Name: Roasted Acorn Squash with Orzo Stuffing Recipe
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 3 medium acorn squash (about 1 1/2 pounds each), halved lengthwise and seeds removed; 3 tablespoons unsalted olive oil; 1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar; 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped; 2 medium shallots, finely chopped; 4 celery stalks, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves; 2 cups cooked whole grain orzo (1 cup uncooked); 2/3 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped; 1/4 cup dried cherries, finely chopped; 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed; 1/2 pound ground turkey

Why it works: Shallot and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,476 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

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.

Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,476 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Celery + thymetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,193 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Olive + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,948 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,171 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Swap the pecans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (acorn, olive, sugar, onion, shallot, celery, thyme):

Black-eyed peafits better
Chestnutfits better
Lentilsfits better
Pecansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against acorn, olive, sugar, onion, shallot, celery, thyme. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cherry	1 cup (138g)	87
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Pecan	1 half (4g)	20
Celery Stalks	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0
Seed	not in our table	0

Roasted Acorn Squash with Orzo Stuffing Recipe