Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Fry the sausage or sausage meat until cooked.
Wash the tomatoes and cut a small slice from the stem end of each.
Scoop out the interior of the tomatoes with a teaspoon and chop it finely.
Mix the chopped tomato with the fried sausage, and season with salt and pepper.
Stuff and bake
Stuff the mixture into the tomatoes and place them in a dripping pan.
Dust the tops with cracker or bread crumbs and add a small bit of butter on each.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes.
Transfer the stuffed tomatoes to a hot platter without breaking them.
Make the gravy and serve
For the gravy, place the dripping pan over the fire, stir in the flour, and let it brown.
Add the boiling water and season with salt and pepper; let it boil for 1 minute.
Serve the gravy with the stuffed tomatoes.
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.
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,013 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Meat + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,924 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Form the shell that holds the filling and softens into a juicy base when baked.
- Sausage
- Adds fat and savory flavor to the filling as it cooks and browns.
- Cracker or bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, browned topping over the stuffed tomatoes in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the crumb topping brown.
- Flour
- Thickens the pan drippings into a gravy once it is browned and stirred.
The step that matters
Stir the flour into the drippings and let it brown. Flour cooked in fat must be browned long enough to lose its raw taste and to thicken properly. Adding boiling water before the roux has browned can leave lumps or a pale, floury gravy.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, pepper, bread, butter, flour):
- Shallotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Leekfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, pepper, bread, butter, flour. 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.
More stuffed tomatoes recipes
You might also like
Meatless Tomato Soup23 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.