Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the filling
Cut the tops off the tomatoes and remove the seeds.
Chop the tomato flesh.
In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the sliced onion and chopped tomatoes, cooking until tender.
Stir in the chopped ham or chicken, parsley, salt, pepper, and enough bread crumbs to thicken the mixture.
Stuff and bake
Fill the hollowed tomatoes with the mixture.
Sprinkle grated bread crumbs on top and add a small piece of butter.
Place the stuffed tomatoes in a baking pan and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
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.
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
-
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Hollowed shells that hold the filling and soften as they bake, releasing moisture into the dish.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the onion soften and the topping brown lightly.
- Onion
- Provides savory sweetness and aroma as it cooks down into the filling.
- Ham or chicken
- Supplies the savory meat flavor and bulk of the filling.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid from the tomato and thicken the filling so it holds its shape.
The step that matters
Cooking the onion and chopped tomato until tender. The tomato must cook down enough to drive off excess water; otherwise the bread crumbs cannot thicken the filling and it will leak and make the tomato shells soggy in the oven.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, butter, ham, parsley, pepper, bread):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Potatofits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, butter, ham, parsley, pepper, bread. 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.
More stuffed tomatoes recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipes
White Bread80 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.