Love Letters Pasta – Romantic Meal Idea

If you ave followed my blog for any time at all, you know that I love food. Not only do I love food, but I love HEALTHY, organic, non-gmo food. This means getting my hands dirty and exploring in the kitchen is right up my alley. The first year of marriage with kids, I explored a romantic meal idea and making my own pasta for Valentine’s day. I made some sweet love letters pasta to share with my husband and have a delicious and healthy meal at home. I also used this idea for our anniversary because I think that love letters are a beautiful thing of the past that should be revived!

Love Letter Pasta

Beyond just finding a sweet and romantic meal idea, I wanted to find some special way of showing my love to my husband. So with the pasta, I gave him a handwritten love letter. We decided a few years ago that we would stop buying greeting cards for each other and we would write each other notes.

This is something that we treasure SO MUCH!

It means no one else wrote the words (and we’re not paying an arm and a leg for someone else’s sentiments). Because my family has always been into genealogy, we have lots of love letters written between ancestors and they are so touching and beautiful. I want our kids to know the love and struggles we share as spouses and a text or email just doesn’t do that!

Romantic Meal Idea – Pasta Ingredients:

• 1 tbs Butter / olive oil
• Small container of water
• Fifty 3inch”x 3inch” pasta sheets (homemade or you can buy wonton wraps)
• Shredded cheese of your choice
• 3 cups of raw spinach
• (Optional) 1/8 lb of cooked and spiced ground beef OR mushrooms

Create Love Letter Raviolis

1. Lay out your pasta sheets individually on a cookie sheet or baking pan. (This streamlines the process of making them)
2. Place a small amount of cheese on each piece. Amount is up to you, but I would cover no more than 1/8 of the pasta sheet. Add a leaf or two of spinach on top of the cheese. (whole leaves without chopping are easier to wrap). Top with a slice of mushroom or a tsp ball of ground beef. (You can use a melon baller to achieve this and you can even mince the mushroom for the same effect).
3. Along 2 of the edges that are perpendicular to each other, spread the extra virgin olive oil, butter, or mixture taking the side that does not have any oil and fold it over. Press firmly to seal the pasta. (I used the outside of my hand.)
4. Now take the container of water and dip your hands in it.
5. Start folding! Start with the sides first. And then fold down the top flap. Make sure your hands stay moist because that’s what seals the pasts together. Basically this is similar to a burrito fold, however, rolling will not achieve the “love letters” look.
   
6. COOK! You may choose to bake or boil them. To bake, place them in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit covered with Olive Oil and/or spaghetti sauce.  OR Boil them for 10 minutes. If you eat tortellini or ravioli, that’s essentially what you are making so cook them how you would if that was your meal of choice.
7. Saving Leftovers : 25 is  great number so I packed up the remaining in a freezer-safe glass container and stored it in our freezer for next time. Which meant this made two meals exactly for us as a couple. I am sure this year with a toddler that will not be the case 😉

Once cooked, serve with a side of pasta sauce for dipping (it wouldn’t be a romantic meal if you couldn’t see that they are “love letters”, right?) And add whatever sides you like best. Personally, I like serving them up with cooked carrots, peas, and some delicious homemade french bread. (And of course, I like to make some heart-shaped sugar cookies since they’re my husband’s favorite.)

Please share with me your favorite romantic meal idea and recipes that you use for special occasions! 

Kara Carrero

Kara is an author and advocate for positive, grace-filled parenting. She is homeschooler to her 6 children living on a farm in New England. She believes in creative educational approaches to help kids dive deeper into a rich learning experience and has her degree in Secondary Education & Adolescent Childhood Development. She is passionate about connecting with and helping other parents on their journey to raise awesome kids!