Whenever I think of a date night, my mind goes two places:
- Drinking some wine and an aperol spritz somewhere with low lighting and Andrea Bocelli singing his heart out in the background
- Italian cuisine.
Both are honestly interchangeable.
I’m not sure what it is about Italian culture and Italian recipes that makes my mind immediately jump to date night (or any special occasion for that matter), but there’s just something about the two of them that seem to go hand in hand with one on one quality time.
Maybe it’s because most of the recipes have been developed as a labor of love.
Or maybe I’ve been conditioned due to my Italian heritage.
All I know is that whenever I have a delicious appetizer followed by a decadent pasta dish, and am sharing them both with my partner, I’m the happiest person that I can be.
These classic Italian dishes are wonderful to make together as a team, and taste delicious for any special occasion that may be coming up. (Valentine’s Day, anyone?!)
So buy the high quality olive oil and the expensive block of parmesan cheese, throw on some Italian music, set the table for a romantic dinner, and enjoy a night trying these traditional recipes with your best friend.
It’s the Italian way, after all!
Quick And Easy Tomato Sauce Recipe
I’m a firm believer that everyone should have a tomato sauce recipe in their back pocket for when the going gets tough.
It’s a wonderful recipe to pull out when you need it, and it’s great for feeding a crowd.
All you need to make this delicacy is your favorite form of tomatoes, some meatballs and sausages, some red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper, and a little bit of time to watch this Italian classic come together.
That’s it.
And guess what?
It comes out perfectly every single time.
You can use this delicious tomato sauce recipe with any kind of pasta shape (personally vouching for rigatoni), and serve it as an appetizer or a main course.
It even goes well with classic dishes such as lasagna or eggplant parmesan.
No matter how you decide to enjoy it, this recipe is always a winner.
Ravioli With Italian Sausage Ragout
Craving ravioli but want to kick it up a notch?
Try this ravioli with Italian Sausage Ragout.
What I love about this recipe is that it’s an easy recipe that doesn’t require much effort, but it tastes and looks like it could be a gourmet dish.
It consists of a soffrito base and crushed tomatoes, mild and spicy Italian sausage, red wine, and of all things, milk.
And once the sauce comes together on the stove, when served with fresh ravioli, the flavor is truly like no other.
Don’t have ravioli but still want to make this?
Don’t worry!
This will still taste just as delicious with tortellini or gnocchi. You can even use a regular old pasta shape to make this if you’d like!
Penne Carbonara
Forget to plan ahead?
All you have in your fridge is a few eggs, some milk and cheese, and maybe some bacon?
Penne carbonara it is!
When it comes to easy Italian dinner recipes, carbonara takes the cake for most bang for your buck.
All it requires is a few egg yolks, some ingredients that you most likely already have on hand, and about 30 minutes of your time.
It’s a fun dish to make with a partner, and it comes out delicious just about every single time, as long as you follow the recipe.
Don’t have penne?
Don’t worry!
I find that this dish tastes just as delicious with spaghetti or linguine, or really any other pasta shape that you could try.
Give this a shot for your next date night!
Chicken Marsala
Honestly, the most difficult part about this recipe is going to the store to find the marsala wine that you want.
It’s such an easy dish, and consists of ingredients that you most likely already have on hand.
It’s perfect for all of your cozy nights in, and warms the house right up.
To make this recipe, you’ll need marsala wine, chicken thighs, mushrooms, flour, chicken broth, olive oil, and garlic.
And if you want it creamier, use some heavy cream, butter, or cream cheese. It’ll make it come out perfectly.
That’s all you need to make a wonderful Italian date night dish!
5 Ingredient Baked Ziti Dish
Craving a delicious oven baked recipe for your next date night?
Perhaps a tasty pasta bake?
You’re in luck with this baked ziti dish.
It only consists of five basic ingredients, ingredients that you might already have on hand.
(Jar of Mortadella Head Marinara, anyone?)
It’s also the perfect dish to make ahead of time and freeze for later.
All you have to do is use some unbaked pasta and some fresh ingredients, make the recipe as you normally would, and right before you’d put it in the oven, put it in the freezer.
What does this mean?
On your next date night, make two of these. One to eat right away, and one to eat at another time.
That way, when you’re craving an impromptu date night of sorts, you can take your frozen ziti, pop it in the oven, and have a delicious dinner ready with minimal “day-of” effort.
Sounds like an amazing scenario to me!
Roman Pizza Dough
I’m sure you all know by now that we’ve learned a thing or two about pizza dough over the years.
A few years back, our team embarked on a journey to the motherland of Rome and learned from the best of the best, Gabriele Bonci.
Here, we learned all about 72 hour fermentation, why a high hydration pizza dough is the best kind of pizza dough, and all about Italian Roman pizza culture.
And that’s why we’re here, to teach you just what was taught to us.
If you’re reading the words “72 hours” and freaking out, yes, you read it right, this pizza dough takes three days to ferment.
But other than waiting, it’s really not all that much effort at all.
And you can do anything for three days, right?
From there, your average pizza night will be transformed into a date night extravaganza.
Make anything from white pizzas to red sauce pizzas, to cheese pizzas or pizzas with a lot of toppings.
If you’re feeling extra bold, try this recipe that we love so much!
Eggplant Parmesan
If you’ve ever been to Italy, you know that eggplant parmigiana is the one and only true parmigiana.
There’s no chicken parm there, not unless you go to a touristy spot that the locals would never step foot in.
In Italy, you’ll only find eggplant parm, or maybe a zucchini parm if you’re lucky.
An eggplant parmesan, as you probably already know, consists of fried eggplant, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and grated Romano cheese.
It’s such a simply layered dish, but it tastes perfect every single time.
The dish itself is a bit tedious and a labor of love when being cooked by one person, but when there’s two people working on the prep, it’ll significantly reduce the cooking time.
Hint hint.
Try this for your next date night, you will not be disappointed!
Chicken Piccata
In my opinion, not many things are better than crispy, .
It’s light, tangy, and when prepared the right way, brings out the most delicious seasonal flavors that you’ll ever taste.
Lemon zest and lemon juice are two major components of Italian cuisine, and this dish is the perfect combination of the freshness of these ingredients and the comforting heartiness that Italian food is known for.
This is why it earns my utmost approval as a date night recipe.
You don’t need to bread and fry your chicken into chicken cutlets either, all this chicken needs is a light flour coating.
Personally, I like to dice my chicken into little cubes, and toss the lemony white wine sauce around a whole bunch of pasta.
Sure, it’s not traditional, but who doesn’t love a white wine sauce with their pasta and chicken?
When chicken piccata is made as a sauce, it’s one of my favorite things in the world.
For this reason, it’s constantly on rotation as a date night dish in my house.
Once you try your hand at making this, you’ll never go back; I promise it’ll hook you right in.
Desserts To Try
It’s a well known fact that you can’t enjoy a delicious meal without a wonderful dessert to accompany it.
Here are some outstanding recipes that we have that you ought to try for yourself!
- Coconut Panna Cotta
- Coffee Panna Cotta
- Vegan Strawberry Panna Cotta
- Traditional Vanilla Panna Cotta
- Pumpkin Spice Cannoli
- Italian Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Homemade Chocolate Gelato
- Italian Rum Cake
Love these recipes and looking for other fun ones to try? Check out some more blog articles and get cooking!
