Name: Individual Crispy "Loaded" Pizza
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Ingredients: 3/4 cup warm (110°F) water; 1/2 teaspoon molasses; 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour, plus additional for rolling and kneading; Nonstick olive oil spray; 1 tablespoon cornmeal; 3/4 cup low-fat store-bought marinara sauce, such as Trader Joe’s; 1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, such as Weight Watchers; 2 tablespoons grated Parmigian-Reggiano; 1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves; 6 medium (about 4 ounces) cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 2 cups); 8 ounces low-fat turkey sausage, such as Butterball, crumbled and cooked (about 1 1/ 3 cups); 6 whole bottled peperoncini, such as B & G, stems removed and cut into 1/4-inch slices; 1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, such as Weight Watchers; 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Why it works: Olive and basil are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,063 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. 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.

Olive + basiltop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,063 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Wheat + olivetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,100 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Olive + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,571 recipes

Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Olive + mozzarella cheesetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,773 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Mozzarella cheese + basiltop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,010 recipes

Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

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

Swap the basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, wheat, flour, olive, sauce, mozzarella cheese, mushroom):

Garlicfits about as well
Capersfits about as well
Oreganofits about as well
Basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, wheat, flour, olive, sauce, mozzarella cheese, mushroom. 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
Pork	100g cooked	242
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Mozzarella Cheese	1 oz (28g)	85
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Individual Crispy "Loaded" Pizza