Why it works: Pepper and basil match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,292 recipes mention both. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 2Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat, tree nuts (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.
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Arrange the pepper halves cut side up in a baking dish, with the stalks left on.
Put the couscous in a heatproof bowl and pour over boiling water to just cover it. Cover and leave for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
Stir the toasted pine nuts, chopped black olives, crumbled feta, semi-dried tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, and shredded basil into the couscous.
Divide the couscous mixture evenly among the pepper halves, pressing it gently into each one.
Bake for 20 minutes, until the peppers are tender and the filling is heated through. Serve warm.
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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Pepper + basiltop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,292 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,164 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Tomato + basiltop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,979 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Olive + feta cheesetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,438 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
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Pine + basiltop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together332 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the nuts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, pine, olive, feta cheese, tomato, basil):
- Chickpeabetter flavor fit
- Beansbetter flavor fit
- Walnutbetter flavor fit
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, pine, olive, feta cheese, tomato, basil. 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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