Name: Cheese and Pesto Spread
Prep time: 20 min
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients: 1 cup firmly packed basil leaves; 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts; 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic; 6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese; 6 tablespoons grated Romano cheese; 1/3 cup olive oil; 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened; 1 (12 ounce) package Brie cheese; 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Why it works: Romano cheese and cream cheese share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Cheese and Pesto Spread

12 servings

Prep20 min

Ingredients

1 cup firmly packed basil leaves
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
6 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
1/3 cup olive oil
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (12 ounce) package Brie cheese
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

827Calories

31 gProtein

77 gFat

9 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pine	1 oz (28g)	191
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Romano Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Cream Cheese	1 oz (28g)	99
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Brie	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Romano cheese + cream cheesetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Parmesan cheese + romano cheesetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together103 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Parmesan cheese + cream cheesetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together311 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Basil + pinetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together332 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (basil, pine, garlic, parmesan cheese, romano cheese, olive, cream cheese):

Walnutfits better
Beansfits better
Sesamefits better
Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against basil, pine, garlic, parmesan cheese, romano cheese, olive, cream cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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