Name: Surf & Turf Cajun Pasta
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 4 whole 6-ounce Beef Filet Steaks 1 1/2 Inches Thick (or Any Small/petite Steak); Cajun Seasoning; 2 Tablespoons Butter; 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil; 1 pound Jumbo Shrimp, Deveined & Shells Removed; 1 whole Small Red Onion, Halved And Sliced; 1 whole Green Bell Pepper, Seeded, Halved, And Sliced; 1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Seeded, Halved, And Sliced; 3 cloves Garlic, Minced; 1/2 cup White Wine; 1-1/2 cup Low-sodium Chicken Broth (more To Taste); 3/4 cups Heavy Cream; 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated; 2 whole Tomatoes, Diced; Minced Parsley, To Taste; 1 pound Fettuccine, Rigatoni, Or Other Noodle

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 ↓

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 + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + garlictop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,090 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, butter, olive, shrimp, onion, pepper, garlic):

Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Capersfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, butter, olive, shrimp, onion, pepper, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1

Surf & Turf Cajun Pasta