Valentine’s Day Dinner
Last minute Valentine’s Day plans are my jam! Check out four of our most popular recipes, sure to make a perfect romantic night in! All you need is a bottle of wine and flowers! ❤️🍾🌹 Rigatoni with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Sausage • Perfect Filet Mignon with Herbed Garlic Butter • Poached Salmon in Coconut Lime Sauce over Rice Noodles • Lemon Pasta Puttanesca with Salmon
Rigatoni with Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Sausage
If you know, you know. This is hands down, one of our most frequently made dishes and most highly acclaimed. It’s “lick the plate” good and so easy! Easily made gluten free by just subbing out gluten free rigatoni or noodles.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
12 oz rigatoni pasta
Kosher salt
Sausage Mixture:
2 Tbsp avocado or olive oil, plus more for serving
1 small yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 lb. ground Italian sausage (mild)
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 cup white wine or water
Red Pepper Sauce:
12 oz. jar roasted red peppers
2 garlic cloves
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp smoked paprika
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Fresh basil, roughly chopped or torn, for serving
Freshly ground black pepper, for serving
Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
While water is heating, make sausage mixture. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat in a large, high sided skillet or dutch oven. Add onions and garli. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add salt to season. Add ground sausage and Italian seasoning. Cook 6-7 minutes or until browned.
While cooking, use a wooden spoon or spatula to break up into small pieces. Once sausage is well browned, add garlic and ¼ cup white wine or water to pan to deglaze, scraping any brown bits off the bottom. Once deglazing liquid is mostly evaporated and garlic is fragrant, turn off heat and transfer sausage mixture to bowl. Set bowl and skillet aside.
Once pasta water is boiling, add rigatoni. Cook for 9-10 minutes, or until very al dente. Pasta will finish cooking in the sauce.
While pasta is cooking, make red pepper sauce. Add the roasted red peppers, garlic cloves, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper to the blender. Pulse until smooth. In the pan the sausage was cooked in, melt 2T butter on medium heat. Once melted, add red pepper mixture, stir and bring to a simmer. Add heavy cream and parmesan, stir until smooth and bring to a simmer again.
Set aside 1/2 cup pasta water and add al dente noodles to sauce. Let simmer, adding a little pasta water at a time if necessary to loosen sauce. Cook 3-4 mins or until noodles are done. Add sausage mixture to pan and stir to incorporate everything together and heat through. Spoon into serving bowls and top with grated parmesan, basil, and a drizzle of olive oil as desired.
Perfect Filet Mignon with Herbed Garlic Butter
The perfect filet! Even better? Any extra steak can be used for Steak and Eggs the next day. A family fav!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 filets, roughly 6-8 oz each
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
Directions:
Preheat oven to 420-425 degrees.
Remove filets from refrigerator 20-30 minutes prior to cooking. It’s best to have steak at room temperature before starting to prepare to ensure that you get an accurate cook time.
Drizzle top side of filets with olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper. Flip and repeat.
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat on stove top. Add unsalted butter to pan. Once butter has melted, turn heat to high. Quickly add filets to pan, searing for 2 minutes on each side. Watch timing closely as to not overcook.
After searing on both sides, quickly move to preheated oven. Set a timer for 5-6 minutes and ensure you don’t overcook. This will deliver a perfectly medium steak. Adjust time up or down by 1 minute if you want more rare or more cooked.
Remove from oven and let sit 3-5 minutes. Plate steak and add pat of herbed garlic butter to the top, right before serving. Serve with potatoes and veggies.
Herbed Garlic Butter
Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 garlic cloves
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2/3 – ¾ cup fresh herbs (I like a combination of sage, chives and thyme)
Zest of one lemon
Directions:
Ensure butter is at room temperature, not melted. Ideally, you want it soft to the touch. Using a food processor, combine all ingredients. Pulse until well combined. Butter and herbs should be nicely incorporated with no large pieces of herbs remaining.
Using a spatula, scrape butter out of food processor and place on sheet of wax paper. Using the ends and sides of wax paper, roll butter back into a log. Tape or fold ends down. Place in freezer until ready to use. When ready to use, slice into ½’ slice for top of steak or other meat.
Any extra butter can be stored in a Ziploc bag and placed in refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.
