Why it works: Tomato and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,468 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
The recipe
8 servingsIngredients
Contains: 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.
Brown the sliced smoked sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes, until lightly browned. The sausage is already cooked, so it only needs to be heated through.
Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and stir for 1 minute to coat it.
Add the water and crumble in the beef bouillon cube, stirring until it dissolves.
Stir in the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, then bring the mixture to a gentle simmer.
Add the trimmed green beans, cover, and simmer over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the beans are tender-crisp.
Uncover and simmer 2 minutes more so the sauce thickens slightly, then serve hot.
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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Tomato + saucetop 7% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together5,468 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Tomato + green beanstop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together113 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + beeftop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,445 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + green beanstop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together35 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + green beanstop 13% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together92 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the green beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, tomato, sauce, beef):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Carrotbetter flavor fit
- Green beansthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, tomato, sauce, beef. 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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