Name: Pasta with Clam Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced; 1 green bell pepper, diced; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 pound fettuccini pasta; 1/2 large head broccoli, cut into florets; 3/4 cup butter, divided; 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese; 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano; 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley; 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; 1 pint heavy cream; 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth; 2 (6.5 ounce) cans minced clams, drained

Why it works: Pasta and broccoli match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 286 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

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.

Pasta + broccolitop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together286 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Oregano + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,184 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Pasta + oreganotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together364 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Broccoli + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together653 recipes

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

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

Swap the oregano

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, pepper, butter, pasta, broccoli, parmesan cheese, parsley):

Capersfits better
Garlicfits better
Thymefits better
Oreganothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, pepper, butter, pasta, broccoli, parmesan cheese, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Pasta	1 cup cooked (140g)	220
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Mushrooms	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1

Pasta with Clam Sauce