When it comes to cooking a romantic meal you don’t have to go all out and whip up a five-course meal, instead opt for something that is high on flavour.
A meal that’s designed to heighten the romance factor needs to go easy on the strong, pungent flavours and focus more on silky, smooth textures. Here are two easy recipes that can be cooked by anyone.
Mushroom risotto:
Ingredients
1 cup Arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine
2 cups of stock (preferably chicken)
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp of white butter
1 ½ tbsp of olive oil
¾ cup of sliced mushrooms (use a mixture of button, shiitake and porcini mushrooms, you can replace this with a cup of shelled/de-veined prawns or even some sliced chicken)
2 tbsp of Parmesan cheese,
grated
1 tsp of dried thyme
Salt to taste
Chopped parsley to garnish
Method
Heat the butter in a pan along with olive oil, add the onions to this and sauté until they turn golden brown.
Now throw in the mushrooms, stir and cook until the water has evaporated. Add the rice to this and cook until it becomes translucent.
Next, pour in the wine and cook until it half reduced to half the quantity, when this happens add half cup of the stock, allow it to simmer until it is just about done and add the rest of the stock, stir once in a while to ensure the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Turn off the flame when it is done, check the seasoning, sprinkle the cheese and garnish with parsley. Serve hot.
Vanilla pannacotta
Ingredients
3 cups of fresh cream
¼ cup of milk
1 envelope of unflavoured gelatin
1/3 cup of powdered white sugar
2 tsp of vanilla essence
To garnish: Chopped fresh berries or fruits
Method
Heat the milk in a saucepan, when it just begins to simmer turn off the flame and pour into another bowl. Mix the gelatin into this and stir until it has completely dissolved. In another saucepan, add the cream and sugar and allow it to simmer.
When it begins to boil add the milk-gelatin mixture to this and stir well. Remove from heat and add the vanilla essence.
Pour them into individual bowls and allow them to cool down. When it reaches room temperature, place the bowls in the fridge and allow the pannacotta to set overnight. Unmould them and top with the berries/fruits before serving.
The writer is a cookbook author and an expert on European cuisine
