Why it works: Pear and prosciutto work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 20 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 8Ingredients
Contains: 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 475°F (246°C) with a baking sheet or pizza stone inside to heat.
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and kosher salt and cook for 8 minutes, stirring often, until soft and golden.
Stir in the black pepper and chopped fresh thyme and cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat.
Stretch the pizza dough into a 12-inch (30 cm) round on a baking sheet, pressing the edges up slightly.
Toss the shredded smoked gouda and part skim mozzarella together, then spread evenly over the dough, leaving a small border.
Scatter the caramelized onion over the cheese, then crumble the gorgonzola over the top.
Arrange the pear slices and the rolled prosciutto slices over the pizza.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the crust is deep golden and the cheese is bubbling. Let rest 2 minutes, then slice and serve.
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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Pear + prosciuttotop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Pepper + thymetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Olive + thymetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,641 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
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Onion + thymetop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together11,172 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + olivetop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together26,431 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, pepper, thyme, pear, prosciutto):
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, pepper, thyme, pear, prosciutto. 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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