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Pizza with Dried Herbs

A pizza topped with thick tomato sauce, dried oregano, dried thyme, mozzarella, parmesan, and olive oil, baked until golden.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,093 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Pizza with Dried Herbs

Oven~425°F
Timeabout 12 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dough

  1. Put the yeast in a cup with 2 t. of the warm water and a pinch of sugar.

  2. Leave in a warm place for 10 minutes until frothy.

  3. Sift the flour with the salt into a large bowl.

  4. Make a depression in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast liquid, the remaining lukewarm water, and the olive oil.

  5. Beat with a wooden spoon until it all clings together, adding a drop more water if required.

  6. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes.

  7. Put the dough back in a clean bowl, lightly oiled, and cover it with cling film (saran wrap).

  8. Stand the bowl in a warm place for 1–2 hours until the dough has roughly doubled in volume.

  9. Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce.

Shape and top the pizzas

  1. When the dough has risen sufficiently, knock it back (punch it down) and turn it onto a floured board.

  2. Knead again briefly for about 2–3 minutes, then divide it into 2 pieces.

  3. Roll each piece out fairly thinly.

  4. Pick up each one and pull it gently between the hands to make a large thin round, roughly 10 inches across.

  5. Lay the 2 circles of dough on oiled backing sheets and cover each one with 2/3 cup of thick tomato sauce, spreading it evenly almost up to the edge.

  6. Sprinkle over each one ½ teaspoon of dried oregano and ¼ teaspoon of dried thyme (or wild thyme).

  7. Grate the mozzarella coarsely and scatter half over each pizza.

  8. Sprinkle the grated parmesan cheese on top and pour a thin trickle of olive oil, about 1 tbsp, over each.

Bake

  1. Bake them for about 12 minutes in a hot oven at ~425°F until the edges of the dough are browned and the centre lightly colored.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

800Calories
31 gProtein
29 gFat
103 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Mozzarella Cheese1 oz (28g)85
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Toppingnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

  1. Mozzarella cheese + parmesan cheesetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,093 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Oregano + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together791 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  4. Tomato + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,767 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Thyme + olivetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,948 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

All purpose flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the dough its structure and chew.
Active dry yeast
Ferments the dough so it rises and becomes light and airy.
Mozzarella cheese
Melts and stretches over the sauce, giving the pizza its creamy, stringy topping.
Tomato sauce
Adds moisture, acidity and savory flavor across the base.
Olive oil
Adds richness and helps the crust brown and crisp in the oven.

The step that matters

Letting the dough rise fully. The dough must roughly double before shaping. Under-proofed dough bakes dense and tight, while the yeast needs warmth and time to build gas and gluten strength.

Swap the thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, sauce, oregano, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, olive, flour):

  1. Basilfits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Thymethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, sauce, oregano, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, olive, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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