Name: Spinach, Pine Nut and Feta Pastries
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 1 sheet of fresh or frozen ready-rolled puff pastry , cut into 4; 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar; 100g feta cheese , crumbled; a handful of pine nuts; 200g young leaf spinach , cooked in a little butter then squeezed or excess water; 1 onion , sliced and cooked in butter until soft; 1 egg yolk , whisked for glazing

Why it works: Pine and spinach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 181 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Spinach, Pine Nut and Feta Pastries

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 sheet of fresh or frozen ready-rolled puff pastry , cut into 4
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
100g feta cheese , crumbled
a handful of pine nuts
200g young leaf spinach , cooked in a little butter then squeezed or excess water
1 onion , sliced and cooked in butter until soft
1 egg yolk , whisked for glazing

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

538Calories

19 gProtein

46 gFat

16 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 10 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pine Nut	1 oz (28g)	191
Feta Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Spinach	1 cup raw (30g)	7
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Pastry	not in our table	0
Leaf	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

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.

Pine + spinachtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together181 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Spinach + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,336 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Feta cheese + spinachtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together374 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Feta cheese + oniontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,030 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).
Nuts + spinachtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together47 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, feta cheese, pine, spinach, onion, butter, egg):

Sesamefits better
Chickpeafits better
Pistachiofits better
Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, feta cheese, pine, spinach, onion, butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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