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Clam and Pasta Chowder

A creamy clam chowder with pasta, potatoes, and vegetables simmered in tomato and stock.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Clam and potato share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 80 recipes mention both. Both carry (z)-4-decenal, which smells green, must. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: wheat, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Also mentioned in the method: pasta

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a large nonstick saucepan.

  2. Saute garlic, onions, carrots, and green peppers until tender, about 5 minutes.

  3. Add juice of 1 can of clams, potatoes, tomatoes, and stock.

  4. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

  5. Add reserved clams and tubetti.

  6. Simmer for 10 minutes or until pasta is cooked.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Clam + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together80 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

  2. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together29,030 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Onion + potatotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together9,019 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Garlic + tomatotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together14,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Carrot + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,105 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Clams
Provide the main seafood flavor, with their juice adding briny depth to the broth.
Potatoes
Add body and starch that soften during simmering, thickening the chowder slightly.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and savory depth that balances the rich clam and stock flavors.
Tubetti or macaroni
Adds bulk and a pasta texture to the chowder as it cooks in the broth.
Onions
Build a sweet, savory aromatic base as they soften in the hot oil.

The step that matters

Add the pasta and simmer until cooked. Small pasta keeps absorbing liquid and softening after it is added, so it can turn mushy if simmered too long. Checking for tenderness near the stated time helps keep a pleasant texture.

Flavor stand-ins for the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, onion, pepper, clam, potato, tomato, chicken):

  1. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  2. Carrotthe original
  3. Chiveabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Asparagusabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, onion, pepper, clam, potato, tomato, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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