Hay and Straw — A Spring Pasta for the Season We’ve Been Waiting For

Spring 2027 in full flower. The garden is in, the forsythia now blazing yellow, the neighborhood full of the optimism of April. After the winter's weight of preparation and milestone-witnessing, April feels like an exhale. A permission to just be in the season without anything larger required of it.

I filmed a spring video — a simple one, just the garden and what's coming in, walking through what I planted and what I'm hoping for. People love the garden videos. They comment about their own gardens, their grandmother's gardens, what they're trying to grow for the first time. The community of the channel isn't just about cooking — it's about the whole life that cooking lives inside. Gardens and kitchens and kitchens and gardens.

Mason comes home for a week in April. He's finishing his second year at CIA, which means he's through the fundamentals and into the electives. He's been doing classical French technique and modern American cuisine and a short module on fermentation that he now talks about the way people talk about a revelation. He fermented his first kimchi and miso paste and brought them both home. I tasted both and said honestly: these are extraordinary. He said, "I know." He's going to be remarkable. He already is.

The house in April with Mason home is different. More food, more opinion, more noise in the best way. Noah, who has been the quiet last child, comes alive when his brother is home — they cook together, argue about flavor, share notebooks. Mason leaves again on Sunday. The kitchen subsides back to its quieter register. Both versions are right.

With Mason home and the kitchen loud again with opinions and overlapping flavors, I wanted to cook something that honored the season without trying to be more than the moment called for—something springy and a little festive, the kind of dish that looks like you tried harder than you did. Hay and Straw, with its tangle of golden egg pasta and green spinach fettuccine, felt exactly right: it’s a spring plate, a garden-and-table plate, and honestly, it made Mason stop mid-argument with his brother just long enough to say it was good. That’s the highest praise the kitchen gets in April.

Hay and Straw

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 8 oz egg fettuccine (the “hay”)
• 8 oz spinach fettuccine (the “straw”)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 oz prosciutto, cut into thin strips
• 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook both fettuccines together according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, then drain and set aside.
2. Build the sauce. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the prosciutto strips and cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring, until they begin to crisp at the edges.
3. Add wine and cream. Pour in the white wine and let it reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 3–4 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
4. Add the peas. Stir in the peas and cook for 2 minutes until just tender and bright green. Season with nutmeg, salt, and black pepper.
5. Combine. Add the drained pasta to the skillet and toss to coat, adding splashes of reserved pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce to a silky consistency.
6. Finish with Parmesan. Remove from heat and stir in the 3/4 cup Parmesan until melted and incorporated. Taste and adjust seasoning.
7. Serve. Divide among warm bowls and top with additional Parmesan, a grind of black pepper, and fresh parsley.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 680 | Protein: 24g | Fat: 32g | Carbs: 72g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 620mg