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Pigs in a Blanket

A pastry-wrapped hot dog with optional cheese or caramelized onions, baked until golden.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and sesame match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,192 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓

Pigs in a Blanket

Oven450°F
Timeabout 20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the onions

  1. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.

  2. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, adding a little water if onions begin to stick, until deep golden brown, about 30 minutes.

  3. Set aside to cool.

Prepare the hot dogs and pastry

  1. Cut hot dogs lengthwise 3/4 of the way through.

  2. Insert a piece of cheese or 1/2 teaspoon caramelized onions into each hot dog, if using; set aside.

  3. If not using cheese or onions, poke hot dogs several times with the tip of a knife.

  4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll one sheet of puff pastry into a 14-by-11-inch rectangle.

  5. Cut lengthwise into seven 1 1/2-inch wide strips.

  6. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 rectangles, each about 3 1/2 inches long.

  7. In a small bowl, beat together egg and 1 tablespoon water; set aside.

  8. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.

Wrap, chill and bake

  1. Place a hot dog on the narrow end of one piece of pastry.

  2. Roll to enclose, brushing with some of the beaten egg to adhere; transfer to prepared baking sheet.

  3. Repeat process with remaining hot dogs and pastry.

  4. Brush the tops of puff pastry with egg and sprinkle with seeds, if using.

  5. Transfer to refrigerator and let chill for 15 minutes.

  6. Preheat oven to 450°F.

  7. Transfer baking sheets to oven and bake until puffed and golden, about 20 minutes.

  8. Let cool briefly before serving with mustard and ketchup.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

954Calories
29 gProtein
43 gFat
111 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 12 ingredients. The other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Sesame1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Cheddar Cheese1 oz (28g)113
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Hot Dognot in our table0
Pastrynot in our table0
Poppynot in our table0
Seednot in our table0

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

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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. Onion + sesametop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,192 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  2. Olive + sesametop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,111 recipes

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

  3. Sesame + mustardtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together180 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

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

  5. Olive + mustardtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Puff pastry
Its layered dough puffs and crisps as steam forms between the layers in the oven.
Onion
Slow browning turns its natural sugars deep golden, adding sweetness and savoury depth.
Egg
Beaten egg glues the pastry seams together and gives the tops a golden browned finish.
Hot dogs
The sausage filling is the core of each bite, cooked through by the baking pastry.
Cheddar cheese
Melts inside the hot dog slit to add richness and a creamy, savoury pocket.

The step that matters

Chill the wrapped hot dogs before baking. Chilling firms the butter in the pastry so it releases steam slowly in the oven, which helps the layers puff rather than melt out and go flat.

Swap the sesame

The recipe marks sesame as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, cheddar cheese, egg, flour, mustard, ketchup):

  1. Beansfits about as well
  2. Sesamethe original
  3. Lentilsfits about as well
  4. Chestnutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, cheddar cheese, egg, flour, mustard, ketchup. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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