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Pappardelle and Provençal Sauce

Pappardelle served with a Provençal sauce of onions, zucchini, bell pepper, tomatoes, and red wine.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Pappardelle and Provençal Sauce

Time5-7 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Cut each onion into eight wedges through the root end, to hold them together during cooking.

  2. Put the onions into a saucepan with the stock and garlic.

  3. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes until tender.

Make the sauce

  1. Add the red wine, zucchini, yellow pepper, tomatoes, thyme, sugar and seasoning.

  2. Bring to a boil and cook gently for 5-7 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to coat the vegetables with the sauce.

  3. Do NOT overcook the vegetables; they are much nicer if they remain slightly crunchy.

Cook the pasta and serve

  1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water according to the package instructions, until al dente.

  2. Drain thoroughly.

  3. Transfer the pasta to warmed serving plates and top with the vegetables.

  4. Garnish with fresh thyme and chopped black olives.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

469Calories
14 gProtein
3 gFat
95 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Red Onion1 medium (110g)44
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)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. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

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

  5. Garlic + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,608 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Red onions
Soften and sweeten as they cook, giving the sauce body and mild sweetness.
Red wine
Adds acidity and depth of flavour to the sauce as it reduces.
Zucchini
Contributes moisture and tender texture to the vegetable topping.
Yellow bell pepper
Adds sweetness and a fresh, vegetal flavour to the sauce.
Canned tomatoes
Provide the main liquid, acidity and body of the sauce.
Pappardelle
Carries the sauce, with its broad ribbons holding the vegetables well.

The step that matters

Do not overcook the vegetables. Zucchini and pepper turn soft and watery with long cooking, losing their texture and fresh flavour. Keeping them slightly crunchy preserves structure and keeps the sauce from becoming mushy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, clove, red wine, wine, pepper, tomato, thyme):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Eggplantfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, clove, red wine, wine, pepper, tomato, thyme. 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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