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Asparagus Casserole

A baked casserole of asparagus, boiled eggs, cheese, cracker crumbs, and cream sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,787 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Asparagus Casserole

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Grease a baking dish.

Layer and bake

  1. Layer asparagus, sliced boiled eggs, cheese, and cracker crumbs in the dish.

  2. Pour cream sauce over the layers.

  3. Repeat the layers, finishing with cheese and cracker crumbs on top.

  4. Cover with cream sauce and bake at 350°F (175°C) until heated through.

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.

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. Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

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

  3. Cheese + creamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Asparagus + cheesetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together219 recipes

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

  5. Asparagus + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,338 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Asparagus
Supplies the main vegetable flavor and tender texture in the layers.
Boiled eggs
Add body and richness, and their proteins set lightly as the dish heats.
Cheese
Melts into the layers and browns on top for savory flavor.
Cream sauce
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the layers from drying out in the oven.
Cracker crumbs
Add texture and absorb moisture, becoming crisp and golden on top.

The step that matters

Bake until heated through. The eggs and cream sauce need to heat all the way through so the sauce thickens evenly and the cheese melts. Stopping early leaves the centre cool and loose.

Swap the asparagus

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, pepper, cheese, cream, sauce):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardfits about as well
  3. Spinachfits about as well
  4. Asparagusthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, cheese, cream, sauce. 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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