Why it works: Quinoa and mozzarella cheese work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and 18 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 12Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk (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.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and set out a 12-cup muffin tin.
In a bowl, mix the cooked quinoa, egg, ½ cup shredded mozzarella, parmesan, salt, basil, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes until evenly combined.
Divide the mixture among the 12 muffin cups and press it firmly into the bottoms and up the sides to form small cups.
Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centers feel set.
Spoon a little marinara into each cup and sprinkle with extra mozzarella.
Bake for 5 to 7 minutes more, until the cheese melts and bubbles.
Let the bites cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then loosen the edges and lift them out.
Warm the extra marinara in a small pan and serve it alongside the bites for dipping.
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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Quinoa + mozzarella cheesetop 12% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together18 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Mozzarella cheese + parmesan cheesetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,092 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Basil + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,292 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Mozzarella cheese + basiltop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,010 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Parmesan cheese + basiltop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,599 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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