Asparagus + morel saffron pasta

Plus a fabulous roasted rhubarb île flottante

Hello, and welcome to today’s Stories from Catbird Cottage! Of late, I am loving easy dishes that feel like something luxurious, a groove that’ll carry me through the sultry days of summer. Today brings two perfect-for-Mother’s-Day recipes. They require only modest effort and they deliver huge. You could also of course, just make them for yourself, or have your best buds over for a feast. Both recipes feature spring ingredients that celebrate the excitement of right now, such as asparagus, peas, chives (or ramps, or field garlic), morels, and rhubarb.

Whenever I eat morels these days, it’s because I’ve bought them. I’m lucky to have an excellent grocery store that stocks them when they are in season, however, back when I lived in Alabama, I used to forage morel mushrooms by the pound. It felt like Christmas every time the season began. After scoring pounds at a time, I’d set aside some choice specimens for myself and then bring my haul to various restaurants, to give chefs their pick to incorporate into nightly specials.

Top left - each morel as big as your hand. I favor the smaller black morels, though they all cook up deliciously when this fresh.

This silky pasta recipe is already a treat with the morels, peas, and asparagus, but it has the added special delight of earthy, floral saffron.

Although saffron is a pricey spice, a little goes a long way, and here it makes the dish sing. The saffron I sourced I found at Heray spice. As I spilled a pile of the crimson stamens out onto a plate, I was hit with their intoxicating aroma... there is nothing else quite like saffron.

Heray works directly with farmers in Herat, Afghanistan, who grow the saffron crocus and meticulously harvest the delicate stamens. In the cooperative structure they have formed, Heray ensures farmers are fairly compensated, which helps to uplift the entire community by supporting their spice trade. Whenever possible, I connect to where my food comes from so that I can make the best choice. It’s great to extend this practice further, to lesser-thought-of ingredients, like spices.

In this pasta dish, the addition of Greek yogurt imparts a slightly tangy, strikingly hued “sauce” once the saffron-bloomed water and the yogurt are stirred together. It’s a thing of magic, and hooray, success also comes easily: Incorporating the yogurt once the pasta is off the heat - in addition to stability imparted by the cornstarch - ensures a silky, perfect result. I'll most definitely be making this for guests through the season.