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Ham and Asparagus Strata

"Asparagus, ham and Swiss cheese are layered with country-style stuffing, covered with a savory custard and baked for a perfect brunch or supper dish."

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Why it works: Asparagus and ham match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 100 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

8 servings
Prep15 min
Cook45 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Also mentioned in the method: bread

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Spread the stuffing cubes evenly in a 9x13-inch baking dish.

  2. Scatter the cubed cooked ham and cut asparagus over the stuffing.

  3. Whisk the condensed cream of asparagus soup, milk, beaten eggs and Dijon mustard in a bowl until smooth.

  4. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the stuffing, pressing gently so the bread soaks it up. Let stand 10 minutes.

  5. Sprinkle the shredded Swiss cheese over the top.

  6. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes, until the top is golden, the center is set, and it reaches 160°F (71°C) in the middle.

  7. Let the strata rest for 10 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Asparagus + hamtop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together100 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).

  2. Asparagus + mustardtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together213 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Swiss cheese + hamtop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together22 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  4. Swiss cheese + milktop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together213 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  5. Swiss cheese + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together175 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (swiss cheese, asparagus, ham, cream, milk, egg):

  1. Potatobetter flavor fit
  2. Spinachabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Mustardthe original
  4. Onionabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against swiss cheese, asparagus, ham, cream, milk, egg. 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).