Why it works: Feta cheese and cottage cheese share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 20 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
The recipe
36 pastriesIngredients
Contains: egg, 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.
Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Let it cool slightly.
In a bowl, mix the cooled onion, squeezed-dry spinach, crumbled feta, cottage cheese, beaten egg and salt until evenly combined.
Stack the phyllo sheets, keeping under a damp towel the ones you are not using. Cut the stack into strips about 2.5 inches (6 cm) wide.
Brush one phyllo strip lightly with melted butter. Place a spoonful of filling on one end, fold a corner over to form a triangle, and keep folding along the strip.
Repeat with the remaining phyllo and filling, placing the triangles on the prepared baking sheet and brushing each with more melted butter.
Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown and the filling is hot throughout, reaching 160°F (71°C) in the center, then 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.
-
Feta cheese + cottage cheesetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together20 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
-
Olive + feta cheesetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,438 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
-
Spinach + feta cheesetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together374 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Cottage cheese + buttertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together376 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
-
Onion + feta cheesetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,030 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, spinach, feta cheese, cottage cheese, egg, phyllo dough, butter):
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
- Potatoabout as good a flavor fit
- Cucumberabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, spinach, feta cheese, cottage cheese, egg, phyllo dough, butter. 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).
The Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.