Name: Cannellini Beans with Garlic and Sage
Yield: Makes about 6 cups
Ingredients: 1 pound dried cannellini (white kidney beans); 8 cups room-temperature water; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 large head of garlic, unpeeled, top 1/2 inch cut off to expose cloves; 1 large fresh sage sprig; 1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns; 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt; Extra-virgin olive oil (for drizzling)

Why it works: Garlic and sage are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,025 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

The recipe

Makes about 6 cups

Ingredients

1 pound dried cannellini (white kidney beans)
8 cups room-temperature water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large head of garlic, unpeeled, top 1/2 inch cut off to expose cloves
1 large fresh sage sprig
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil (for drizzling)

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By epicurious. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Garlic + sagetop 5% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together1,025 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Olive + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together23,449 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Clove + sagetop 4% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together583 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Kidney beans + olivetop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together551 recipes

Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Olive + sagetop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together1,048 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the kidney beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, garlic, clove, sage):

Chickpeabetter flavor fit
Beansbetter flavor fit
Walnutbetter flavor fit
Kidney beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, garlic, clove, sage. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

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