Why it works: Mushroom and chicken are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,172 recipes. Both carry 1-butyl acetate, which smells fruity, banana. The science ↓
Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Wash and dry the tomatoes.
Cut off the tops without detaching them to use as covers.
Scoop out the insides of each tomato and season with a little salt and pepper.
Set aside.
Make the filling
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes until browned, being careful not to burn.
Add the mushrooms and chopped chicken livers and season with salt and pepper.
Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the insides of the tomatoes, bread crumbs, and chopped parsley, then cook for 2 more minutes.
Transfer to a bowl to cool.
Stuff and cook
Stuff the emptied tomatoes with the mixture.
Replace the tops.
Cook for 18 minutes.
Serve hot.
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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Mushroom + chickentop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,172 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Tomato + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,719 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Hold the filling as shells and provide moisture and acidity to the finished dish.
- Chicken livers
- Add rich, savoury flavour and a tender, soft texture to the filling.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid from the filling so it holds together rather than running out.
- Onion
- Builds sweetness and savoury depth as it cooks down into the filling.
- Mushrooms
- Add moisture and earthy flavour to the filling.
The step that matters
Cook the onion gently. Onion cooked too hot burns and turns bitter before it softens and sweetens, which flavours the whole filling. Medium heat and attention let its sugars develop gradually.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, butter, mushroom, chicken, liver, bread, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, butter, mushroom, chicken, liver, bread, pepper. 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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