you are beating them with an electric mixer. The yolks can be added to the cup with the yogurt and vinegar. Give those a little mix with a fork. Now add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, along with the butter, and combine.

Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer or whisk until peaks begin to form. It’s more work with a whisk and they may not be as high or stiff as peaks with a mixer but they will be fine. My husband did it this way for years– it takes 2-3 minutes of very active work.

Once the peaks form, very gently fold the whites into the egg, yogurt, and “flour” batter using a wooden or rubber spoon and a swerving motion with your wrist. Do not over mix–a few tiny bits of the egg whites may still be visible.
Next, carefully add the sausage and lightly mix it with two forks to distribute, trying not to disturb the fluffy egg whites.

Immediately “drop” the biscuits onto your sheet pan or cookie sheet leaving enough space for them to spread if you did not drain the zucchini.  I used a scoop but a tablespoon will work well. Drop biscuits can be irregularly shaped although try to keep the amount of dough in each biscuit the same for uniform cooking time.
Bake until done, about 12-15 minutes for the size I make. They should be browned on top, but do check after 12 minutes to make sure the don’t overcook or get too dark. Let them sit on sheet pan for several minutes before removing. Eat what you like and put extras in the fridge or freezer as soon as they cool– remember they have meat in them so they are not like a cookie. They keep well for a day or two in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

I place my biscuits in wax paper bags, 2 per bag, for easy rewarming in the microwave. Then they all go into a large gallon ziplock in the freezer. Single frozen biscuits warm up in about 40 seconds in the microwave. If doing two at a time, unstack the biscuits and set them flat in the wax bag and warm for about 60-65 seconds.