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Baked Ziti Primavera

"This is a vegetarian baked ziti recipe that I created for a Cub Scout potluck banquet, hence the large serving size."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Olive and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,164 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

The recipe

24 servings
Prep30 min
Cook1 hr 30 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk (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.

  1. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, cook the ziti until just tender, about 10 minutes, then drain.

  2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini and both mushrooms and cook until softened and the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes.

  3. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in the drained diced tomatoes and the first portion of Italian seasoning, then season with salt and black pepper.

  4. Meanwhile, boil the baby carrots in a pan of boiling water until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and chop them coarsely.

  5. Add the spinach and carrots to the skillet and stir until the spinach wilts, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

  6. In a bowl, mix the ricotta with half the shredded Italian cheese blend, the second portion of Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

  7. Combine all the spaghetti sauce in a bowl. Spread a thin layer in a large baking dish, then layer half the ziti, half the ricotta mixture, half the vegetables and sauce. Repeat once more.

  8. Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and bake about 15 minutes more until bubbling and golden. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together14,164 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Garlic + tomatotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together14,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Spinach + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together2,433 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hexanol (resin, flower).

  4. Olive + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together23,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Carrot + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,597 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 carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, ricotta cheese, spinach, olive, mushroom, garlic, tomato):

  1. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  2. Eggplantbetter flavor fit
  3. Potatobetter flavor fit
  4. Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, ricotta cheese, spinach, olive, mushroom, garlic, tomato. 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).