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Impossibly Easy Ham and Asparagus Pie

"Bainsville egg farmers Luc and Louise Secours enjoy this quiche-like 'pie' fresh out of the oven or warmed in the microwave the next day."

This recipe’s ingredient list has no crust or pastry, so it bakes more like a fruit dish than a pastry pie.

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Why it works: Ham and asparagus 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

1 13 x 9-inch pie
Prep25 min
Cook45 min

Ingredients

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.

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray or butter, if using.

  2. Bring a pan of boiling water to a boil. Add the diced asparagus and blanch for 2 minutes, then drain well and pat dry.

  3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk until smooth. Whisk in the baking mix until just combined and free of lumps.

  4. Stir in the diced ham, shredded cheese, chopped green onion and blanched asparagus until evenly distributed.

  5. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish and spread it evenly.

  6. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. The center should reach 160°F (71°C).

  7. Let the pie 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. Ham + asparagustop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together100 recipes

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

  2. Cheddar cheese + milktop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,963 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Cheddar cheese + oniontop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,669 recipes

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

  4. Onion + asparagustop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,210 recipes

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

  5. Cheddar cheese + asparagustop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together74 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

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

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

  1. Potatobetter flavor fit
  2. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  3. Chivebetter flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, cheddar cheese, asparagus, 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).