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Vegetarian Roast

A baked vegetarian roast made from granola, peanuts, nut butter, tomato, and herbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Sage and mint match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 138 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Vegetarian Roast

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the loaf

  1. Mix the granola, chopped peanuts, and nut butter with the strained tomato.

  2. Season with salt, sage, and mint.

  3. Press the mixture into a brick-shaped tin.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about one hour, or until dry enough to slice.

  2. Serve with lentil gravy.

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. Sage + minttop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together138 recipes

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

  2. Peanut + tomatotop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together315 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Tomato + minttop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together828 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Tomato + sagetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together417 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  5. Peanut + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,754 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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

What each ingredient does

Granola
Forms the bulk of the loaf and gives it a crisp, toasted texture when baked.
Protose (or mashed baked peanuts)
Adds protein-rich body and a firm, chewy texture that holds the loaf together.
Nut butter
Adds fat and richness, helping bind the mixture and keep it moist.
Strained tomato
Supplies liquid that moistens the dry granola and adds mild acidity and savoury flavour.

The step that matters

Bake until dry enough to slice. The loaf is moist when pressed into the tin, and baking drives off water so it sets firm. Underbaking leaves it crumbly or soft and hard to slice, so check that it feels dry before cutting.

Swap the peanut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, tomato, sage, mint):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Peasfits better
  3. Chickpeafits better
  4. Peanutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, tomato, sage, mint. 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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