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Sausage Breakfast Bagel Strata

All of your favorites from a bagel sandwich in casserole/strata form!

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Why it works: Bagel and cheddar cheese work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and 12 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 8
Prep15 min
Cook1 hr

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Also mentioned in the method: bread

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease a 9x13-inch (23x33 cm) baking dish.

  2. Cook the loose sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it up, until no pink remains and it reaches 160°F (71°C), about 8 minutes. Drain well.

  3. Spread the torn bagel pieces in the dish and scatter the cooked sausage over them.

  4. Dot the mascarpone in small spoonfuls over the bagels, then sprinkle the mozzarella and cheddar evenly on top.

  5. Whisk the eggs, half-and-half, milk, dry mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, poppy seeds, cayenne, salt and black pepper until smooth.

  6. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bagels and cheese, pressing the bread gently so it soaks. Let stand for 15 minutes.

  7. Bake uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes, until the center is set, reaches 160°F (71°C) and the top is golden. Tent with foil if browning too fast.

  8. Rest the strata for 10 minutes, then cut into squares and serve warm.

By tastykitchen. 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.

  1. Bagel + cheddar cheesetop 16% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together12 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together271 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  3. Cheese + cheddar cheesetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together984 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Cheese + mozzarella cheesetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together421 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  5. Cheese + milktop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together4,424 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bagel, cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, egg, milk, mustard):

  1. Capersabout as good a flavor fit
  2. Dillabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Garlicthe original
  4. Pepperabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against bagel, cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, egg, milk, mustard. 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).