Why it works: Pasta and spinach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 376 recipes mention both. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 3Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the pesto, or the mustard or harissa, or the chopped fresh herbs, and whisk until combined.
Stir in the spring onions, the cooked pasta or chopped cooked potato, the leftovers and the chosen vegetables until evenly distributed.
Heat the vegetable oil in a 20 cm (8 inch) nonstick ovenproof frying pan over medium-low heat.
Pour in the egg mixture and spread it evenly. Cook 8 to 10 minutes until the edges are set and the base is golden.
Meanwhile, preheat the grill to high. Cooked meats, sausage and fish only need to be heated through.
Place the pan under the grill for 2 to 3 minutes until the top is set and lightly browned. The centre must reach 160°F (71°C).
Rest for 2 minutes, then cut into wedges. Serve with the tomato salad if using; it is optional.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Pasta + spinachtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together376 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Spinach + tomatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,350 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Pasta + tomatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together1,620 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Onion + tomatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together20,622 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + oniontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,243 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the tomato
The recipe marks tomato as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, mustard, cheese, onion, pasta, spinach):
- Chivebetter flavor fit
- Broccolibetter flavor fit
- Asparagusbetter flavor fit
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, mustard, cheese, onion, pasta, spinach. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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