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Mushroom Scallops

Mushroom scallops are stuffed mushroom caps filled with a savory mixture of ham, shallot, tomato sauce, and breadcrumbs, baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Mushroom and shallot are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,982 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Mushroom Scallops

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth, then remove the stems and skins.

  2. Mince the mushrooms finely.

  3. Peel and chop the shallot.

Make the filling

  1. Melt half the butter in a pan.

  2. Fry the shallot and chopped ham until softened.

  3. Add the tomato sauce, madeira wine, cream, and breadcrumbs.

  4. Season with pepper and salt to taste.

Fill and bake

  1. Fill the well-buttered mushroom shells with the mixture.

  2. Cover the filled shells with breadcrumbs and sprinkle with parsley.

  3. Dot the remaining butter on top of the filled shells.

  4. Bake in a very hot oven (400°F / 200°C) for a few minutes until the surface is browned.

  5. Garnish with parsley and serve.

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. Mushroom + shallottop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,982 recipes

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

  2. Mushroom + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,719 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

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

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Mushrooms
Form the shells that hold the filling and become tender when baked.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the surface brown in the oven.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb liquid in the filling and form a browned crust on top.
Madeira wine
Adds depth and a sweet, aromatic flavour to the filling.
Tomato sauce
Provides moisture and acidity to the filling.
Cream
Adds richness and a smoother texture to the filling.

The step that matters

Bake until the surface is browned. The baking time is only a few minutes in a very hot oven, so the surface can go from pale to over-browned quickly. Watching the top keeps the crumbs golden while the filling heats through.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, shallot, ham, butter, cream, sauce, madeira wine):

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Mustardfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, shallot, ham, butter, cream, sauce, madeira wine. 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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