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Tomato Rice Au Gratin

A baked dish of rice simmered in tomato sauce, seasoned with pepper, topped with cheese, butter, breadcrumbs, and baked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Rice and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,990 recipes mention both. Both carry trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Also mentioned in the method: breadcrumbs, bread

Directions

Cook the rice

  1. Put six ounces raw rice in a saucepan with 1 pint tomato sauce (or cold stewed tomatoes), 1 pint broth, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3 saltspoons pepper.

  2. Mix well and boil for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Bake and serve

  1. Add 2 ounces grated cheese with 1 ounce butter, stir in well, and transfer to a baking dish.

  2. Sprinkle bread crumbs and bits of butter on top.

  3. Bake in oven for 12 minutes.

  4. It may also be used as stuffing for whole tomatoes baked.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Rice + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,990 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  2. Tomato + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together17,913 recipes

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

  3. Tomato + cheesetop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,892 recipes

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

  4. Rice + cheesetop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together937 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Rice + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together8,100 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Raw rice
Forms the bulk of the dish and thickens as it absorbs the liquid while boiling.
Tomato sauce
Supplies the liquid and the tomato flavour that the rice absorbs.
Grated cheese
Melts into the rice to add richness and savoury flavour, and browns on top in the oven.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat and richness, helping the top crust brown in the oven.

The step that matters

Boiling the rice until tender. The rice must absorb the liquid and soften fully during the 35 minutes of boiling, because it cannot finish cooking properly in the oven once the dish is assembled and baked for only 12 minutes.

“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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