Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the onion
Blanch the sliced onion in boiling water.
Fry the blanched onion in fat until lightly browned.
Layer and bake
In a pie dish, layer the onions, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Add a layer of sliced tomatoes, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and dot with butter.
Repeat layers until the dish is nearly full.
Spread the mashed potatoes thickly over the top to form a crust, scoring with a fork.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until the top is brown.
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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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,798 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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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Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 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
- Onion
- Softens when blanched and fried, adding sweetness and savory depth to the layers.
- Ripe tomatoes
- Add moisture and acidity that brighten the filling as they cook.
- Mashed potatoes
- Form a thick, starchy topping that sets into a crust and browns in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, helping the top brown as it melts over the layers.
The step that matters
Bake until the top is brown. The potato topping must brown fully for flavor and a set crust; pulling it early leaves the filling wet and pale, while over-baking dries the potatoes.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, pepper, butter, potato):
- Chivefits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits about as well
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, pepper, butter, potato. 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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