Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Baked Tomatoes Stuffed with Macaroni
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cut the tops off the tomatoes and scoop out the insides.
Fill and bake
In a bowl, mix the cooked macaroni, cheese, butter, salt, and pepper.
Stuff the mixture into the hollowed tomatoes.
Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top.
Place the tomatoes in a baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes.
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.
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Tomato + cheesetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,896 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,861 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Serve as the hollow shell that holds the filling while baking, and release moisture as they soften.
- Cooked macaroni
- Forms the bulk of the filling, giving it body and a starchy, soft texture.
- Grated cheese
- Melts into the filling, binding the macaroni and adding richness and savory flavor.
- Butter
- Adds fat that enriches the filling and carries flavor.
- Breadcrumbs
- Sprinkled on top, they toast in the oven to add a golden, crisp finish.
The step that matters
Scoop out the tomatoes fully and bake until tender. Removing the inner pulp leaves a sturdy shell and room for the filling. Tomatoes are mostly water, so baking long enough softens the walls and cooks the filling through without the shell collapsing.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits about as well
- Mustardfits about as well
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, butter, pepper. 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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