This $10 Costco Grocery Will Give You All the Valentine’s Day Feels

If the heart-shaped boxes and candies lining shelves haven’t tipped you off yet, allow me: Valentine’s Day is here. Typically my partner and I love the service and ambiance of a romantic dinner at a restaurant, but this year we’re avoiding the crowds (and the big bill!) by booking a table for two in our own kitchen. With the post-meal sweet bites and bubbly planned out, we were on the hunt for a main dish with an appropriate level of festivity. Unsurprisingly, we found the inspiration for just such a dish during a recent trip to Costco: Nuovo Pasta Italian Four Cheese Valentine Ravioli.

Nuovo Pasta makes a variety of spaghetti, gnocchi, and stuffed pastas available year-round. These heart-shaped ravioli are a savory twist on the typical chocolates and hearts we see this time of year, and a seasonal find I wait all year for. These two-toned dumplings are made with a tender pasta dough that’s dyed a crimson color using beets and cut into two-inch-wide hearts that plump up once cooked. Inside, you’ll find generous mounds of a mild and salty four-cheese blend — creamy ricotta and mozzarella paired with aged Parmesan and asiago.  

The ravioli comes in two individually sealed 16-ounce packages, so you can freeze one for a later date, or cook for a group of loved ones this Valentine’s Day.

The ravioli are ready after just four minutes in boiling water (you can tell they’re done when they float to the top). The cheesy filling is gentle enough to pair with a variety of sauces, like a rich and tangy marina or just tossed with melted butter and a dusting of Parmesan and black pepper for a simple cacio e pepe vibe.

Just to add a little extra effort for the holiday, I’m opting to make a blush-colored sauce. (I sauté some finely chopped onion and garlic with tomato paste, a pinch of saffron and tarragon for an added floral sweetness, and a splash of white wine and heavy cream.) Seafood always feels a little extra luxurious too, and Valentine’s Day of all days is time to pull out all the stops. So I like to stir some frozen shrimp into the sauce, which reminds me of one of my go-to orders at old-school Italian restaurants: shrimp with penne vodka. 

Topping off the bright red ravioli with the creamy pink sauce already looks like Valentine’s Day on a plate, and the flavors make it even more spectacular. The rosy seafood sauce is buttery, thanks to the heavy cream. Combined with the tangy sweetness of caramelized tomato paste, it all feels like a very refined and elegant at-home date night. 

It’s a meal I plan on duplicating the next time we want a little more amore on a random Tuesday evening.

Find it in stores: Nuovo Pasta Italian Four Cheese Valentine Ravioli, $9.89 for 2 pounds

What seasonal find do you seek out at Costco? Tell us in the comments.