Name: Ziti with Poblanos and Chipotle Sauce
Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 large onion, thinly sliced (2 1/4 cups); 1/2 pound fresh poblano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and thinly sliced lengthwise; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 cup chopped bottled roasted red peppers; 1 pound ziti or penne; 1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotles in adobo; 1 1/2 cups sour cream; 1 cup chopped scallions (about 1 bunch); 1/4 cup chopped cilantro; raw green (hulled) pumpkin seeds (),

Why it works: Onion and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 29,779 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

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.

Onion + olivetop 8% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together29,779 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Olive + pumpkintop 9% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together2,108 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Olive + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together30,263 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Onion + pumpkintop 14% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together1,889 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 pumpkin

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

Avocadobetter flavor fit
Limebetter flavor fit
Lemonbetter flavor fit
Pumpkinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, olive, pepper, cream. 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).

Ziti with Poblanos and Chipotle Sauce