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Creamy Ham and Leak Pasta

When leaks are stewed in butter and stock they make a delicious sauce for pasta. I cook this so much, I know the recipe of by heart.

By bbcgoodfood · From Open Recipes · 8 ingredients
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Creamy Ham and Leak Pasta

Why it works: Leek and pasta share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Creamy Ham and Leak Pasta

Serves 4

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1053Calories
85 gProtein
53 gFat
56 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Chicken100g cooked165
Cheddar Cheese1 oz (28g)113
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot 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 + pastatop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  3. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

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

  4. Leek + chickentop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together165 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).

  5. Chicken + pastatop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,024 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

Swap the leek

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, chicken, ham, pasta, cream, cheese, pepper):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Leekthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, chicken, ham, pasta, cream, cheese, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.