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For Valentines Day we had not planned on doing much and then Victoria started asking everyone she worked with what they were doing. No one else was doing anything but sitting at home too. While I probably be there with them doing nothing. We both thought about having everyone over for a dinner party. After come careful negotiations with Victoria, I came up with a mini-theme Italian Valentines Day dinner. I say mini-themed because I can just be strict enough to stick to it. I had an appetizer or two that had it and both entrees had the theme too. For desert I forgot the theme entirely and brought in the Valentines Day into it. Here is what we enjoyed.

Appetizers
Homemade red and white sangrias
Bruchetta de Pomadoro
Bruchetta Grecca
Roasted garlic and spinach dip
Vegetable Crudités (aka veggie tray)
Entrées
Mediterranean Chicken and Pasta
Penne pasta with hand rolled meat balls
Desserts
Waldorf Astoria cake (aka red velvet cake) with cream cheese frosting
Chocolate fondue with marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, and pound cake
Vanilla bean ice cream

Most items I made from scratch if I had the time. The recipes I guess would give away how much work I put into it. I will say it was a ton of work and I was nervous that I would run out of time. It was a blast! There are always lessons learned but I probably couldn’t have done it better than what I had planned. I’ll be posting all the recipes that I used in a couple of days. Keep an eye out…

Spagetti not really started as a working title and just stuck as a name for a simple quick dinner. The basic concept is that it’s a pasta dish without using the standard spaghetti noodle. There are so many different pasta noodles that are produced why not just mix them in with some pasta sauce?  So our version of spagetti not really typically involves some bow-tie, penne or mafalda pasta. These pasta noodles are all bite size and the pasta sauce doesn’t flip off like a spaghetti noodle. These are important traits of food since I typically eat dinner in my work clothes. Pasta sauce doesn’t wash out easily and work clothes are not nearly as fun to buy as casual clothes are.

As a recap of what Spagetti Not Really for 2 servings

• 1/2-1 lb ground beef browned
• 14 oz prepared pasta sauce
• 7-8 oz pasta noodle of choice

Cook ground beef until browned. Drain any excess fat. Add pasta sauce and cook until sauce has warmed to person heat.  Meanwhile cook pasta noodles per package directions. Mix together pasta and meat sauce with pasta noodles and serve.

Hope you enjoy Spaghetti Not Really as much as we do.

Ready to print recipe: Spaghetti Not Really

Ingredients

• 1 T olive oil
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• ¼ cup chicken stock
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 1 t dry oregano
• 7 oz roasted red sweet peppers, drained and cut into strips
• ¼ cup pitted kalamata olives
• 3 cups cooked campanelle pasta

Directions

In a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and garlic. Cook chicken until golden brown. Add chicken stock, white wine and dried oregano.

Bring to boil then reduce to simmer. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in peppers and olives. Heat thoroughly.

Meanwhile, cook pasta per package directions.

Arrange the chicken mixture on top of the pasta and serve immediately.

Ready to print recipe: Mediterranean Chicken & Pasta

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 T butter, melted
• 4 T mild mustard
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp poppy seads
• 14 oz pasta
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

Mix together the butter, mustard, lemon juice, brown sugar, and paprika in small sauce pan. Place chicken in baking dish and pour half of mustard sauce on to chicken. Bake chicken in oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle poppy seeds onto chicken and return to oven for 15 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.

Meanwhile, cook pasta per package directions.

Arrange the chicken with mustard sauce on top of the pasta and serve immediately.

Ready to print recipe: Mustard Baked Chicken with Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T butter
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 red, yellow or green bell peppers, cut into bite size pieces
• 8 oz fresh sliced mushrooms
• 3 plum tomatoes, skinned and quartered
• 5/8 cup dry white wine
• 10 oz pitted green olives
• 6 T heavy cream
• 14 oz dried pasta
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

Heat the olive oil and butter in a skillet. Fry the chicken breast until golden brown. Remove from pan.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan and sauté over a medium heat until beginning to soften. Add the bell peppers and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer vegtables to a casserole dish and arrange the chicken on top.

Add the wine to the pan and bring to a boil. Pour the wine over the chicken. Cover and cook in a preheated oven at 350 degrees fro 50 minutes.

Add the olives to the casserole and mix in until will combines. Pour in the cream, cover, and return to oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta per package directions.

Arrange the chicken on top of the pasta, cover with sauce and serve immediately.

Ready to print recipe: Chicken with Green Olives & Pasta

 This soup has a nice hearty taste and can defiantly fill you up with one bowl. It’s perfect for a day like today, cold and rainy.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup chopped onions
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 chopped up garlic cloves
• 3 1/2 cup of chicken stock
• 1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
• 10 oz frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 15 oz of light kidney beans, drained
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/2 cup ditalini soup noodles
• Grated Parmesan

Directions

Cut up onion and fry with oil until transparent.  Add garlic, chicken stock and tomatoes, and bring to boil.  Add frozen vegetables and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile cook ditalini soup noodles per package directions.

Add kidney beans and soup noodles and cook for an additional 3 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

Ready to print recipe: Pasta and Bean Soup