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Sage, Leek & Onion Balls

Too good to be kept for Christmas, why not make double of these stuffing balls and keep some in the freezer?

By bbcgoodfood · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Sage, Leek & Onion Balls

Why it works: Leek and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,093 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Sage, Leek & Onion Balls

Makes 16 small balls, plus 250g extra to stuff a 5kg turkey
Prep20 min

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1049Calories
36 gProtein
51 gFat
109 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 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
Pork Sausage100g cooked301
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Sage1 tsp ground (0.7g)2
Sunflower Oilnot in our table0
Meatnot 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 bbcgoodfood. 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. Leek + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,093 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Onion + leektop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,326 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).

  3. Celery + sagetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together723 recipes

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

  4. Sunflower + sagetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together36 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Swap the sage

The recipe marks sage as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sunflower, onion, leek, celery, pork, meat, egg):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Sagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sunflower, onion, leek, celery, pork, meat, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.