Sunday Man Pasta.

Every Sunday, my husband does a very nice thing*. While I go to Yoga, he hangs with the kids, cleans the kitchen and makes dinner. Yes, I am the luckiest woman alive. I think he'd admit, though, that there's an element of self-preservation in his actions. He knows I'll be a lot more fun to be around if I don't have to destroy the magic of Yoga by coming home to a messy kitchen and hungry kids. And he likes pasta, which I rarely cook, because I don't like it so much.

Not that I'm complaining, but he always cooks the same meal. I'm really not complaining, because the kids love it and I don't have to make it or clean it up. He found the recipe on the back of a box of spinach pasta. It was called "Lumberjack Pasta" and was more complicated than his version. I'm pretty sure an actual lumberjack wouldn't bother "straining the nuts." I have no idea what that's all about, but my husband seemed particularly proud of the fact that he skips that step, which was in the original instructions. What is a lumberjack anyway?

Sunday Man Pasta

Melt some butter in a pan and crush a couple cloves of garlic into it.

Put 1 1/2 cups walnuts on a pan and toast them. My husband didn't say 1 1/2 cups, he said, "about 3/4 of that nut chopper thing." He's referring to one of these:

In fact, he was referring to that very one, which is ours. And it's terrible, so please email me and tell me about your favorite nut chopper. Or just send me one to try.

Anyhow, he uses that one, so I filled it 3/4 full with water, which I then dumped into a measuring cup so I could give you, dear reader, a precise measurement for the nuts**. Sunday Man Pasta is usually made with walnuts, although any nuts you happen to have around will work. Pecans, almonds and cashews come to mind. My husband claims he sometimes likes to add pine nuts, but I think he was just saying that to sound fancy.

Once you've toasted your nuts, chop them in the chopper, preferably a better chopper than ours, which chops unevenly. Chop, chop, chop. Sorry, just wanted to make sure I had enough "chops" in this paragraph.

Remember your melted butter and garlic? Stir the nuts in with that. According to my husband,

"The nuts'll eat up that butter pretty quickly."

Okay. Cook a package of spinach noodles, whatever shape you prefer. Drain the noodles, return them to the pot and stir in the nut mixture. Add shredded Parmesan to taste. My husband, who is half French after all, recommends adding a spoonful of plain yogurt to make it "more saucy."

Attempts to add vegetables or (what was he thinking?) tuna were unsuccessful. Do not mess with Sunday Man Pasta. It is what it is, yo.

Namasté, y'all!

P.S. I don't think I've ever said "nuts" and "chop" so many times in one post.

* He does nice things on other days of the week, too, but I'm just telling about the Sunday thing today. Stay tuned if you want to hear more.

** That's what...never mind.