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Spinach Salad with Poached Eggs and Pancetta

Spinach and bacon are a popular salad duo. Here, cubes of savory pancetta and a buttery poached egg provide a compelling update to the classic. The recipe takes advantage of the pancetta twice: the crispy fried bits are scattered over the salad, and the rendered fat becomes part of the warm vinaigrette that gently wilts the greens.

By williamssonoma · From Open Recipes · 9 ingredients
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Spinach Salad with Poached Eggs and Pancetta

Why it works: Thyme and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,476 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Spinach Salad with Poached Eggs and Pancetta

Serves 2.

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

273Calories
8 gProtein
19 gFat
18 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Shallot1 tbsp minced (10g)7
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By williamssonoma. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Thyme + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,476 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Olive + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,948 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  4. Red wine + thymetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together749 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Olive + shallottop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,659 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, red wine, vinegar, thyme, sugar, pepper, egg):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits about as well
  3. Shallotthe original
  4. Mustardfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, red wine, vinegar, thyme, sugar, pepper, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.