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Zucchini Pie I

"Given to us by Aunt Helen who got it from a cousin. Origin unknown. It is delicious!!!"

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 35,031 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

The recipe

1 pie
Prep15 min
Cook1 hr

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). Line a 9 inch pie pan with the pastry for a single crust, trimming and crimping the edges.

  2. Put the peeled, seeded, sliced zucchini in a pan of boiling water and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until very tender. Drain well and mash or chop finely.

  3. Melt the margarine in a small pan or microwave and let it cool slightly.

  4. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, flour, salt and nutmeg together until evenly mixed.

  5. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the evaporated milk, vanilla extract and cooled melted margarine until smooth.

  6. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients until no lumps remain, then fold in the zucchini.

  7. Pour the filling into the prepared crust and smooth the top.

  8. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until the top is golden and the center is set and reaches 160°F (71°C) on an instant-read thermometer.

  9. Cool the pie on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing so the filling can firm up.

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. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Flour + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together18,411 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Evaporated milk + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together132 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Sugar + evaporated milktop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together804 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Egg + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together104,138 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Flavor stand-ins for the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour, evaporated milk, vanilla):

  1. Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
  2. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour, evaporated milk, vanilla. 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).