Leczo Sausage and Pepper Stew

Name: Leczo Sausage and Pepper Stew
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients: Lean chorizo; Onion; Red pepper; Green peppers; Courgette; Tinned plum tomatoes; Garlic; Paprika; Salt; Black pepper; Flat-leaf parsley

Leczo Sausage and Pepper Stew, plated as one serving.

166 kcal a serving, against 407 for the traditional version. That is 241 kcal off, or 59%, with 10.3g of protein. Serves 4. 1 hour.

What the traditional version is

Leczo starts with chunky smoked kielbasa, fried to release its fat, followed by sweet peppers, onions, and sometimes courgette. All of it simmers in a simple base of tinned tomatoes or tomato puree, maybe with a shake of sweet paprika. Serve hot, oily and generous.

What changed, and what each change costs

Kielbasa for a small amount of lean chorizo

Kielbasa is mostly pork and fat, which is brilliant if you want half the dish to come from sausage. Chorizo has enough punch that you can use less and still get the paprika, garlic and smoke in the background. Lean chorizo is rare, but if you can find it, get it - otherwise, a spicy smoked sausage works but keep the weight down.

What it costs you. It's not the same hit. You lose that sausage-jewelled richness - now you're chasing bits of meat round the bowl like a dog with a stick. The texture is lighter, and anyone raised on the original will know something's missing.

Oil omitted, dry-fry the sausage

The original uses vegetable oil to up the shine and help the sausage brown, but all that's doing for you is extra calories by the spoon. Chorizo's got enough fat to stop it sticking if you start in a cold pan.

What it costs you. You lose the oily gloss and some caramelisation, but your peppers won't shrivel or swim in grease. It's a practical loss - you notice, but you might not care after a busy Tuesday.

Add extra peppers, more courgette, and double the tomatoes

If you're scaling back on sausage, you need more veg to make it dinner. More peppers and courgette bulk it out so you get proper mouthfuls. Upping the tomato gives a saucier finish which stops things feeling stingy.

What it costs you. No hardship unless you hate veg. You swap sausage for colour and sweetness, and the texture is lighter.

Parsley doubled for aroma

With less meat, you need something green to make the bowl inviting. Parsley's cheap, easy and fits the flavour.

What it costs you. You end up eating a lot more parsley, but that's the point.

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.

Lean chorizo
Onion
Red pepper
Green peppers
Courgette
Tinned plum tomatoes
Garlic
Paprika
Salt
Black pepper
Flat-leaf parsley

How it starts

Slice the lean chorizo into thin half-moons.
Slice the onions, peppers and courgette into chunky strips.
Sprinkle over the paprika and stir so everything picks it up, then tip in the tinned tomatoes.

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

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	407	166
Protein	14.6g	10.3g
Fat	27.7g	2.8g
Saturated fat	8.8g	0.9g
Carbohydrate	28.6g	29.4g
Protein per 100 kcal	3.6g	6.2g

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.

The method is in the book

If you want the full-on luxurious leczo with a mouthful of sausage in every bite, this isn't going to get you there. It's lighter and the sausage is more of a flavouring than the star. But the peppers and tomato keep it feeling like a meal, and you'll get full without the nap. Chorizo tries its best, but it's a different accent. For a Tuesday, I can live with this - and if you want the real thing, you know what to do.

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