Romantic Pasta Dinner for Two

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that's amore....

source

When I think about romantic dinners, I think pasta.

Derek and I like to take a break from the kitchen and go out to celebrate Valentine's Day. We've been married for 11 years now, so over-priced flowers and elaborate gifts aren't necessary. All I want is a nice dinner with my man and by going out, we get to spend some quality time together and I get to enjoy a break from the kitchen.

If you're the type of person who would rather stay in and romance your sweetie with a delicious and heart-warming meal, I have the perfect Italian entree for you! Pair this pasta, with a bottle of your favourite red wine and some strawberries dipped in chocolate and you are sure to sweep that special someone off their feet!

Romantic Pasta for Two

Serves 2

1 pkg of your fave spaghetti (I used brown rice pasta)

2 pints grape tomatoes (I used red & yellow)

1/2 red onion sliced

6 large crimini mushrooms, cut into quarters

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 1/2 - 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Pre-heat your oven to 325. Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, garlic, sea salt, Italian seasoning and oil. Stir until the veggies are evenly coated with olive oil and seasonings.

Pour the tomato mixture out evenly into your baking pan. Roast for 50 minutes making sure to give the pan a shake once or twice during the cooking time.  Once the tomatoes are roasted, use a fork to gently mash them down.

While the veggies are cooking, prepare your pasta according to the package directions.

Once done, place your pasta in the middle of the plate and top with half of the tomato mixture. Finish the plate with some freshly grated parmesan and a pinch of basil. I used dried, but fresh basil would be amazing with this!

The yellow tomatoes are the sweetest little suckers I've ever had!

The tomatoes are done roasting when they start to wilt and split open.

Gently mash with a fork, but be careful they don't squirt ya!

As a side, I made heart-shaped garlic toasts with cheese.

My large heart-shaped cookie cutter was perfect for cutting the toasts into cute little hearts!

The roasted tomatoes in this dish are so sweet and flavourful. You're sure to make your special someone weak in the knees before they even leave the table ;-) We thought we'd died and gone to heaven when we tasted it!

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day or is it just another day on the calendar?

What is your favourite thing to make when you're trying to "wow" that special someone?


If breakfast is more you're thing, check out last year's post for a cute and easy breakie idea!  

I've added this post to a Love Fest link party. If you're looking for meal ideas, crafts, gifts or anything love or V-Day related, check it out!




Enjoy your day and happy romance-planning!

Andrea

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Poached Eggs on Heart-Shaped Toast

I have been up since the crack of dawn because I just couldn't stop thinking about what I was going to do with my new heart-shaped cookie cutters....as soon as I got up, I got straight to work.

Derek had to work late last night and then again this morning, so I thought I would make him a healthy and filling breakfast to start his day off right.

He loves poached eggs, which I have never made before, so I thought I would break out of my comfort zone and give them a try.

How to make poached eggs:
I used the old school method for poached eggs, which is to bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and then crack the eggs into the pot. Leave them to cook for 3 minutes and then remove them from the pot. I found using a spoon with slits worked well, so I could strain as much water as possible off of them. Cooking the eggs for 3 minutes leaves you with a nice, soft yoke. You need to be quick getting them out of the pot because the yokes can become hard pretty quickly.

I decided to serve the poached eggs on heart-shaped toast. I toasted the bread and once it popped, I quickly got to work with my large cookie cutter.

Have you ever seen a cuter piece of toast????

I arranged each piece of toast on the plate and then topped each piece with a poached egg and a sprinkling of pepper. Of course I had to add a side of fruit to round out the breakfast. How delish!

I think it's safe to say that he enjoyed his breakie this morning.

To us, small gestures like this cutesy breakfast are just as good (or better!) than buying over-priced flowers or chocolates for Valentine's Day, wouldn't you agree?? This was a very inexpensive and fun way to do something nice for someone I love. The other bonus is that it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to put together ~ most of us have that amount of time to whip up something healthy and delicious.

Wishing you all a wonderful Saturday,

Andrea

Look what I bought today....

While I was browsing through the local Dollarama this afternoon, I found the cutest little cookie cutters ever!!

Ever since I bought them my mind has been racing about what I am going to do with them. I have so many ideas on how I am going to spoil my husband for Valentine's Day through his stomach. I'm thinking that we might celebrate all weekend with several little treats.

Hopefully I will have some ideas that will inspire you, so you can spoil your 'sweetie' too!!

Andrea