Name: Roasted Squash and Bacon Pasta
Yield: Serves 4.
Ingredients: 2 lb. butternut or other winter squash, peeled, seeded and cut into small cubes; 1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced; 4 thick-cut bacon slices, cut into 1/2-inch pieces; 2 Tbs. olive oil; 1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh sage; 2 Tbs. salt, plus more, to taste; Freshly ground pepper, to taste; 1 lb. rigatoni or other large pasta shape; 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving

Why it works: Butternut and pasta share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 5 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4.

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

2 lb. butternut or other winter squash, peeled, seeded and cut into small cubes
1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 thick-cut bacon slices, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh sage
2 Tbs. salt, plus more, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 lb. rigatoni or other large pasta shape
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By williamssonoma. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Butternut + pastatop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together5 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Sage + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together5,388 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Olive + cheesetop 5% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together3,530 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Olive + pastatop 5% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together2,153 recipes

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

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together11 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the butternut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, olive, sage, pepper, pasta, cheese):

Beansbetter flavor fit
Chickpeabetter flavor fit
Walnutbetter flavor fit
Butternutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, olive, sage, pepper, pasta, cheese. 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).

One surprising pairing every Sunday. Free.

The Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.