Name: Spinach-Stuffed Turkey Meat Loaf
Ingredients: 1 tsp. freshly ground white or black pepper; 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg; 1/4 tsp. ground ginger; 1/8 tsp. ground cloves; 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil; 1 1/2 cups finely chopped yellow onion; 1 garlic clove, minced; 1 can (28 oz.) whole plum tomatoes with juice; 1 can (28 oz.) chopped tomatoes with juice; 2 cups tomato sauce; 1 1/2 tsp. canola oil; 6 white bread slices, crusts removed and bread torn into 1-inch pieces; 1/2 cup 1-percent-fat milk; 2 lb. ground turkey breast; 2 Tbs. Dijon mustard; 2 tsp. dried oregano; 1 tsp. kosher salt; 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper; 1 egg white; 2 lb. fresh spinach, or 1 lb. frozen chopped spinach; 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil; 3 green onions, tender green tops only, chopped; 1 egg white; Freshly ground pepper, to taste; 1/3 cup grated Romano cheese; 1 tsp. grated orange zest

Why it works: Nutmeg and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,686 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

Swap the plum

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, nutmeg, ginger, clove, olive, onion, garlic):

Limefits better
Lemonfits better
Avocadofits better
Plumthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, nutmeg, ginger, clove, olive, onion, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Romano Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
White Bread	1 slice (30g) white	79
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Plum	1 medium (66g)	30
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Cloves	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Spinach	1 cup raw (30g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Spinach-Stuffed Turkey Meat Loaf