Name: Perfect Pasta and Tomato Sauce Recipe
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon olive oil; 1 small onion, finely chopped; 1 garlic clove, crushed or finely chopped; 400g chopped tomatoes; 2 tablespoons tomato purée; 2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs; 1 pinch ground black pepper; 350g dried spaghetti; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, to garnish

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Perfect Pasta and Tomato Sauce Recipe

Time15 minutes

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed or finely chopped
400g chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato purée
2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
1 pinch ground black pepper
350g dried spaghetti
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, to garnish

Directions

Make the sauce

Heat the oil in a saucepan or frying pan.
Add the onion and cook over a medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until soft.
Add the garlic, and cook gently for another minute.
Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and mixed herbs.
Season with pepper and then simmer gently, stirring every now and again, for 15 minutes or until the sauce is thick and rich.

Cook and serve

After the sauce has been simmering for 8 to 10 minutes, start cooking the spaghetti according to pack instructions.
Drain the spaghetti and serve with the sauce, topped with fresh basil or other chopped herbs, if you like.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

203Calories

3 gProtein

14 gFat

19 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1

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 NHS (UK).

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.

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).
Tomato + basiltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,979 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

Chopped tomatoes: Form the body of the sauce and supply moisture that reduces into a thick, rich texture.
Tomato purée: Concentrates the tomato flavour and adds body, deepening the sauce's colour and richness.
Onion: Softens as it cooks, adding sweetness and a savoury base to the sauce.
Garlic: Adds pungent aroma that mellows during gentle cooking.
Dried spaghetti: Provides the starchy base that the sauce coats and clings to when served.

The step that matters

Simmering the sauce gently. Simmering slowly lets water evaporate and the tomatoes and purée concentrate into a thick sauce. Boiling hard can scorch the bottom of the pan and make the sauce uneven, so stir now and then.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, garlic, tomato, pepper, basil):

Eggplantfits better
Capsicumfits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, garlic, tomato, pepper, basil. 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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Perfect Pasta and Tomato Sauce Recipe