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 ↓
Macaroni and Tomato
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Break the macaroni into pieces.
Fill a dry soup tureen one third full with the broken macaroni.
Rinse the macaroni and soak it in cold water for one hour.
Boil the tomatoes in a covered saucepan for ten minutes.
Bring water to a boil in a large kettle.
Add the salt to the boiling water.
Add the macaroni to the boiling water and cook for twenty minutes or until tender.
Cream the butter and beat in the flour until smooth.
Make the tomato sauce
Strain the boiled tomatoes.
Press the strained tomatoes through a strainer to remove skins and seeds.
Return the strained tomatoes to the pan.
Boil the tomatoes again.
Stir in the butter mixture until smooth.
Season the sauce with salt and pepper.
Serve
Drain the macaroni in a colander and transfer it to the tureen.
Serve the tomato sauce in a smaller tureen or gravy boat.
Pour the sauce over the macaroni in soup plates.
Offer grated Parmesan cheese on the side.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,163 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Tomato + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,490 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + parmesan cheesetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,322 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroni
- Forms the bulk of the dish and gives it a firm, chewy bite when cooked until tender.
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body, acidity and flavour of the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds richness and smooth mouthfeel to the sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce when cooked with the butter, giving it body.
The step that matters
Stir the butter and flour mixture into the tomatoes. Flour thickens only when its starch is hydrated and heated, so the sauce should be kept at a boil and stirred until smooth to avoid lumps and a raw floury taste.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, pepper, parmesan cheese):
- Spinachfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Chivefits about as well
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, pepper, parmesan cheese. 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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