Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is meant to be spent with your loved ones. Whether it be your boyfriend/girlfriend, family or friends, it is an excuse to spend time with them and show them that you love them. I got to spend time with a few very special people in my life, my best friends. I decided to make an elaborate dinner for a few of my girlfriends.

Valentine's Day is the only day where there is an excuse to indulge in chocolate and anything decadent. When I think of decadent, I think of cheese, truffles and wine. I decided that for Valentine's Day, I would make crostini topped chocolate & black truffle tapenade with sun dried tomatoes and cocoa pasta with creamy goat cheese and truffle oil with seared scallops on top. I found the chocolate and truffle tapenade and cocoa pasta at one of my favorite stores in Boston, Hotel Chocolate. They have the most diverse chocolate products from boxed chocolates all the way to cocoa honey & mustard dressing. 

What I loved about this dinner was that it was super easy and super special. As long as you have good ingredients and good products, you don't have to make your dish complicated to make it delicious. 

Here is how I did it: 

Crostini topped Chocolate & Black Truffle Tapenade: 

- 6 slices of baguette 

- 1 tbs olive oil

- Chocolate & Black Truffle Tapenade 

- 6 sun dried tomato 

- salt and pepper

Cocoa Pasta with Creamy Goat Cheese and Truffle Oil with Seared Scallops: 

- 1 bag of Cocoa Pasta

- 3.5 ounces of room temperature goat cheese 

- 1 tbs truffle oil 

- 6 fresh scallops 

- 1 tsp olive oil

- salt and pepper 

Set your oven to broil. Place 6 slices of baguette on a baking sheet and drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper overtop. Place in the oven for 4-6 minutes until the bread is toasted. Take the tapenade and spread in on the baguettes. Place a sun dried tomato on top. Sprinkle salt and pepper to finish. If you have basil, place on top of the sun dried tomato as garnish.

For the cocoa pasta, cook as you would normally do for regular pasta. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before you drain. Once the pasta has been drained, place back in the pot and add the room temperature goat cheese. (The goat cheese will melt quicker if it isn't cold). Drizzle the truffle oil and add salt and pepper. If the pasta seems dry, add some of the reserved pasta water. 

For the scallops, heat up a skillet. Pat the scallops dry and put olive oil, salt and pepper. Once the skillet is hot, sear the scallops for about a minute and a half on each side. Place the pasta on a serving dish and add the scallops on top. Drizzle a little more truffle oil on top at the end. 

These two dishes are probably the easiest things to make. I wasn't stressing over the stove and worried about making it perfect. As long as you have good wine and good products, you are sure to make your meal a hit! 

Hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!!

XOXOXO

Anne