Love is in the... fish??

I don't know what is up with all the weird food I am coming across these days but when I opened up the tuna to thaw on Sat. night this is what I found in one of the pieces. How appropriate!

We put the boys to bed and then cooked dinner together on Valentine's evening . We made salad, tuna steaks and a new pasta dish from Giada. It was very tasty and really fast.

Wagon Wheels with Artichoke Pesto

1 pound rotelle (wagon wheel pasta)

1 (8-ounce) package of frozen artichoke hearts, thawed

1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, lightly packed

1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 garlic clove

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.Meanwhile, in a food processor combine the artichokes, parsley, walnuts, lemon zest and juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Chop the ingredients fine, stopping the machine a few times to scrape down the sides. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil. Transfer the artichoke pesto to a large serving bowl and stir in the cheese. Add the warm pasta and toss to combine. If needed, add the reserved pasta water 1/4 cup at a time to moisten the pasta and create a sauce like consistency. Serve.

I could not find frozen artichoke hearts so I used canned ones; drained. Watch the walnuts closely when toasting them in the oven. I burned the first batch. I also used 1/2 to 2/3 c olive oil. It made a ton of pasta and it turned a weird color when refrigerated but still tastes very yummy. X called it Spiderman pasta (of course) because he thought the wheels look like webs. Both boys ate the pasta as leftovers NO problem.

Here are the boys opening up their V-Day "surprises" from us on Sat. morning. They were so excited to see a bag on the table at their seats in the morning.