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Spinach and Feta Pita Bake

"This is great as a party appetizer or a full meal. Tasty, full of flavor AND good for you. The crunchy crust is what I really like! You can play with the veggie toppings and cheeses for a great meal that is fast and delicious! Our favorite quick meal!"

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Why it works: Pita bread and feta cheese work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 36 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

6 servings
Prep5 min
Cook12 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. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line two baking sheets with foil or parchment.

  2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes until they begin to soften.

  3. Add the chopped spinach to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until wilted. Remove from the heat and drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.

  4. Place the pita breads on the baking sheets. Spread the sun-dried tomato pesto evenly over each pita.

  5. Top each pita with chopped tomatoes, the spinach and mushroom mixture, crumbled feta, and grated Parmesan. Season lightly with black pepper.

  6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the pita edges are crisp and the cheese is melted and lightly golden. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

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. Pita bread + feta cheesetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together36 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together94 recipes

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

  3. Mushroom + parmesan cheesetop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,199 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  4. Tomato + parmesan cheesetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,490 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Tomato + feta cheesetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together828 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the plum

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wheat, pita bread, tomato, spinach, mushroom, feta cheese, parmesan cheese):

  1. Avocadobetter flavor fit
  2. Cherrybetter flavor fit
  3. Grapebetter flavor fit
  4. Plumthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against wheat, pita bread, tomato, spinach, mushroom, feta cheese, parmesan 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).