We were getting a little stir crazy and feeling kind of grubby lounging around the past month in sweatpants. So we got all dressed up and cooked a nice date night meal together while listening to Pandora’s Italian Cooking station. Seriously, nothing gets you more in the mood to cook than “Thats Amore” by Dean Martin.

Just because life has become a bit lethargic, doesn’t mean you can’t spice it up and still act like life is normal. It’s good to get dressed up once in a while and remember what it feels like to be a human.  Enjoy some nice dinner conversation with your spouse, no phones allowed. Instead of just watching Netflix after dinner, play a couple board games or card games. Netflix will always be there later. This is the perfect time to make some more happy memories. Especially for those of us that are healthy and able to work from home, it’s like a free pass to enjoy your life a little more.

We had the lobster and stuffed oysters in our freezer from last summer and thought quarantine date night was the perfect time to enjoy it. For dinner I made a spinach and onion cream sauce served over pan seared lobster and mushroom raviolis with a side of asparagus and stuffed oysters. Yum! If you don’t want to shell out the cash for lobster, the cream sauce is good on chicken, shrimp, tilapia or just on the raviolis themselves.

Sauce ingredients:

• 2 c spinach, chopped
• ½ c onion, chopped
• 1 tbs EVOO
• 1 tbs butter
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 oz cream cheese

• ½ c mozzarella
• 1 c heavy cream
• ¼ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp oregano
• Borarsi (or salt) and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Sauté spinach and onion in EVOO and butter for 3-5 minutes at high heat. Add garlic on high for 1 minute.
2. Turn down to med-high heat and add remaining ingredients. Stir often until cheese melts and sauce forms.
3. Pour over raviolis and lobster and serve immediately.

*You can make the sauce ahead of time and refrigerate. Just heat it up on the stove and you’re ready!