Italian · Authentic-ish Italian
Orecchiette con Salsiccia e Broccoli
539 kcal a serving, against 822 for the traditional version. That is 283 kcal off, or 34%, with 30.5g of protein. Serves 4. 25 minutes.
What the traditional version is
Orecchiette tossed with crumbled Italian pork sausage and broccoli. The greens are boiled with the pasta, while the meat is fried hard with garlic, chilli and a generous glug of olive oil to tie it all together.
What changed, and what each change costs
400g of Italian sausage for 400g of reduced-fat pork sausage
Fat is the first thing to go here. Standard Italian sausage is loaded with it. Using a lean pork sausage cuts the calories massively while keeping the protein high.
What it costs you. You lose the fennel flavour and the fat that lubricates the pasta. Lean sausage tends to dry out if you punish it in the pan. I compensate with anchovy, which melts down and provides a deeply savoury background note.
300g of broccoli up to 600g
Broccoli adds massive volume for almost zero calories. It breaks down in the pan, acting like a sauce and wrapping around the pasta.
What it costs you. Half green by volume, then. Not a pasta dish with a bit of veg, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. If you hate broccoli, you'll absolutely hate this.
400g of pasta down to 320g, and 45ml of oil down to 15ml
Cutting the starch makes room for the massive pile of broccoli. Slashing the oil takes away empty calories.
What it costs you. The dish is noticeably less slippery. You have to work the pasta water hard in the pan to create a starchy emulsion.
The numbers
| Per serving | Traditional | Lightened |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 822 | 539 |
| Protein | 28.5g | 30.5g |
| Fat | 38.6g | 11.7g |
| Saturated fat | 11.2g | 3.1g |
| Carbohydrate | 91.2g | 80.3g |
| Protein per 100 kcal | 3.5g | 5.7g |
Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Italian prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked.
Allergens. fish, gluten.
The method is in the book
The anchovy does heavy lifting here, replacing the savoury depth lost when you drop the fatty sausage. It tastes aggressive, salty and slightly bitter from the massive pile of greens. This is a brilliant everyday dinner that hits the right numbers, even if it lacks the heavy, oily comfort of the original.
The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Italian, along with 59 more. It is not out yet. The swap kit is free in the meantime.