Name: Cherry Tomato Pizza Margherita
Yield: Makes 4 main-course servings
Ingredients: 1 13.8-ounce tube refrigerated pizza dough; 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil; 1 12-ounce bag cherry tomatoes, stemmed; 1 garlic clove, pressed; 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, coarsely crushed in plastic bag; 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper; 1 4-ounce ball fresh mozzarella in water (ovoline), diced; 4 ounces whole-milk mozzarella, diced; 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves plus small leaves for garnish

Why it works: Fennel and basil match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 192 recipes. Both carry cis-anethole, which smells anise. The science ↓

Cherry Tomato Pizza Margherita

Makes 4 main-course servings

Ingredients

1 13.8-ounce tube refrigerated pizza dough
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 12-ounce bag cherry tomatoes, stemmed
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, coarsely crushed in plastic bag
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 4-ounce ball fresh mozzarella in water (ovoline), diced
4 ounces whole-milk mozzarella, diced
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves plus small leaves for garnish

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

360Calories

11 gProtein

21 gFat

38 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 12 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cherry	1 cup (138g)	87
Mozzarella Cheese	1 oz (28g)	85
Fennel	1/2 bulb (87g)	27
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Pizza	not in our table	0
Seed	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By epicurious. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Fennel + basiltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together192 recipes

Shared aroma: cis-anethole (anise).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Olive + basiltop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,063 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Garlic + basiltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,805 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pepper + basiltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,294 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

Swap the cherry tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, garlic, clove, fennel, pepper, milk, basil):

Lemonfits better
Limefits better
Cherryfits better
Cherry tomatothe original

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

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