Name: Traditional Lasagne
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 large onion , finely chopped; 2 carrots , finely chopped; 2 celery stalks, finely chopped; 1½ lb (680 g ) ground beef; 4 cloves garlic , minced; 1 can (28 oz /800 g) crushed tomatoes; 10–15 basil leaves, chopped or torn; ½ tsp dried oregano; ¼ tsp black pepper; 1 tsp salt; ½ tsp white granulated sugar; 225 ml dry red wine; 1 pack of lasagne pasta sheets; 1½ pints (850 ml) béchamel sauce; Finely-grated parmesan

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

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.

Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Ground beef: Provides the meaty base of the ragu, with savory flavor and body after browning.
Crushed tomatoes: Supply the bulk, acidity and moisture that form the ragu sauce.
Pasta sheets: Form the structure of the layers, holding the ragu and béchamel together when baked.
Béchamel sauce: Adds creamy moisture between the layers and helps the top brown as it bakes.
Dry red wine: Adds acidity and depth, lifting the browned flavor left in the pot.
Parmesan: Melts and browns on the top, adding savory, nutty flavor.

The step that matters

Browning the meat until the liquid evaporates. Meat releases liquid first; cooking until it evaporates lets the surface brown, which builds deeper savory flavor in the ragu instead of a steamed, grey result.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, carrot, celery, beef, garlic, tomato):

Cuminfits better
Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, carrot, celery, beef, garlic, tomato. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Pasta	1 cup cooked (140g)	220
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Celery Stalks	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Traditional Lasagne