Impress your date!

With just a week to Valentine’s Day, here are a few romantic gourmet dinner ideas from Chef Shaista Anoop

PAN seared lamb loin, quail lollypop in a piquanté pepper and garlic sauce, tortellini filled with quail, peas and a piquanté pepper and olive sauce. Pea and jalapeño puree, pickled beetroot, baby carrots and a jalapeño sauce

Lamb loin

300g lamb loin

2 sprigs rosemary 2 cloves garlic 45ml olive oil

200g butter salt and pepper to taste

Season the loin well and cling wrap tight, forming a thick sausage-like shape. Make sure both sides are even.

Leave in the fridge for about an hour.

Heat a pan with oil. Slice off the ends of the cling wrap and divide the loin into 3 equal pieces.

Place the lamb in the pan and brown the open ends on either side.

Remove the cling wrap and return the lamb to the pan sealing the loin off on all sides.

Remove from the heat and allow to rest for two minutes. Add the butter, rosemary and garlic cloves to the pan.

Return lamb to the pan and cook in butter. Use a probe/ thermometer to check the internal temperature, which should be 55-60 C (medium).

Quail Lollypop

1 quail

50g butter salt and pepper to taste

50g Peppadew piquanté pepper and garlic pasta sauce

Turn quail breast side up, cut the skin between the breast and drumstick. Turn the quail over and dislocate the thigh bone; push the bone until you see the tip of the thigh bone.

Cut behind the bone and remove the leg. Remove the flesh from the thigh bone by scraping away with a knife.

Remove the thigh bone at the joint. Remove the shoe of the quail by cutting through the tip of the bone.

Fold the boneless flesh back on itself and push through the bone.

Pull the flesh neatly over to create a lollypop. Cling wrap tightly to keep the shape until you need to cook it.

When cooking, foil the exposed bone to prevent it from burning. Place the butter in a hot pan.

When melted add quail lollypops, salt and pepper.

Brown all sides of the lollypops then lower the heat and put a lid over the pan.

When cooked, remove from the pan.

Blitz the piquanté pepper and garlic sauce and pour over quail. Tortellini filled with quail, peas and a piquanté pepper and olive sauce

125g flour

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

1ml salt

5ml oil

2 quail breasts

20g butter

45ml Peppadew piquanté pepper and olive sauce salt and pepper to taste

Mix the flour and salt. Make a well in the middle. Add the beaten egg, egg yolk and oil and knead for 3 to 4 minutes. Rest in the fridge.

Put 10g butter in a hot pan followed by the seasoned quail breast and cook evenly on both sides for 3 minutes or until cooked. Remove from the heat and chop into small cubes.

Blanch the peas for 30 seconds in boiling water. Remove and shock in ice water.

Put 10g of butter into a pan and add peas, salt and pepper.

Sauté the peas until soft. Mash slightly and remove from the heat.

Blitz the piquanté pepper and olive sauce and add to the peas. Add quail cubes, stir and allow to cool.

Roll out pasta to 1mm thin sheets. Using a ring cutter (9cm) cut 9 rings into the pasta.

Place ½ a teaspoon of the filling in the middle of the ring. Using your finger, put a little water around the edge of the pasta and fold forming a half moon. Press the edges tight and ensure the filling is well distributed.

Wet the tip of each tail. Place your finger in the middle of the half moon and fold. Press the 2 tails together and remove from your finger. Fold down the collar and cook in salted boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes.

Pea and jalapeño puree 150g peas

50ml cream

½ mild Peppadew jalapeño salt to taste

Blanch the peas by boiling for 1 minute and shocking in ice water. Add salt and jalapeños and blitz. Mix in cream and push through a fine sieve.

Pickled beetroot

1 beetroot

1 jar Peppadew mild picked onions (pickling liquid only)

½ teaspoon sugar

2 juniper berries

1 clove

Using a noodle machine cut beetroot into thin spaghetti-like shapes. Put the beetroot noodles in a pot and cover with water. Simmer until just cooked. The beetroot should not fall apart.

Drain any extra liquid into a pot. Add sugar, juniper berries, clove and pickling liquid and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes on low heat. Strain and allow to cool.

Add beetroot noodles to cold pickling liquid.

Baby carrots

6 baby carrots

20g butter salt and pepper to taste 5g Italian parsley

Peel the baby carrots and trim the tops. Heat the butter in a pan. Add carrots to butter, season and sauté. Add small amounts of water and cook until carrots are tender. Chop Italian parsley and add to cooked carrots.

Jalapeño sauce

1 medium onion

20g butter

2 Peppadew mild pickled onions 1 ½ Peppadew mild jalapeño salt and pepper to taste

Dice onion and sauté in butter until cooked. Do not brown. Chop jalapeño and pickled onions and add to sautéed onion. Sauté for another minute.

Add cream. Cook for a few minutes and remove from the heat. Blitz and push through a fine sieve.