A perfect dinner for St Valentine

 Antipasto - Entree 

Insalata di spinaci con pancetta e pomodori secchi - Baby spinach with dried tomatoes and crispy bacon

Ingredients:
2 cups of baby spinach
1/2 cup dried tomatos
2 slides of bacon

Steps:

1. Cook at low heat the bacon, it takes 5 minutes to become crispy. Dry it with a paper towel and cut in small pieces
2. Place baby spinach in a plate, on the top place some dried tomatoes and the crispy bacon.
3. Use olive oil, ground pepper and salt as dressing.

Suggestions: you can substitute the baby spinach with arugola and the crispy bacon with small pieces of speck. You can also add more ingredient such as flakes of Parmesan cheese and black olives.

Primo piatto - Main course (I)

Linguine al salmone - Linguine with Salmon

Ingredients: 

2 fresh salmon filets

200 gr of linguine or spaghetti

Oil 

Lemon

Salt 

Peper

Parsley

Steps:

1. Cut the salmon filets in small pieces
2. Place them in a pan with two table spoons of olive oil, salt, pepper and parsley and cook for nearly 5 min. After that, add 2 teaspoon of lemon juice and cook for 2 more minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook linguine in boiling water (do not overcook).
4. When ready, add them to the salmon and cook all together for 1 min.

Secondo piatto - Main course (II)

Branzino al forno con patate, pomodorini e olive taggiasche - Branzino with potatoes, cherry tomatos and black olives

Ingredients:
1 Branzino
4 big potatoes (you can use even more, potatoes are delicious with fish)
1 piece of garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt
ground pepper
12 whole Kalamata olives
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup dry white wine

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cut in slices potatoes and place them in a baking pan covered with a bake paper.
3. Add the cherry tomatoes, olives and the garlic. 
4. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
5. Check that the oil is everywhere in the pan.
6. Add the fish to the baking pan and drizzle with white wine.
7. Place the pan in the oven and bake until the branzino is just opaque in center, about 40 minutes. 

Suggestions: I would avoid the use of lemon in order to better taste the branzino itself.

Dessert

Biscotti al cuore - St Valentine biscotti

Ingredients: 

300gr flour

250 gr butter (room temperature)

200 gr sugar

4 egg yolks

chocolate chips

Steps:

1. Place in a big bowl the flour, sugar and butter.
2. Add the yolks and chocolate chips 
3. Mix everything with your hands (don't worry it will take some times and at the beginning you might think it is not working, it will!) just until it forms a ball.
4. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes.
5. Preheated oven at 180°C.
6. Flatten the pastry into a disk and then knife cut the disk in small hearts.
7. Bake for 15/20 min.

♡  Enjoy ♡