If music be the food of love then play on. Compiled herewith are duo romantic dinner recipes that will nourish the body and make the heart grow fonder.

Pasta with Bean Croquettes in Perfect Marinara Sauce

Pasta-lovers would certainly take an instant liking to this spectacular dish that is incredibly healthy and oozes flavour and taste.

Preparation Time- 15 minutes
Cooking Time- 5 minutes
Total Time- 20 minutes
Serves- 4

Ingredients for Bean Croquettes

Cooked beans, black/red/pinto kidney (1.5 cups)
Cooked corn (1/2 cup)
Chilli powder or smoked paprika (1 teaspoon)
Garlic, mashed (4 pods)
Crushed crackers or rolled oats (one-fourth cup and additional one-third cup)
Onion, finely chopped (1 medium)
Tomato, finely chopped (1 small)
Green, yellow, red bell peppers, finely chopped (one-fourth cup)
Cilantro leaves, finely chopped (1 tablespoon)
Salt as per taste
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Procedure

The cooked kidney beans are firstly mashed using the backside of a fork or masher. The remaining ingredients along with one-fourth cup crushed crackers or rolled oats are now combined with the mashed beans and the mixture divided into small-sized balls. All the balls are then gently pressed into the crushed crackers mixture or coating them prior to deep-frying till they are golden-brownish in appearance and set aside over tissue paper.

Preparation Time- 10 minutes
Cooking Time- 60 minutes
Total Time- 1 hour, 10 minutes
Serves- 4-6

Ingredients for Marinara Sauce

White or pink onions, finely chopped (one large)
Extra-virgin olive oil (60 milliliters)
Garlic pods, mashed (3)
Baby carrots, finely diced (2)
Stalk of celery, finely diced (2)
Bay leaf, dry (1)
Herbs of choice, oregano/rosemary or combined (a teaspoon)
Salt and freshly cracked black peppercorns as per taste
Plum tomatoes, blended (3 cups)
Chopped broccoli, snap peas, baby corn and mushrooms (1/4 cup)
Dried whole-wheat pasta (one pound)
Cheese, grated as per choice

Procedure

Add your batch of preferred pasta shape into a big vessel filled with boiling water and continue cooking till ‘al dente’. Strain off water and set aside in a big bowl.

In the interim, we begin with the marinara sauce preparation by heating oil in a large saucepan placed over moderate-high heat. The garlic and onions are then sautéed for few minutes and then the chopped veggies along with the salt, herbs, bay leaf and cracked peppercorns added in.

Continue sautéing the veggies till they have softened, around ten minutes and then the tomatoes added and simmered on low flame till the sauce begins to thicken. Remove the bay leaf and then add the bean croquettes into the sauce and simmer for a couple of minutes. Lastly the cooked pasta is tossed in with the sauce and then taken off the flame and served in platters with a generous drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and freshly grated cheese.

Strawberry Soufflé

It is an incredibly light, sweet-scented dish that will simply melt in your mouth and leave you craving for more.

Photo Credit: Eatingoutloud.com/2009/05/raspberry-souffle-recipe.html

Preparation Time- 30 minutes
Total Time- 30 minutes
Serves- 6

Ingredients

Vegetable or Canola oil (15 milliliters)
Strawberry-flavoured Gelatin powder (a tablespoonful)
Powdered sugar, well-sifted (75 grams)
Grade A Rose Water (four tablespoonfuls)
Strawberries (2.5 cups)
Juice of half a medium lemon
Whipping Cream with over 36% butterfat (480 millilitres)
White of egg (four large-sized)

Procedure

Place a double thickness of parchment paper for taping the entire rim of six ounces capacity of heatproof cylindrical baking dishes or bouillon bowls (six of them) and standing approximately two inches above the border. Give a light brushing of canola oil to the inner surface of the parchment paper after placement inside every baking dish.

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Now the powdered gelatin is sprinkled over the Grade A rose water placed in a container and set aside for a couple of minutes or till the mixture turns sponge-like. This vessel is then placed over a bigger-sized vessel containing scorching water and mixed till complete dissolution of the gelatin occurs. Once this occurs then take off the heat source and allow slight cooling to take place.

After reserving ten strawberries the rest of them are then pureed and then passed via a super-fine strainer for getting the seedless puree. The powdered sugar along with the juice of a half lemon is then stirred into it followed by the gelatin. The mixture is placed under refrigeration till it starts to set.

Begin whipping the heavy cream till the time gentle peak formations start to appear. At this stage it must be gently folded into the strawberry mix. In a small-sized vessel the white portion of the eggs must be beaten till one gets stiff peak formations and then slowly combined with the strawberry mix. Empty this mix into the six baking dishes and place under refrigeration for a minimum of three hours or till the mixture has set.

The parchment paper must be warily peeled off from around the baking dishes just prior to serving and garnish with diced strawberry slices.

Photo Credit: Homebakedmemories.com/pages/HBHolidaysRomanticDinner.htm