Name: Potato Gnocchi with Pork and Wild Mushroom Ragù
Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms*; 1 1/2 cups boiling water; 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided; 8 ounces sliced crimini (baby bella) mushrooms; 2 garlic cloves, minced; Coarse kosher salt; 2 1/2 cups dry white wine, divided; 1 pound boneless country-style pork ribs, cut into 1/2-inch cubes; 2 ounces 1/4-inch-thick slices coppa or prosciutto, chopped; 6 ounces fresh mild Italian sausages, casings removed (about 2 links); 1 medium onion, finely chopped; 1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped; 1 celery stalk, finely chopped; 2 cups crushed tomatoes or crushed tomatoes with added puree (from one 28-ounce can; preferably San Marzano or Muir Glen); 1 cup (or more) low-salt chicken broth; 2 bay leaves; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil; 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. 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.

Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Mushroom + white winetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,765 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
Mushroom + garlictop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,700 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Mushroom + olivetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,571 recipes

Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

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 (mushroom, olive, garlic, white wine, pork, prosciutto, onion):

Thymefits better
Rosemaryfits better
Basilfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, olive, garlic, white wine, pork, prosciutto, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sausage	100g cooked	301
Pork	100g cooked	242
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Porcini	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Potato Gnocchi with Pork and Wild Mushroom Ragù