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Penne with Ricotta Cheese and Greens

Cooking greens are abundant in spring. Here, Tuscan kale (also know as black kale) adds freshness to pasta. Fresh ricotta makes a satisfyingly easy sauce; look for it at Italian delis and upscale markets.

By williamssonoma · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Penne with Ricotta Cheese and Greens

Why it works: Kale and shallot share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 42 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Penne with Ricotta Cheese and Greens

Serves 2.

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

442Calories
20 gProtein
33 gFat
15 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Ricotta Cheese1/2 cup (124g) part-skim174
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Shallot1 tbsp minced (10g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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. Kale + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together42 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

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

  3. Thyme + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,476 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Kale + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together93 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Olive + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,948 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

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

Swap the kale

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, thyme, shallot, lemon, cheese, milk, ricotta cheese):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Tomatofits about as well
  4. Kalethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, thyme, shallot, lemon, cheese, milk, ricotta cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.