Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the tomatoes
Cut off the tops of the tomatoes and scoop out the pulp, placing the empty skins in a pie plate.
Make the filling
Fry the bacon until slightly browned but not crisp, then chop it with a meat chopper.
In a bowl, combine the chopped bacon, onion, parsley, red pepper, salt, tomato pulp, and bread crumbs.
Cook the mixture in the pan used for the bacon for a few minutes until the onions are half cooked.
Stir in the beaten egg quickly to mix well.
Bake
Fill the tomato shells with the mixture and cover the tops with additional bread crumbs.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 25 minutes.
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.
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,398 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Their shells hold the filling, and their pulp adds moisture and tomato flavour to the stuffing.
- Bacon
- Its rendered fat and browned flavour season the filling and coat the onion and pepper.
- Bread crumbs
- They absorb the tomato juices and bind the filling, and they brown on top in the oven.
- Egg
- As it sets during baking, it binds the filling so it holds its shape when sliced.
- Onion
- Softened during cooking, it adds sweetness and savoury depth to the filling.
The step that matters
Stirring in the beaten egg. Adding the egg to a hot mixture can start to scramble it unevenly. Stirring quickly keeps it distributed, so it sets evenly as a binder during baking.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, parsley, pepper, bread, egg):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, parsley, pepper, bread, egg. 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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