Poached Salmon in Coconut Chili Lime Sauce over Rice Noodles
It’s one of our most requested and made recipes! Such wonderfully rich flavor, healthy protein & fats and ease to prepare has people making this one on repeat.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets, 6oz each preferably skinless
Kosher salt & pepper
4 Tbsp olive or avocado oil, divided
4 Tbsp brown sugar, divided
8 oz box brown rice noodles (I like Thai Kitchen brand)
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp ginger powder
3 Tbsp lemongrass paste
2 Tbsp chilli garlic paste, adjust to taste
14oz can coconut cream
14oz can coconut milk
1 Tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp lime juice
2 tsp lime zest (1 lime)
2 green onions, diced (green and white parts),for garnish
For Serving:
Lime for zest and/or wedges
Sliced green onions
Shredded carrots or cabbage
Grilled vegetables such as asparagus
Directions:
Preheat oven to broil.
Place salmon filets on cookie sheet lined with parchment. Drizzle 2 Tbsp of oil on salmon and season with kosher salt & pepper. Sprinkle 1 tsp brown sugar on each filet. Place salmon in oven on top rack and broil for 3-4 min. It should be slightly browned and caramelized on the outside but slightly rare inside. Remove from oven and set aside.
Fill stockpot with water and bring to a boil.
Heat remaining oil in a large saucepan on over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger and lemongrass. Cook until garlic is golden brown, approx two minutes. Add remaining brown sugar and cook for 20 seconds until it becomes slightly caramelized, then stir in chili paste. Add coconut cream & milk and stir, scraping the bottom of the skillet to dissolve any bits stuck on the base into the sauce. Stir in fish sauce, salt, pepper, paprika and lime juice, increase heat to high. Simmer for 2 minutes.
Using a spatula, place salmon in the skillet of sauce. Lower heat and simmer for 4 minutes, or until just cooked. While cooking, use a small spoon and spoon sauce over top of salmon, almost like you are basting it. After 4 minutes, turn stove off and allow salmon and sauce to stay warm in pan. Adjust salt to taste with fish sauce.
Place rice noodles in boiling water. Cook quickly, roughly 5 minutes until just soft throughout. Drain in colander. Do not rinse. Using tongs, plate noodles on the center of each plate. Top with a filet of salmon. Spoon ½-2/3 cup of sauce over each filet and noodles. Garnish with diced green onions and lime zest and any other toppings of choice.
Note, you could easily substitute brown rice or regular rice for the noodles.
Lemon Pasta Puttanesca with Salmon
Simply awesome. A fantastic depth of flavor yet fresh and light. Easily addicting and crowd pleasing! Substitute gluten free pasta for an entirely gluten free dish. So, so good.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
12 oz bucatini or spaghetti (substitute gluten free pasta if desired)
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
1 shallot, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp black pepper, divided
1/4 cup capers, drained and roughly chopped
1/2 cup pitted green olives, drained and roughly chopped
6 Tbsp lemon juice, divided
4 - 4 oz salmon filets
2 Tbsp olive oil plus extra for finishing
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for finishing
1/4 cup Italian parsley, stems removed and finely chopped
Lemon zest, garnish
Directions:
Preheat the oven to broil. Fill a large stockpot with salted water and bring to a boil. While the stove and oven are heating up, prepare sauce.
In a large skillet, melt butter over medium high heat until foamy. Reduce heat to medium and add shallots, garlic, red pepper flakes, ¼ tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes until shallots have softened, lowering heat if necessary ensuring that the butter and garlic don’t brown. Turn off heat and add capers, olives, and 4 Tbsp lemon juice. Cover and let sit until pasta and salmon are done.
Add spaghetti to boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, 9-10 minutes minutes or until al dente.
Lay salmon filets on a large baking sheet covered with foil. Drizzle salmon with olive oil, remaining 2 Tbsp lemon juice and sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper. Broil for 6-9 minutes or until salmon is cooked through. Set aside when done cooking.
Return skillet with sauce to medium heat. Using tongs, transfer cooked pasta to skillet and toss to cover pasta with sauce. Add parmesan and parsley and taste pasta for seasoning.
Salmon can be served as a filet on top of each serving of pasta or gently mixed into pasta in smaller pieces.
Serve pasta with drizzled olive oil, lemon zest, extra parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.