Name: Pasta with Green Beans and Mushrooms
Ingredients: about 1½ pounds fresh green beans, cleaned, 1½ inch pieces; about ½ pound mushrooms, cleaned and sliced; 1 onion, sliced; 5 or 10 cloves garlic, minced or smashed; 2 teaspoons dried basil; 1 teaspoon dried marjoram; generous amount freshly ground black pepper; ½ cup red wine; 1 x 32 ounce can crushed tomatoes; 1 pound mostaccioli pasta

Why it works: Green beans and basil work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 38 recipes mention both. Both carry damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

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.

Green beans + basiltop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together38 recipes

Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).
Basil + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together688 recipes

Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together29,030 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Marjoram + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together2,609 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Basil + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together5,292 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Green beans: Provide the main body and bite of the dish as they simmer until tender.
Mushrooms: Add savory, meaty flavour and moisture that soaks into the sauce as they cook.
Red wine: Adds acidity and depth to the sauce as it simmers and reduces.
Crushed tomatoes: Form the body of the sauce and add acidity and sweetness as they simmer.
Mostaccioli pasta: Serves as the base that holds the sauce and vegetables together.

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (green beans, mushroom, garlic, basil, marjoram, pepper, red wine):

Tomatobetter flavor fit
Capsicumbetter flavor fit
Potatobetter flavor fit
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against green beans, mushroom, garlic, basil, marjoram, pepper, red wine. 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.