Why it works: Cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 592 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
The recipe
1 9-inch pieIngredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray, then dust it with the dry bread crumbs, tapping out any extra.
Squeeze excess liquid from the shredded zucchini using a clean towel or by pressing it in a sieve.
In a large bowl, whisk the well-beaten eggs with the vegetable oil until combined.
Stir in the biscuit baking mix, minced onion, minced garlic, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper until smooth.
Fold in the zucchini, shredded Cheddar, and chopped parsley until evenly distributed, then pour the mixture into the prepared pie plate.
Sprinkle the grated Parmesan evenly over the top.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. The eggs must be fully set.
Let the quiche cool for 10 minutes on a rack before slicing and serving.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Cheddar cheese + parmesan cheesetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together592 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Parsley + garlictop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together9,294 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Onion + cheddar cheesetop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,669 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Bread + eggtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together22,584 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, egg, biscuit, onion, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic):
- Pepperabout as good a flavor fit
- Celeryabout as good a flavor fit
- Parsleythe original
- Capersabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, egg, biscuit, onion, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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