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Classic Meatballs with Pasta Sauce

Just like Mamma used to make – and still does; this is classic Italian home cooking. Serve with pasta, a crisp green salad and a gutsy red wine.

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 31 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Classic Meatballs with Pasta Sauce

Serves 6-8
Prep30 min

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1726Calories
84 gProtein
77 gFat
169 gCarbs

Counts 24 of 26 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 24 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Lamb100g cooked294
Beef100g cooked250
Pine Nut1 oz (28g)191
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Sourdough1 slice (36g)93
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Plum1 medium (66g)30
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Sage1 tsp ground (0.7g)2
Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Peppermintnot in our table0
Sunflower Oilnot 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.

By bbcfood. 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. Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

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

  4. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

Swap the plum

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, beef, tomato):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Cherryfits better
  4. Plumthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, beef, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.