Penne Alla Casa

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. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together15,539 recipes

   Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

2. Garlic + spinachtop 1% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together2,435 recipes

   Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

3. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together25,665 recipes

   Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

   Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

5. Olive + spinachtop 5% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together2,971 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Heavy cream

Adds richness and body, and helps the sauce turn silky and coat the pasta.

Marinara sauce

Supplies tomato flavour and acidity, and its water content reduces as the sauce thickens.

Garlic

Provides aroma and savoury depth when lightly browned in the oil.

Sun-dried tomatoes

Concentrate tomato flavour and add chewy texture and sweetness.

Pecorino romano cheese

Melts into the sauce to add saltiness, savoury depth and body.

Spinach

Wilts into the sauce, adding moisture, colour and a mild earthy flavour.

The step that matters

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, garlic, cream, sauce, pepper, spinach, romano cheese):

1. Tomatothe original
2. Eggplantfits about as well
3. Broccolifits about as well
4. Welsh onionfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, garlic, cream, sauce, pepper, spinach, romano cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.