This Valentine’s Day do something out of the ordinary. Flowers and chocolates are holiday standards, so you need a different twist to stand out. How about preparing her a special dinner at home? It’s way more personal, and if you don’t do it often will show how much you truly care. The seafood pasta recipe below is tasty and simple, and we’re including some additional tips to make the dining experience even more memorable.

Barilla’s Executive Chef Lorenzo Boni offers his fool-proof tips to up-level any meal:

• Add dried rose petals and edible flowers:
  Use dried rose petals with a pesto dish for a romantic garnish—or better yet—create your own fresh pesto using edible flowers.
• Dye your pasta red:
  From beet water to a red wine reduction, coloring your pasta red creates an appealing dinner that is ready in no time. Pair beet water with crumbled gorgonzola or red wine reduction with a creamy based sauce and a meat ragout.
• Sprinkle some crushed pink peppercorn:
  This fragrant addition to a seafood dish, such as salmon pasta, creates a delectable dining experience.

We know that cooking with seafood can be intimidating, don’t worry. With these simple tips and Chef Boni’s recipe you will be serving up an elegant and effortless seafood pasta dinner in no time:

• Remember with seafood less is more:
  Buy good quality, fresh fish, and make it shine – don’t overload it with too many other ingredients. Never overcook any seafood to keep it nice and moist.
• Always sauté or steam shellfish:
  In the case of clams, mussels or any seafood in a shell, sauté or steam on the side and fold it in last minute to make sure no sand gets in the sauce.
• Add a dash of white wine:
  Sometimes adding a bit of dry, white wine might enlighten and enhance the flavor of seafood. Using extra virgin olive oil is a better choice as a “fat” than heavier butter, which tends to flatten the delicate flavor of seafood.
• Don’t overcook seafood:
  Shellfish tend to get not only dry but also rubbery and chewy too when overcooked. With white flash fish it is always best to dice it before cooking it to preserve the integrity of the shape.
• Always keep the juice:
  Seafood like clams and mussels usually produce juices as they cook. Let it deposit and filter it before adding it to the jarred sauce.
• Cheese isn’t recommended on seafood:
  You want to highlight the simple, delicate flavor of seafood rather than cover it with the strong flavor of cheese

Spicy Spaghetti with Clams

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients

1 box Barilla Spaghetti

40 littleneck clams

1/2 cup of white wine

1 jar of Barilla Spicy Marinara

1 tbs of Italian parsley, chopped

1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Bring 4-6 quarts of water to a boil. Add salt to taste.
2. Add pasta to boiling water – for authentic “al dente” pasta boil for 11 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain well. Set pasta aside.
3. In a sauce pot, steam clams with wine covered with a lid over medium-high heat until all cooked and open, for about five minutes.
4. Filter the juice and discard any unopened clams.
5. Clean 2/3 of the clams left from the shells and leave only 1/3 for garnish.
6. Meanwhile, bring sauce and filtered clams’ juice to boil.
7. Toss spaghetti in the sauce, fold in all clams and toss over high heat for two minutes. If needed, add some pasta cooking water.
8. Finish with extra virgin olive oil and freshly cut Italian parsley.