Name: Sautéed Mushroom and Pancetta Bruschetta Recipe
Cook time: 55 min
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients: 8 ounces crusty Italian bread , cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices; 2 tablespoons olive oil; Kosher salt; Freshly ground black pepper; 1 medium garlic clove; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 3 ounces pancetta , small dice (about 1/2 cup); 1 pound cremini mushrooms , stems trimmed and sliced 1/4 inch thick; 1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh thyme leaves; 1/4 cup Marsala wine; 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar; 1/3 cup heavy cream; Kosher salt; Freshly ground black pepper

Why it works: Clove and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,108 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. 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.

Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 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).
Garlic + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,608 recipes

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

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

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, olive, pepper, garlic, mushroom, thyme, wine):

Rosemaryfits better
Marjoramfits better
Parsleyfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, olive, pepper, garlic, mushroom, thyme, wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Sautéed Mushroom and Pancetta Bruschetta Recipe