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Eyeballs and Worms

A pasta dish with sautéed red bell pepper, carrot, garlic, tomatoes, olives, and pasta.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Eyeballs and Worms

Time7 to 10 minutes for the vegetables

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the pepper and carrot. Mince the garlic.

Make the sauce

  1. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat.

  2. Add the chopped pepper, carrot, garlic, and salt.

  3. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 7 to 10 minutes.

  4. Stir in stewed tomatoes and tomato paste, reduce heat to low and cook 5 minutes longer.

Cook and serve

  1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until just done.

  2. Drain the pasta.

  3. Add the pasta to the sauce with the olives and toss.

  4. Taste and add salt if needed. Serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

212Calories
3 gProtein
15 gFat
19 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Olive1 large (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.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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. Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Red bell pepper
Softens into the sauce and adds sweetness and body as it cooks down.
Stewed tomatoes
Provide the liquid and acidity that form the body of the sauce.
Tomato paste
Adds concentrated tomato flavor and thickens the sauce.
Perciatelli or spaghetti
Forms the bulk of the dish and soaks up the sauce.
Green olives
Add salty, briny flavor that contrasts with the sweet vegetables.

The step that matters

Cook the pasta until just done. Pasta keeps softening after draining and while tossed in hot sauce, so pulling it at the just-done point keeps its texture firm rather than mushy.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, carrot, garlic, tomato, olive):

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

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

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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