Pieczen Rzymska Meatloaf

Name: Pieczen Rzymska Meatloaf
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients: Beef mince; Courgette; Onion; Garlic; Egg whites for binding; Hard boiled eggs for centre; Salt; Black pepper; Flat-leaf parsley; Dried marjoram

Pieczen Rzymska Meatloaf, plated as one serving.

286 kcal a serving, against 513 for the traditional version. That is 227 kcal off, or 44%, with 37.5g of protein. Serves 6. 1 hour 40 minutes.

What the traditional version is

Classic Polish meatloaf with equal parts pork and beef mince (usually 15% or higher fat), soaked white bread, lots of butter, diced onion, a little garlic, and a centre line of boiled eggs. Baked until golden, sliced thick, and best with a dollop of mustard or on a sandwich the next day.

What changed, and what each change costs

All the pork shoulder and 15% beef for 5% beef mince

The fat is the first thing to go. Instead of mixing half pork (with lovely ribbons of fat) and standard 15% beef, I use only 5% beef mince. You lose some richness, but the protein climbs and you still get the meatloaf effect.

What it costs you. No way around it: there's less flavour and a lot less juiciness. The loaf's slice is less neat, and you'll miss the mix of pork and beef. But it won't leak orange fat into the tin, so call that a win for your oven.

Butter-soaked bread out; grated courgette in

The bread's there to lighten the texture, hold moisture and carry all that butter. Courgette bulks it out and keeps it juicy without the fat. You keep the protein high and your loaf doesn't dry out entirely.

What it costs you. The texture goes next. It isn't as bouncy or as neat on the plate, and if you serve it cold, it's more likely to crumble. Still, you're not losing your bread knife in a brick of meat.

Extra egg white for binding, no yolk

Egg yolk is mostly fat; the white binds just as well for barely any calories, and ups the protein.

What it costs you. The loaf's not quite as rich, but you still get the egg-in-the-middle moment. If you miss it, swap one white for a whole egg and take the hit.

Bigger pile of fresh herbs and onion

With less fat, you need all the flavour you can get. Upping the parsley and marjoram and using plenty of onion does the heavy lifting.

What it costs you. Nothing you'll notice unless you've had the original on Easter Sunday every year of your life.

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.

Beef mince
Courgette
Onion
Garlic
Egg whites for binding
Hard boiled eggs for centre
Salt
Black pepper
Flat-leaf parsley
Dried marjoram

How it starts

Start with the eggs: boil 5 eggs for about 9 minutes, then cool under cold water and peel.
Grate the courgette on the large holes of a box grater, then set in a sieve and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
Dice the onion finely and mince the garlic.

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

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	513	286
Protein	33.5g	37.5g
Fat	35.3g	11.6g
Saturated fat	14.2g	4.5g
Carbohydrate	13.4g	5.8g
Protein per 100 kcal	6.5g	13.1g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Polish 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. eggs.

The method is in the book

Is it as good as the original? Not a chance. You lose the pork's real flavour and the springy, rich middle. What you get is a proper slab of beef, more protein, and a lovely egg surprise that still makes people stare at your packed lunch. The texture is softer and you'll need to cut it like you mean it, but the parsley and marjoram keep things lively and the courgette does its best to pretend it's bread. You do miss the crust that butter gives you, and the slice is never quite as heroic as granny's. But it's meatloaf for people who want a second helping and still fit into their trousers.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Polish, along with 53 more. Buy the paperback