Giada De Laurentiis’ boyfriend is cooking for her on Valentine’s Day

Giada De Laurentiis and boyfriend Shane Farley will spend Valentine’s Day having a romantic dinner — only Giada won’t be doing any of the cooking!

Let’s face it. If you’re in a relationship with Giada, why would you ever attempt anything in the kitchen? As one of the most talented chefs in her field, a successful restauranteur and Italian native, Giada has mastered the perfect sauce and could knead any pasta-maker under the table. But even the best of the best need some nights off. Lucky for Giada, boyfriend Shane Farley is stepping up this Valentine’s Day to serve his lady something savory.

“He cooks on special occasions [like] Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, etc.,” Giada said about her TV producer boyfriend of nearly five years. “I think for V-Day, he’ll make me one of his fave dishes: chicken piccata over pasta.”

For those who aren’t familiar, chicken piccata is a simple yet classic Italian dinner that’s bursting with flavor. The chicken is easy make with or without breading and is sautéed in a lemony white wine sauce. It gets its famous zing from a healthy serving of capers, which are high in antioxidants and contain a flavonoid that helps to block allergies — so there’ll be no sneezing during your romantic evening.

If Giada was doing the cooking, she said would opt for her homemade pappardelle with a short-rib ragu. It’s one of her go-to dishes when she wants to prepare something particularly memorable for a loved one.

“The sauce has a little bit of chocolate in it, which makes it feel extra special,” the mom and cookbook author said.

One of Farley’s favorite dishes Giada makes is her short-rib lasagna, a dish oozing with tender layers of short ribs, creamy, basil-flecked cheese and sweet tomato sauce. She actually made it Sunday night while they watched the Oscars, she said.

On Friday, however, Giada will stay as hands-off as possible when her man starts to prep.

“I plan on being in another room catching up on one of my binge-worthy shows so I don’t micromanage him in the kitchen,” Giada said with a laugh.

That’s not to say Giada hasn’t already given Farley some pointers on how to ace the evening.

“Season, season, season!” she said. “I always make sure he seasons the meat before cooking it and as for pasta, I always make sure he seasons the pasta water with salt before adding the pasta. Simple tips, but important.”

Aside from staying out of the kitchen, catching up on a little Netflix and enjoying Farley’s chicken piccata, Giada has one other extremely important Valentine’s Day tradition — with her 11-year-old daughter Jade. To no one’s surprise, it also involves food.

“Jade loves milk chocolate,” Giada, who recently became the global ambassador for Nutella said Giada. “So I always give her a little assortment of milk chocolate and lollipops from See’s Candies.” It doesn’t get much sweeter than that.