Name: Butternut Squash-Shiitake Ragout
Yield: Makes 6 cups
Ingredients: 10 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and reserved, caps halved if small or quartered if large; 4 sun-dried tomatoes, not packed in oil (optional); 2 olive oil; Kosher salt; 1 garlic clove, finely chopped; 1/2 tawny Port, divided; 1 large onion, chopped; 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut in 1” cubes; 1/4 pomegranate seeds

Why it works: Butternut squash and pomegranate share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 17 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

The recipe

Makes 6 cups

Ingredients

10 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and reserved, caps halved if small or quartered if large
4 sun-dried tomatoes, not packed in oil (optional)
2 olive oil
Kosher salt
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 tawny Port, divided
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut in 1” cubes
1/4 pomegranate seeds

Directions

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

By bonappetit. 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.

Butternut squash + pomegranatetop 4% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together17 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together14,164 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together29,030 recipes

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

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together292 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Tomato + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together14,075 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the tomato

The recipe marks tomato as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shiitake, olive, garlic, onion, butternut squash, pomegranate):

Welsh onionabout as good a flavor fit
Kaleabout as good a flavor fit
Chiveabout as good a flavor fit
Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against shiitake, olive, garlic, onion, butternut squash, pomegranate. 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).

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