My 58th Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day? My romantic take of this day has always been..ho humm... since my hubby and soul mate departed to the great beyond.  Since then I am contented with occasional flowers sent by my daughters and sometimes from their suitors who decided to woo me as well.

Like no other valentine's day before, I decided to cook for the three of us (my daughter, grandson and myself) a special dinner of Pasta ala Marinara, and it was sooo good that it elicited a very rare compliment from daughter saying, "I wouldn't mind eating this everyday, momi!"

I am sharing the recipe hereunder:

Pasta ala Marinara

Ingredients
12 green mussels, locally called "tahong"
1 pc Squid, cleaned, skinned and cubed
2 pcs. Tilapia fillets, cubed
250 grams medium sized shrimp, shelled and de-veined
8 pcs ripe tomatoes
1 pc carrot, chopped
1 pc  onion, chopped
1 pack Tomato sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 red chilli, remove seeds and chop
1/2 cup, parsley, chopped
2 tbsp butter
dash of oregano powder
2 tbsp wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
400 g pack spaghetti

Sauce:

1.  Steam mussels just enough for the shells to open, by placing them on a wire basket, sit the basket on a dripping pan big enough to catch the juices, then place both basket and pan inside steamer. collect juices and set aside
 2. Blanch tomatoes, peel, remove seeds, quarter and lightly mash, then set aside;
2. In a sauce pan, saute onion and carrot, then add tomatoes, cook for about 2 minutes, then add tomato sauce, wine vinegar, sugar, cayenne pepper, chilli and oregano. Bring to a boil then let it simmer for 30 minutes over low flame. Add juice from steamed mussels once it starts to dry up.
3.  Meanwhile, saute the fish, shrimp and squid in butter for about 2 minutes. Keep warm.
4.  Season sauce with salt and pepper, stir in gently the sauteed seafood and the steamed mussels, add the parsley, let boil then turn off heat, do not overcook at this point.

Pasta:

cook "al dente" as directed in the package.

How to serve:

Pour the marinara sauce over the cooked pasta, garnish with sprigs of parsley. Serve with toasted slices of garlicky buttered baguette and parmesan cheese on the side. This makes 5-7 servings, depending on the appetite