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Spinach Mushroom Pesto Spaghetti

A pasta dish of spaghetti tossed with spinach, mushrooms, pesto, and parmesan cheese.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Olive and spinach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,971 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓

Spinach Mushroom Pesto Spaghetti

Serves 4

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the pasta

  1. Boil the spaghetti in water until al dente.

Make the sauce

  1. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat.

  2. Cook the spinach for 5 minutes until wilted.

  3. Add the mushrooms, salt, and pepper, and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  4. Stir in the pesto and parmesan cheese, and cook for 2 minutes.

  5. Drain the pasta in a colander and stir it into the sauce.

Serve

  1. Divide the pasta between four plates and serve.

  2. Sprinkle extra parmesan cheese on top before serving.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

257Calories
13 gProtein
21 gFat
6 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
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 Wikibooks Cookbook.

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

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  2. Spinach + mushroomtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together778 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Mushroom + parmesan cheesetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,199 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  4. Spinach + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  5. Olive + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,571 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

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 its surface.
Olive oil
Carries flavour and keeps the vegetables from sticking as they cook.
Spinach
Wilts down to add soft texture and a green, mild earthiness.
Mushrooms
Release moisture as they cook, adding savoury depth and a tender bite.
Pesto
Provides the main herb, nut and oil flavour and coats the pasta.
Parmesan cheese
Adds salty, savoury depth and helps the sauce cling to the pasta.

The step that matters

Cook the spinach until wilted. Spinach holds a lot of water. Cooking it until fully wilted lets that moisture evaporate so the sauce does not become watery when the pasta is added.

Swap the spinach

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

  1. Tomatofits better
  2. Spinachthe original
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Asparagusfits less well

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