Name: Pesto Risotto with Seared Shrimp
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: ½ cups FOR THE PESTO:; 2 Tablespoons Fresh Basil Leaves; 2 Tablespoons Toasted Pine Nuts; 1 clove Grated Parmesan Cheese; ¼ cups Garlic, Peeled; ½ pints Olive Oil; 2 Tablespoons Salt To Taste; 3 Tablespoons FOR THE RISOTTO:; ½ whole Cherry Tomatoes, Halved; ½ teaspoons Olive Oil, Or As Needed To Drizzle Over Tomatoes; 2 cloves Salt To Taste; 1 cup Butter; 1 cup Medium Onion, Finely Chopped; 4 cups Crushed Red Pepper; 3 cups Minced Garlic; 1 pound Arborio Rice

Why it works: Basil and pine match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 332 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. 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.

Basil + pinetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together332 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Basil + olivetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,063 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Basil + garlictop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,805 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Basil + clovetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,437 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (basil, pine, clove, parmesan cheese, garlic, olive, cherry tomato):

Chickpeafits better
Lentilsfits better
Beansfits better
Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against basil, pine, clove, parmesan cheese, garlic, olive, cherry tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Pine	1 oz (28g)	191
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cherry	1 cup (138g)	87
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Pesto Risotto with Seared Shrimp