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Italian Pie

A savory pie of veal and ham with herbs, stock, and cream, topped with puff pastry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,485 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Italian Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. In a pie dish, layer the veal slices at the bottom.

  3. Sprinkle the thyme, parsley, sage, white pepper, cayenne, and salt over the veal.

  4. Add the cooked ham slices on top.

  5. Distribute forcemeat balls and hard-boiled egg yolks throughout the dish.

  6. Pour in the white stock.

Cover and bake

  1. Cover with puff pastry, making a removable ornament in the center.

  2. Bake for 1.5 hours.

Serve

  1. When ready to serve, pour in the heavy cream.

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. Thyme + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Parsley + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,445 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  5. Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,388 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal
Forms the main meaty body of the pie and becomes tender during slow baking.
Cooked ham
Adds salty, savory flavor that seasons the layers of meat.
White stock
Provides moisture that keeps the filling juicy as it bakes.
Heavy cream
Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture to the finished pie.
Puff pastry
Bakes into a flaky, golden crust that encloses the filling.
Dried thyme
Contributes an earthy, aromatic herbal flavor to the meat.

The step that matters

Cutting the central vent in the pastry. The removable ornament in the center lets steam escape during baking. Without an opening, trapped steam can lift the pastry unevenly or push filling out of the dish.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, thyme, parsley, sage, pepper, cream):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Winter savoryfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, thyme, parsley, sage, pepper, cream. 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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