Why it works: Fennel and pasta work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 49 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
The recipe
8 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then cook the linguine according to the package directions until just tender, about 9 to 11 minutes. Drain, reserving a splash of the cooking water.
Trim the fennel bulbs, halve them, remove the cores, and thinly slice. Thinly slice the onions.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the fennel and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes until softened and lightly golden.
Pour in the white wine and simmer for about 3 minutes until reduced by about half.
Stir in the diced tomatoes and cook for about 2 minutes until just warmed through.
Toast the pine nuts in a dry small skillet over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, shaking often, until golden. Set aside.
Add the drained linguine and lemon juice to the skillet with a splash of the reserved cooking water. Toss over low heat for about 1 minute until coated.
Divide the pasta among bowls, top with the shaved Parmesan and toasted pine nuts, and serve warm.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Fennel + pastatop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together49 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,164 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Fennel + lemontop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together723 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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White wine + plumtop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Pasta + tomatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together1,620 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the plum
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fennel, onion, olive, white wine, pasta, tomato, lemon):
- Avocadobetter flavor fit
- Orangebetter flavor fit
- Limebetter flavor fit
- Plumthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fennel, onion, olive, white wine, pasta, tomato, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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