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Stuffed Tomatoes

Stuffed tomatoes filled with a mixture of beef, ham, parsley, onion, crackers, and butter, baked until tender.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Stuffed Tomatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the filling

  1. Cut off the stem of each tomato and remove the seeds and pulp.

  2. Chop the seeds and pulp finely and mix with the ham, parsley, and onion.

  3. Add salt, pepper, and crackers to the mixture. If too stiff, thin with a little water or soup stock.

Fill and bake

  1. Fill the tomatoes with the mixture, top with cracker crumbs and small pieces of butter.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

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.

  1. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Tomato + beeftop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,448 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,398 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Form the hollow shell that holds the filling and softens as it bakes.
Tenderloin (beef)
Adds savory meaty body and richness to the filling.
Crackers
Bind the filling and absorb moisture so it holds its shape.
Butter
Adds fat that melts over the top, aiding browning and flavor.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and depth to the filling.

The step that matters

Thinning the filling. Crackers absorb liquid and stiffen the mixture, so adding a little water or stock when it is too stiff keeps the filling moist enough to spread and cook through rather than drying out in the oven.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, beef, ham, parsley, onion, butter):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, beef, ham, parsley, onion, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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