Recipe: Romantic Dinner Menu - Pasta Primavera with Fettuccine, Spinach Salad with Mandarin Oranges, Apple Slices and Walnuts with Raspberry Vinaigrette, Warm Italian Bread, Amaretti

Pasta Primavera made with Fettuccine
rec.food.cooking/Judith E. Thomas/1995

The primavera consists of

carrots, julienned
red onion, cut in half circles
yellow pepper, cut in matchsticks
scallions, green part, cut in rings
2 good-sized garlic cloves, crushed or chopped finely
celery, cut in thin, diagonal strips
fennel, julienned
plum tomatoes, cut in eighths
baked Brussels sprouts (I bake them in a 425 oven for about fifteen minutes; if the are large, cut them in half or quarters; when they come out, toss them in a small amount of balsamic or other herbed vinegar)
Home-dried basil and oregano

Fettuccine, cooked and drained (homemade if possible)

Saute the vegetables until they are cooked but maintain their shape and color:

Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil (or less) to a wok.

Add the carrots and saute about 3 minutes.

Add the onion, pepper, scallions, and garlic and saute a few minutes

Add the celery and fennel and saute.

Add the tomatoes and Brussels sprouts last.

Then throw the basil and oregano in and salt and pepper to taste. (this doesn't need much salt). Optionally: you can put about one tablespoon of balsamic vinegar in with the tomatoes and warm through.

I serve the veggies in a separate bowl from the pasta and toss the pasta with a tiny bit of garlic and olive oil.

Spinach salad:
Spinach, mandarin oranges, walnuts, and apple slices with Raspberry vinaigrette (I'll leave out the red onion slices for Valentine's Day)

Warmed Italian mini-loaves

Dessert: Amaretti cookies from the lovely Italian bakeries in our town :-)

Maybe some nice light wine with dinner.