Name: Fried Lasagna Bites
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients: 14 to 16 manicotti shells; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for frying; 1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed; 1/2 pound ground beef; 1 white onion, diced (about 1/4 cup); 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning; 1/4 cup chopped basil leaves; 1 tablespoon ground black pepper; 2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce; 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes; 1 pound shredded mozzarella; 1 quart cottage cheese, strained; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 3 eggs, beaten; 2 cups plain bread crumbs

Why it works: Basil and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,979 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. 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.

Basil + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,979 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Basil + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,294 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,448 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

Swap the basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, pepper, tomato, sauce, cottage cheese, flour):

Garlicfits better
Cuminfits about as well
Celeryfits about as well
Basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, pepper, tomato, sauce, cottage cheese, flour. 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
Beef	100g cooked	250
Pork	100g cooked	242
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cottage Cheese	1/2 cup (113g) 2%	98
Mozzarella Cheese	1 oz (28g)	85
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1

Fried Lasagna Bites