Name: Tunisian Meat Pie
Ingredients: 1 large onion, chopped; 1 lb. lean ground beef chuck; 2 Tbs vegetable oil; 1 1/2 cup cooked mashed potatoes; 2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped; 2 Tbs parsley, chopped; salt & pepper, to taste; 1/2 tsp garlic powder; 4 eggs, lightly beaten

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Tunisian Meat Pie

Oven375°F

Time45 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a skillet, brown onion and meat in oil; remove from heat.

Make the filling

Mix in potatoes, chopped eggs, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Stir in beaten eggs; blend well.
Place mixture into a lightly greased 9‑inch round pan or an ovenproof casserole.

Bake and serve

Bake for 45 minutes.
Serve in wedges.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

663Calories

38 gProtein

34 gFat

50 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + garlictop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,517 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Parsley + garlictop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,308 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Beaten eggs bind the filling together and set it into a sliceable pie as they cook.
Ground beef chuck: Provides the main savoury body and richness of the filling.
Mashed potatoes: Add moisture and body, keeping the filling soft and tender when baked.
Onion: Browned in oil to build sweet, savoury depth of flavour.

The step that matters

Stir in beaten eggs; blend well.. Eggs only bind the filling if they are evenly distributed. Unmixed pockets of raw egg can leave the pie uneven or loose in texture once it sets in the oven.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, potato, egg, parsley, pepper, garlic):

Chivefits better
Spinachfits about as well
Carrotfits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, potato, egg, parsley, pepper, garlic. 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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Tunisian Meat Pie