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Just Veggin' Pita Pizza

"Fire up the grill for these quick pesto, cheese, and veggie pizzas made with seasoned bell pepper, zucchini, and red onion wedges on whole wheat pitas."

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Why it works: Cream cheese and cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 479 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

The recipe

4 servings
Prep25 min

Ingredients

Contains: 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 425°F (220°C). Place the pita breads on two baking sheets.

  2. Put the red pepper quarters, zucchini slices and red onion wedges in a bowl. Add the Italian dressing and toss to coat.

  3. Spread the vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 12 to 15 minutes, until tender and lightly charred at the edges.

  4. While the vegetables roast, stir the softened cream cheese and pesto together in a small bowl until smooth.

  5. Spread the cream cheese and pesto mixture evenly over each pita bread.

  6. Divide the roasted vegetables among the pitas, spreading them over the cream cheese layer.

  7. Sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the top of each pizza.

  8. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the pita edges are crisp.

  9. Let the pizzas cool for 2 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.

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. Cream cheese + cheesetop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together479 recipes

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

  2. Pepper + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together68,463 recipes

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

  3. Onion + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together4,838 recipes

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

  4. Onion + pita breadtop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together136 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Pepper + cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together7,861 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 (pepper, cream cheese, wheat, pita bread, cheese):

  1. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  2. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  3. Cucumberbetter flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, cream cheese, wheat, pita bread, cheese. 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).