Name: Tomato Macaroni
Ingredients: ½ lb. Macaroni; 3 oz. Butter; 1 tin Peeled Tomatoes; Salt; Pepper

Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Tomato Macaroni

Ingredients

Directions

Boil the macaroni in salted water for 25 minutes.
Drain the macaroni and return it to the pot.
Add the butter, pepper, and salt, and toss over low heat.
Stir in the tomatoes and serve hot.
Optionally, serve with grated Parmesan.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

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.

Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter + tomatotop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,918 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Macaroni: Forms the starchy base that carries the sauce and gives the dish its body.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, coating the pasta and giving it a smooth mouthfeel.
Peeled tomatoes: Provide moisture and acidity that give the dish its tomato flavour.