Why it works: Carrot and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,563 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Meat Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the filling
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a skillet, cook the chopped onion until translucent.
Add the ground meat and cook until browned.
Stir in the diced carrots and potatoes, and season with salt, pepper, and thyme. Pour in the beef broth and simmer for 10 minutes.
Assemble and bake
Transfer the meat mixture into a pie crust and cover with another crust.
Cut slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
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.
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Carrot + thymetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,563 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,107 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Potato + thymetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,586 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ground meat
- Provides the savory, browned base flavor and the bulk of the filling.
- Potatoes
- Add starch and body, thickening the filling slightly as it simmers and cooks.
- Carrots
- Add sweetness and a firm texture that holds up during baking.
- Onion
- Adds aromatic sweetness and depth as it softens in the pan.
- Beef broth
- Adds moisture and savory flavor, helping the filling stay juicy in the pie.
The step that matters
Cut slits in the top crust. Vents let steam escape during baking, so pressure does not build under the crust and push the filling out or make the crust soggy.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, carrot, potato, pepper, thyme, beef):
- Parsnipfits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, carrot, potato, pepper, thyme, beef. 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.
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