Valentine's Dinner Recipe

With Valentine's Day fast approaching you may be thinking about planning a romantic meal for two. Why not make this year extra special and create a delicious, candle-lit 3 course meal for your loved one. We have some fantastic chocolate recipes, both savoury dinner recipes and desserts that are sure to go down well with that special someone, what could be more romantic?

Follow this easy recipe for a 3 course meal that is sure to impress!

Starter - Italian Bruschetta

Ingredients

• 6 or 7 ripe plum or cherry tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red onion
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 loaf of bruschetta or 1 baguette French bread
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Instructions

1) Preheat the oven to 250ºC. Take tomatoes, garlic and red onion and chop finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, onion, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

2)  Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

3) Once toasted, remove from oven and allow to cool for a minute or so. Then add the tomato mixture to each portion of bread and serve warm.

Main: Creamy Prawn Linguine

Ingredients

• 175g linguine
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
• 100ml white wine
• 2 tbsp reduced-fat crème fraîche
• juice ½ lemon (or to taste)
• 2 handfuls (150g) raw peeled prawns
• small bunch chives, finely chopped

Instructions

1. Fill a large saucepan with boilig water and put on a high eat. Cook the pasta. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and gently fry the garlic for 2 mins. Tip in the wine and bubble over a high heat for 1 min, then lower the heat and stir in the crème fraîche and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and plenty of black pepper. Simmer for 1 min to reduce a little, then add the prawns and simmer in the sauce until just pink.
2. Drain the pasta and tip into the sauce with half the chives. Use tongs to mix everything together. Divide between 2 shallow bowls and sprinkle with the remaining chives.

bbc food

Dessert: Chocolate Sorbet

Ingredients

• 200g caster sugar
• 50g cocoa
• 50g dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Tip the sugar into a large mixing bowl and sift in the cocoa and stir. Bring 600ml water to the boil in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the sugar and cocoa and return to a gentle simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 mins, whisking occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate and vanilla until the chocolate has melted.
2. Leave the mixture to cool, then put in the fridge for several hours or overnight until well chilled. Pour into a rigid plastic container, preferably bowl shaped, and freeze until frozen 3cm from the edges. Whisk to break down the ice crystals, then freeze again for 1 hr more. Whisk and freeze again one more time, then leave until completely frozen.
3. Before serving, transfer to the fridge for 30 mins to make scooping easier. Serve with berries and cream.