Skip to main content
Main

Monastery Stew

A Bulgarian vegetarian stew of potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, olives, mushrooms, rice, and herbs simmered in oil and wine.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Monastery Stew

Time15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stew

  1. Cook the finely chopped onions, carrots and celery in the oil and some water.

  2. Add the small onions, olives, mushrooms and pepper.

  3. Pour over the wine and 1 cupful of water, salt and simmer until tender.

  4. Add the diced potatoes and rice, followed by tomato pieces after 15 minutes.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the dish into a baking dish or earthware pot, sprinkle with parsley and bake.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

515Calories
14 gProtein
2 gFat
109 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Mushrooms1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Olive1 large (4g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Sunflower Oilnot 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. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

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

  3. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Starchy body that thickens the stew and holds its shape as it simmers.
Rice
Absorbs liquid and adds body, thickening the stew as it cooks.
Mushrooms
Add savory, earthy depth and moisture to the stew.
Olives
Add briny, savory flavor that contrasts with the sweet vegetables.
White wine
Adds acidity and aromatic depth to the simmering liquid.
Tomatoes
Add acidity, moisture and savory flavor to the sauce.

The step that matters

Add the tomatoes after 15 minutes. Tomatoes added too early break down completely and dull the fresh flavor, while adding them late keeps some texture and brightness. Timing them with the potatoes and rice keeps the vegetables from turning mushy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, tomato, carrot, celery, olive, mushroom, rice):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, tomato, carrot, celery, olive, mushroom, rice. 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.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesPotato CroquettesPotato Croquettes255 recipesCarrot SoupCarrot Soup134 recipesCream of Celery SoupCream of Celery Soup113 recipes