Chances are we would all love to serve up a romantic five-course feast tonight for that special person in our life?

But if you don’t have half a day — along with a small fortune — to invest in preparing lobster, oysters and cavier, why not try something a little simpler?

The Royal Gazette’s Lifestyle section asked three local chefs to give us their suggestions for an easy Valentine’s menu that novice cooks can tackle at home. The best part is you and your loved one can still sample a host of flavourful dishes, just without all the fuss.

Appetiser: Spicy Tomato and spinach stuffed baked mushrooms

Submitted by: (Rising Chef of the Year) Kieshe Simmons

Ingredients

24 ounces whole white mushrooms

1 medium onion, (diced)

½ cup fresh tomato (diced)

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup panko breadcrumbs

1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1 8-ounce block cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons of butter

1/3 cup sour cream

½ cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded

½ cup mild Cheddar cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper, to taste

½ teaspoon of chives (for garnish )

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Wipe down mushrooms with a damp paper towel to clean. Remove stems from mushrooms and dice stems. Heat butter and olive oil over medium heat, and add onion and mushroom stems. Cook until onions are soft, and then stir in breadcrumbs. Cook for an additional two minutes, then set aside to cool.

Squeeze water from thawed spinach and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, Monterey Jack, and Cheddar. Stir in cooled panko mixture, and mix well. Add in spinach, hot sauce, and salt and pepper. Mix to combine.

Scoop the filling into mushroom caps.

Place filled mushrooms in baking dish and cook 20-25 minutes, until filling is hot.

Main course: Seared Local Yellowfin Tuna, with fresh vegetables and Lemon Thyme sauce

Submitted by Port O Call Chef Chris Luffman

Ingredients

2 pieces of Local Yellowfin Tuna Steaks

100 grams sweet peas

50 grams Snow peas

2 Zucchini

1 Jalapeño

5 Asparagus spears

1 Onion

Star anise

Fish stock or paste

Heavy cream

White wine

2 Tablespoons Peppercorns

1 bunch lemon thyme or regular thyme

Olive oil

Directions

To make the sauce, peel and roughly chop one onion.

In a deep frying pan add peppercorns, star anise and dry fry in the pan for one minute (this helps release all the flavours)

Add the chopped onion and 1 tablespoon of olive oil, lightly fry the onion for a little colour

Deglaze the pan with 200ml of white wine and reduce by half and then add one teaspoon of fish stock/paste & mix and simmer for 30 seconds, then add bunch of lemon thyme

Add 300ml of heavy cream, simmer for a further two minutes — strain and leave to the side, once the vegetables are cooked — mix veg with the sauce

For vegetables: Cut Zucchini into rough cubes; finely dice the Jalapeño; slice snow peas into four pieces and cut asparagus spears into six pieces.

Take a pot of water and bring to the boil. Once boiling add vegetables to the water and cook for two minutes, strain vegetables from the water and then add to the sauce.

To prepare the tuna, place a pan on stove with olive oil and bring to really hot heat. Season tuna with pepper and a little salt and place into the hot pan. Sear for 40 seconds to a minute on each side — then remove from the heat.

In order to serve, place the vegetables that have been mixed with the sauce onto the plate. Slice the tuna steak in half (it should be a nice deep red colour in the middle) and place on top of the vegetables and sauce. Add a slice of lime or lemon to garnish.

Dessert: Raspberry Cheesecake

Submitted by Little Venice Head Chef Michele Celentano

Ingredients

For crust:

200g Cookie Crumbles

50g Soft Butter

20g Flour

100g Sugar Powder/Icing Sugar

For cheesecake filling:

560g Cream Cheese

150g Sugar

8 Egg Yolks

8 Egg Whites

65g Sugar

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

55g Whipping Cream

30g Corn Flour

300g Raspberry Purée

Directions

Mix all ingredients for crust together, press into a baking round and bake for 8 minutes at 250 °F.

For the filling you will need three separate bowls initially. In Bowl One mix the cream cheese and sugar together. Then gradually add each egg yolk, continuing to mix. In Bowl Two whip the egg whites, sugar and lemon juice together until it is meringue-like. In Bowl 3 mix whipping cream and corn flour.

Add the raspberry purée to Bowl One’s mixture. Then gradually add Bowl Two’s contents, using a large rubber spatula and repeat for Bowl Three’s contents. Pour mixture on top of crumb base. Place in Bain Marie (a larger pan filled with water) and bake at 250F. Total cooking time should be 40-50 minutes, once centre is firm.