Why it works: Prosciutto and basil work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and 134 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 4Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add the salt for pasta water and the olive oil for pasta water. Add the linguine and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes.
While the pasta cooks, melt the sweet cream butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped basil and stir for about 1 minute to infuse the butter.
Pour in the white wine and simmer for about 2 minutes until it reduces slightly.
Tear the sliced prosciutto into strips and add to the skillet. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, just until warmed through and lightly crisp at the edges. Prosciutto is cured, so heating is enough.
Drain the linguine, reserving a ladle of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the skillet and toss well with the sauce, loosening with a splash of the reserved cooking water as needed.
Season with pepper to taste, toss once more, and serve hot.
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.
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Prosciutto + basiltop 14% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together134 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Basil + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,292 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Olive + basiltop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,868 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + white winetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,039 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Cream + buttertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41,494 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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