Name: Pasta Primavera I
Ingredients: 1 can cream of mushroom soup; ½ cup milk; 3 tbsp Parmesan cheese; 1 tbsp lemon juice; ⅛ tbsp pepper; 3 cups mixed vegetables; 2 cups cooked spaghetti

Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Pasta Primavera I

Time15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

In skillet, mix soup, milk, cheese, lemon juice and pepper.
Heat to a boil.

Cook and serve

Add vegetables.
Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Toss with spaghetti.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

463Calories

21 gProtein

35 gFat

21 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Soup	not in our table	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.

Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Mushroom + parmesan cheesetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,199 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,580 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Mushroom + milktop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,231 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,322 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

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

What each ingredient does

Cream of mushroom soup: Forms the creamy base that coats the pasta and vegetables.
Milk: Thins the soup into a smooth sauce with a looser texture.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savoury flavour and helps thicken the sauce as it melts.
Mixed vegetables: Provide bulk, texture and sweetness as they cook in the sauce.
Cooked spaghetti: Forms the starchy base that the sauce clings to.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, mushroom, milk, parmesan cheese, pepper):

Plumfits about as well
Strawberryfits about as well
Lemonthe original
Cherryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, mushroom, milk, parmesan cheese, pepper. 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.