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Spaghetti with Radicchio and Bacon

The original version of this dish, developed by Venetian writer and gondola restorer Paolo Lanapoppi, is meatless, but this recipe includes bacon; its sweet, smoky flavor pairs so well with the pleasantly bitter radicchio and a generous dusting of freshly ground pepper.

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Spaghetti with Radicchio and Bacon

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 ↓

Spaghetti with Radicchio and Bacon

Serves 4.

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

217Calories
5 gProtein
17 gFat
13 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Radicchionot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  3. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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 (olive, garlic, onion, parsley, pepper):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Basilfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, garlic, onion, parsley, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.