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Ham and Tomato Timbales

A baked dish of tomato pulp, ham, eggs, and breadcrumbs, set in a mold and served with tomato sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Ham and Tomato Timbales

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

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

  2. In a bowl, combine the tomato pulp, egg yolks, salt, pepper, minced ham, and bread crumbs.

  3. Beat the egg whites until stiff and gently fold them into the mixture.

  4. Pour the mixture into a buttered mold.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the mold in a pan of hot water, ensuring the water comes nearly to the edge of the mold.

  2. Bake until the center is firm.

  3. Invert onto a hot dish and garnish with watercress.

  4. Serve with tomato sauce.

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. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  2. Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  3. Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,013 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 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

Egg whites
Beaten until stiff, they trap air and give the timbales a light, airy structure.
Egg yolks
Enrich the mixture and help it set into a tender, sliceable custard when baked.
Tomato pulp
Provides the main moisture and tomato flavour of the timbales.
Minced ham
Adds savoury flavour and substance to the mixture.
Day-old bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and help give the mixture body so it holds its shape.

The step that matters

Placing the mold in a pan of hot water. The hot water bath surrounds the mold with gentle, even heat, so the egg custard sets evenly without curdling or cracking at the edges.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, pepper, ham, bread):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Mustardfits about as well
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, ham, bread. 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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