Name: Bucatini with Olives, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Basil
Ingredients: Kosher salt; 12 ounces bucatini; 3/4 cup black olive tapenade; 3 cups basil leaves (from about 1 large bunch); 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves; 24 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and torn into bite-size pieces (heaping 1/2 cup); High-quality extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling; Sea salt; Freshly ground black pepper; Parmigiano-Reggiano wedge, for shaving

Why it works: Olive and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. 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.

Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Basil + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,979 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Basil + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,351 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Olive + basiltop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,063 recipes

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

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

Swap the parsley

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

Oreganofits better
Thymefits better
Rosemaryfits about as well
Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, basil, tomato, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Bucatini with Olives, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Basil