Name: Fresh Pappardelle with Butternut Squash and Thyme Cream Sauce Recipe
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients: All-purpose flour , for dusting; 1 (1-pound) butternut squash; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1/2 medium yellow onion , finely chopped; 2 medium garlic cloves , finely chopped; 1 teaspoon kosher salt , plus more as needed; 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper , plus more as needed; 1 cup heavy cream; 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese; 1/2 cup crushed amaretti cookies, for garnish (optional)

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).
Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Flour + butternut squashtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together214 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 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 onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butternut squash, olive, garlic, clove, thyme, pepper):

Kalefits better
Shallotfits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butternut squash, olive, garlic, clove, thyme, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0

Fresh Pappardelle with Butternut Squash and Thyme Cream Sauce Recipe