Why it works: Cheese and bread match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,130 recipes mention both. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
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
Break spaghetti into pieces about 3 inches long.
Boil spaghetti in salted water for 20 minutes.
Assemble and bake
In a pudding pan, layer spaghetti, cheese, and tomatoes alternately. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 40 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Cheese + breadtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Tomato + beeftop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,445 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + peppertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together17,913 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + peppertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + breadtop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,013 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
- Spaghetti
- Forms the bulk of the dish and gives it structure as it cooks and bakes.
- Tomatoes
- Add moisture and acidity that flavour the layers as they cook down.
- Beef stock
- Adds savoury depth and moisture to the layers.
- Cheese
- Melts into the layers, adding richness and fat.
“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.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.