Skip to main content
Main

Stuffed Squash, Roman Style

A stuffed squash filled with lamb, rice, parsley, and tomato sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 Squash, Roman Style

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the squash

  1. Cut the tops off the squash and scoop out the centers, leaving ½ inch of shell.

  2. Parboil the squash for 3 minutes, then drain with the open side down on a napkin.

Make the stuffing

  1. In a saucepan, melt the butter and lightly fry the chopped onions.

  2. Add the scooped-out squash pieces and a little broth; cook until the broth reduces to a glaze.

  3. Stir in the roast lamb, cooked rice, and chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper, then add the Espagnole sauce.

  4. Mix well over the heat, then fill the squash with the stuffing.

Bake and serve

  1. Line a flat saucepan with slices of fat pork, place the stuffed squash inside, and moisten with broth.

  2. Cook in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) until nicely browned.

  3. Serve each squash with a teaspoon of reduced tomato sauce on top and a bowl of tomato sauce on the side.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Lamb + porktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together623 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  3. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,433 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Onion + porktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,214 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

Squash
Forms the edible shell that holds the stuffing and softens as it cooks.
Roast lamb
Provides the rich, savoury meat that gives the stuffing its main body and flavour.
Cooked rice
Adds bulk and soaks up cooking liquid, giving the stuffing a moist, tender texture.
Espagnole sauce
Adds a concentrated, savoury brown sauce that binds the stuffing and deepens its flavour.
Onions
Add sweetness and aroma when gently fried in butter at the start.

The step that matters

Reducing the broth to a glaze. If the liquid is not cooked down enough, the stuffing stays wet and loose; if over-reduced, it dries and sticks. Cooking to a glaze concentrates flavour and gives a thick, cohesive filling.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, lamb, rice, parsley, pepper, sauce, pork):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Tomatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, lamb, rice, parsley, pepper, sauce, pork. 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.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipesPork CakePork Cake107 recipesRice FrittersRice Fritters84 recipes