Why it works: Olive and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Pizza
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the topping
Marinate mashed tofu with tomatoes that have been sprinkled with oregano for a few hours.
Roast chopped mushrooms in oil and keep until later.
Make the crust
Prepare pizza crust: mix all the ingredients and knead until it is smooth and stretchy.
Let it rest for 1 hour under a dish towel.
Spread pizza dough in an oiled pizza pan.
Bake and serve
Place tofu tomatoes, mushrooms and cut pieces of dried tomatoes on pizza.
Sprinkle oregano on top of pizza.
Cook for 15 minutes at 425°F in a preheated oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Tofu | 100g firm | 76 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Mushrooms | 1/2 cup sliced (35g) | 15 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Oregano | 1 tsp dried (1.8g) | 5 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
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Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,539 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Tomato + oreganotop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,767 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Olive + oreganotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,443 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Oregano + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,449 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Olive + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,571 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the crust its structure and stretch.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during rising, giving the crust its airy texture.
- Mashed tofu
- Adds protein-rich body and moisture to the topping.
- Mushrooms
- Release moisture and savory flavor when roasted in oil.
- Tomatoes
- Add acidity, moisture and tomato flavor to the topping.
- Olive oil
- Adds fat that enriches the dough and helps the crust brown.
The step that matters
Roast the mushrooms until their moisture cooks off. Mushrooms are mostly water. If they go onto the pizza wet, they release liquid during baking, which can make the crust soggy. Browning them first concentrates their flavor.
Swap the oregano
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, olive, tomato, tofu, pepper, mushroom):
- Garlicfits about as well
- Turmericfits about as well
- Thymefits about as well
- Oreganothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, olive, tomato, tofu, pepper, mushroom. 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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