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 with Tomatoes and Gravy
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the pasta
Break the spaghetti into 3-inch pieces and place in a saucepan with boiling water.
Boil quickly for about 20 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally or loosening with a fork if it sticks.
When tender, pour into a colander.
Place the drained spaghetti over a pot of boiling water to keep hot.
Make the sauce
In a separate pot, combine canned tomatoes, desiccated soup, butter, flour, salt, and pepper.
Boil until creamy.
Serve
Place the spaghetti in a hot serving dish and pour the sauce over it.
Grate Parmesan cheese on top.
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.
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
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).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
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
- Spaghetti
- Forms the body of the dish, giving a firm, chewy bite once cooked through.
- Canned tomatoes
- Provide the acidity, moisture and base flavor that the sauce is built on.
- Desiccated soup
- Adds concentrated savory flavor and seasoning to the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, smoothing the sauce's texture and mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as it boils, making it creamy rather than watery.
The step that matters
Boil the sauce until creamy. Flour needs to boil for a while to fully thicken and lose its raw starchy taste. Stopping early leaves the sauce thin and floury, while boiling too hard can scorch the bottom of the pot.
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.
More macaroni with tomato sauce recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipes
Macaroni and Cheese102 recipes
Tomato Bisque61 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.