Name: Creamy Macaroni with Asparagus Without the Cream
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 1/4 cup olive oil; 1 large clove garlic, crushed; 1 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces; 3/4 pound ditalini pasta; salt and pepper to taste; 4 cups boiling water, or as needed; 3 eggs, beaten; 3/4 cup grated Romano cheese (such as Locatelli®; 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish

Why it works: Asparagus and pasta match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 116 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Creamy Macaroni with Asparagus Without the Cream

6 servings

Prep15 min

Cook15 min

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
3/4 pound ditalini pasta
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups boiling water, or as needed
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup grated Romano cheese (such as Locatelli®
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

568Calories

25 gProtein

30 gFat

52 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pasta	1 cup cooked (140g)	220
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Romano Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Asparagus	6 spears (90g)	27
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	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.

Asparagus + pastatop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together116 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Garlic + pastatop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,079 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Olive + pastatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,227 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, garlic, asparagus, pasta, pepper, egg, romano cheese):

Capersfits better
Parsleyfits better
Basilfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, garlic, asparagus, pasta, pepper, egg, romano cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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