Melissa Clark makes pantry pasta and two-ingredient chocolate mousse for Valentine's Day

Food writer, cookbook author and staff reporter for the New York Times, Melissa Clark and her husband, author Daniel Gercke, are visiting the TODAY kitchen to cook up a romantic meal for Valentine's Day. Together, they show us how to make buttery and bright lemon pasta with toasty almonds and a decadently rich, two-ingredient chocolate mousse.

Lemon Pasta with Brown Butter, Almonds and Arugula by Melissa Clark

Brown butter, crunchy almonds and tangy lemon make a rich but balanced sauce for this pantry-friendly pasta. The arugula lends freshness and rounds out the pasta, turning this into a quick one-pot meal. If you want to increase the vegetables, you can double the arugula. (Just add a little more lemon juice.) Don't stint on the red pepper flakes; their spiciness helps bring together the flavors.

Two-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse by Melissa Clark

This is an intense, creamy two-ingredient chocolate mousse that comes together quickly. The nearly instant recipe contains no cream or eggs, so a complex chocolate can shine. The mousse serves four, and it can be doubled. But even if you're serving two, don't be tempted to halve it.

If you like those date night recipes, you should also try these:

Dark Chocolate Lava Cake (Moelleux au Chocolat) by Sébastien Giannini and Anina Belle Giannini

Beef Wellington by April Franqueza and Scott Franqueza

This article was originally published on TODAY.com