Branzino al Forno

Name: Branzino al Forno
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: Raw prawns; Potato; Cherry tomatoes; Black olives; Olive oil; Dry white wine; Garlic; Flat-leaf parsley; Black pepper

Branzino al Forno, plated as one serving.

350 kcal a serving, against 532 for the traditional version. That is 182 kcal off, or 34%, with 43.5g of protein. Serves 4. 45 minutes.

What the traditional version is

A whole sea bass baked over thinly sliced potatoes, cherry tomatoes and black olives, drenched in olive oil and dry white wine. It's a Mediterranean classic that relies entirely on good ingredients.

What changed, and what each change costs

800g of potatoes down to 400g

Potatoes soak up oil and add heavy starch to the plate. Cutting them in half strips out calories without ruining the meal. You still get the flavour, just in a smaller dose.

What it costs you. You get a thinner bed of vegetables under the seafood. It's less filling, but that's the price of a leaner plate. You'll miss the bulk if you have a massive appetite.

80ml of olive oil down to 20ml

Olive oil is pure fat. 80ml adds a huge amount of energy to the roasting tin. A quarter of that is enough to stop the potatoes sticking if you use a good non-stick tray.

What it costs you. The potatoes don't get that deep, fried crispness on the edges. They steam in the wine and tomato juice instead. What you've got is just different. A disaster is a different dish and you know where to find it. You lose the crunch.

A whole sea bass swapped for 800g of raw prawns

This is the first time in the book I swap out the main event. Prawns are pure lean muscle. Bumping the seafood weight up to 800g pushes the protein through the roof.

What it costs you. It changes the dish completely. You miss out on the sweet, flaky white fish, and you have to watch the timer like a hawk so the prawns don't go rubbery. A baked sea bass forgives a few extra minutes in the oven. Prawns absolutely don't.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Raw prawns
Potato
Cherry tomatoes
Black olives
Olive oil
Dry white wine
Garlic
Flat-leaf parsley
Black pepper

How it starts

Heat the oven to 200C.
Toss the potatoes in a bowl with half the olive oil, the minced garlic, a big pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper.
Bake the potatoes for 20 minutes until they start to soften and catch some colour.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Italian.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	532	350
Protein	35.7g	43.5g
Fat	23.9g	7.7g
Saturated fat	3.6g	1.2g
Carbohydrate	42.3g	24g
Protein per 100 kcal	6.7g	12.4g

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. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. crustaceans, sulphites.

The method is in the book

Yes, changing the core ingredient is a massive liberty. But this hits the exact same notes of garlic, wine and roasted tomatoes, with a massive hit of protein from the prawns. It's sharp, fresh and keeps you full for hours. Sometimes you can't worry about authenticity when you need speed and results, and this traybake proves it.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Italian, along with 59 more. Buy the paperback