Why it works: Rosemary and spinach work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 143 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 6Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat (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.
Heat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Toss the cubed bread with some of the butter, spread on a baking sheet, and bake 8 to 10 minutes until golden and crisp.
Melt the remaining butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute, stirring, until fragrant.
Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer, about 5 minutes.
Add the thawed, squeezed-dry spinach and cook 3 minutes until fully wilted.
Blend the soup with an immersion blender until smooth.
Stir in the heavy cream and lemon zest and heat gently for 2 minutes without letting it boil.
Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the rosemary croutons.
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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Rosemary + spinachtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together143 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Rosemary + lemontop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together845 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Garlic + spinachtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,433 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanol (resin, flower).
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Garlic + chickentop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10,839 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
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Butter + creamtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41,494 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
The Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
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