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Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

A pasta dish of spaghetti tossed with bacon, eggs, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and parsley.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the pasta

  1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions, drain, do not rinse.

  2. While pasta cooks, cut up bacon and fry in large fry pan.

  3. Drain off excess fat, leaving 1–2 tbsp.

Make the sauce

  1. Beat together the eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and parsley.

  2. Place drained spaghetti in fry pan with bacon over medium heat (should still be quite warm).

  3. Pour egg mixture over and keep tossing until spaghetti is all coated.

Serve

  1. Serve at once.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

238Calories
20 gProtein
16 gFat
3 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,322 recipes

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

  3. Egg + parmesan cheesetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,368 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,765 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Parmesan cheese + parsleytop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,799 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Spaghetti
Forms the bulk of the dish and carries the sauce across every strand.
Bacon
Renders fat into the pan and adds salty, savoury flavour to the sauce.
Eggs
Coat the pasta and set into a creamy sauce when tossed with the warm pasta.
Parmesan cheese
Adds salty, savoury depth and helps the egg mixture thicken into a clingy sauce.

The step that matters

Toss the pasta with the egg mixture while it is still warm. The residual heat of the pasta gently cooks the beaten eggs into a creamy coating. If the pasta is too cool, the sauce stays runny; if the heat is too high, the eggs scramble into lumps.

Swap the parsley

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

  1. Parsleythe original
  2. Basilfits about as well
  3. Dillfits less well
  4. Celeryfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, 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.

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