Name: Johnny Mazzetti
Ingredients: 1 1/2 lb ground beef; 2 lb ground pork 6 chopped onion; 6 garlic cloves; 2 cups sliced sweet peppers; 5 cups chopped celery; 2 large cans tomatoes; 2 cans tomato paste; 2 cans tomato soup; 3 cups mushrooms with liquid; 2 cups sliced stuffed olives; 2 cans pimientos, chopped; 1 bunch chopped parsley; 5 cups grated American cheese; 1 1/2 lb wide egg noodles; 4 tbs. oil; 1 tbs. ground pepper; 3 bay leaves; salt to taste

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 ↓

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).
Beef + porktop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,690 recipes

Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Ground beef: Provides savory meaty body and browning in the sauce.
Ground pork: Adds fat and richness to the meat sauce, keeping it moist.
Egg noodles: Form the starchy base layers that hold the sauce and cheese.
Tomato paste: Concentrates tomato flavor and adds thickness and depth to the sauce.
American cheese: Melts into the layers, binding them and browning on top.
Mushrooms: Add moisture and savory, earthy flavor to the sauce.

The step that matters

Simmer the sauce before layering. Simmering lets the tomato and liquids reduce and meld. A thin, watery sauce would soak the noodles and make the casserole loose when baked.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pork, onion, garlic, pepper, celery, tomato):

Thymefits better
Cuminfits better
Oreganofits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pork, onion, garlic, pepper, celery, tomato. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Pork	100g cooked	242
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Soup	not in our table	0

Johnny Mazzetti

Johnny Mazzetti

Ingredients

Directions

Make the meat sauce

Assemble and bake

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)