We loved reading your comments in my Without Self-Love, I have Nothing post. Thanks for sharing your experiences!
When Eric and I first started dating, we did all of the traditional things that we thought we were supposed to do on Valentine’s Day. We went to the crowded restaurants with long wait times and mediocre food. He bought me the over-priced roses and a box of chocolates. I wrote him a sappy poem and I bought him cologne. We often felt pressure to have a ‘perfect’ day.
Then, we realized that we’re not perfect, so we would never fulfill this expectation that we placed on ourselves. But, we could do it our way! We started making homemade silly cards complete with inside jokes. We got each other a thoughtful gift, but we didn’t go overboard. We enjoyed delicious meals in the comfort of our own home, made together. When we did this, we started to enjoy the holiday a lot more.
The perfect Valentine’s Day to us, is really the imperfect one.
I can’t think of a more perfect way to be imperfect than to enjoy a messy bowl of pasta that leaves red sauce in the corner of your mouth and a few stains on your shirt. And if you’re lucky, your partner will remove it for you..
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Tomato Walnut Basil Pasta
Yield: 3.5 cups sauce
Ingredients:
- One 28oz can crushed tomatoes (I used Utopia organic, salted)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion, diced (yield: 1 cup diced)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, stems removed &chopped finely
- 1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 large handfuls spinach, roughly chopped
- 1/2-3/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- Pasta of your choice (I used Kamut spaghetti)
Directions:
1. Chop onion and garlic. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add in the onion and cook over low-medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and cook on low for another 4-5 minutes until the onion is translucent.
2. Add in the oregano, salt, and black pepper. Stir well. Cook on low for a few minutes. Now add in the 28oz of crushed tomatoes, chopped basil, and nutritional yeast. Stir. Bring to a low boil and then simmer on low for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook your pasta.
3. Stir in the chopped walnuts and the chopped spinach. Cook for about 10 minutes longer on med-low. Serve over pasta and garnish with basil leaves and additional walnuts. Makes about 3.5 cups sauce.
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Making this sauce is very easy and it turned out quite delicious. The walnuts were absolutely amazing in this pasta sauce and I would not recommend leaving them out! They really brought the sauce to a whole new level and gave it a wonderful texture and flavour.
I’m sure you will ask me if you can leave out the nutritional yeast and I would say of course! The flavours will change though, so make sure you adapt the sauce to suit your preference.
The spinach was a fun add-in at the last minute. It is a great way to sneak in some GREEN Monsters. 
The walnuts were our favourite part about this recipe. I thought it would give the pasta sauce a great texture and nutty flavour and it worked wonderfully!
Garnish with some fresh basil leaves and more walnuts and serve!
Love.
It is also a heart-healthy dish to Go Red For Women. 
Glo Bakery Update:
- Glo Bar variety packs will be for sale tomorrow, Feb 16th at 10am EST.
Have a great day!
I love this! I have tried a recipe very close to this…it was so good. So I look forward to this AND the variety of glow bars on sale! woohoo. :)
I love this! I have tried a recipe very close to this…it was so good. So I look forward to this AND the variety of glow bars on sale! woohoo. :)
We decided to do something different this year too – we did a couples’ raw chocolate-making class with the theme of “love and aphrodesiacs.” It was fun and I had no idea how easy it is to make your own raw chocolate! We learned a lot about different mood-enhancing ingredients that can be added to the mix. Plus, nothing says romance like being covered in sticky, chocolatey goodness ;)
What an amazing recipe!!! Angela, how/with what can I replace the nutritional yeast???
Thank you!!!
you can just leave it out :)
Great, thank you :D
thats what I call a Perfect Valentines day! the bf and I do the same, we stay at home and avoid the unnecessary crowds of people and expensive gives. we had a romantic night in with pizza. it was perfect in my eyes.
I wanna have a bowl of pasta NOW!!!!!! This looks soooo delicious but simple at the same time – the perfect recipe in my opinion!
The same aplies to celebrating “special” days like Valentine’s Day or Anniversaries. Every couple should figure out their own special way of celebrating those days without having to live up to standards. IMHO, these standards are really only followed by newly loves who have not yet found their own path.
What a seriously perfect pasta sauce! I think I’m in love!
YUM! Omggg!
Crushed tomatoes are soooo much better than the jarred sugary pasta sauces. I love the simple additions in this too.
I love the idea of imperfect Valentines. The whole day makes my guy extra grumpy (he’s always been anti- “do things cuz you’re supposed to” guy, and frankly the grumpiness and resentment of the day itself only makes him cuter (to me). But last night he had class until 8, and when I finished my run, I realized I had time to run out and get him some groceries (my crotchety old man/boy hates the grocery store a lot), so I just added an extra mile to my workout and was there when he came home. We had frozen turkey balls and pasta- possibly the best Valentines we’ve ever had.
Cooking together with the hubs is so much fun! Your fish sounds wonderful and comforting Angela!
We had pasta for our Valentine’s dinner too– cute heart-shaped ravioli from Costco! We’ve been together seven years and haven’t once gone out to dinner either– too much waiting! But we went out to brunch yesterday, at this local breakfast joint called Squeeze In, and there wasn’t a wait at all, and the food was delish! It was such a wonderful way to start the day:)
That looks amazing! I like your approach to Valentine’s Day :-)
Stephen and I feel the same way about V-Day. We just like to be ourselves and enjoy the day! We ate pizza and froyo and enjoyed every minute.
Oh wow, this sounds wonderful and the pictures are amazing. Agreed on not stressing or spending too much on Valentine’s Day and this looks like a wonderful way to spend it. I just want to make this now – thanks!
This might be a dumb question, but is it possible to make crushed tomato sauce by putting some tomatoes in a food processor?
Im not sure, actually! Anyone know?
It seems like that would work! I would definitely try it. :)
My husband and I are big on staying home for Valentine’s Day now too – it’s just too crazy out there and I enjoy being at home more than waiting around for an hour!
I love putting red-pepper flakes in my pasta sauce, they add just the right amount of kick to your dish. I like the addition of walnuts too, great idea- thanks for sharing!
I normally don’t love Italian, but you have me drooling with this recipe!
This looks delicious!
I made your oatmeal raisin cookies last night- with choc chips instead of raisins and with spelt flour. They are so good! I love how they aren’t overly sweet like most cookies.