Why it works: Cherry and prosciutto work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and 29 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
24 appetizersIngredients
Contains: milk (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.
Pat the rinsed tomatoes completely dry with paper towels so the skewers do not get watery.
Cut each prosciutto slice into quarters, then fold or loosely roll each piece so it sits neatly on a toothpick.
Fold each basil leaf in half or loosely roll it so it holds its shape on the toothpick.
Thread a tomato, a folded basil leaf, a piece of prosciutto, a marinated mozzarella ball and another tomato onto each long toothpick, in that order.
Arrange the appetizers on a serving platter and drizzle the Italian salad dressing over them just before serving.
Refrigerate the assembled appetizers until ready to serve, as the mozzarella should stay cold; the prosciutto is cured and needs no cooking.
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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Cherry + prosciuttotop 14% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together29 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cherry + basiltop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together582 recipes
Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).
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Prosciutto + basiltop 14% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together134 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the cherry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (prosciutto, basil):
- Lemonbetter flavor fit
- Peachbetter flavor fit
- Cherrythe original
- Limeabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against prosciutto, basil. 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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