Dungeness Crab and Garlicky Yogurt Pasta

Ingredients

• 0.3 cup butter 
• 0.5 cup dill sprigs fresh loosely packed
• 0.8 pound crabs shelled cooked
• 2  garlic cloves with 1/4 tsp. salt in a mortar and pestle crushed
• 2 tsp ground ancho chile 
• 1  juice of lemon 
• 0.8 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 0.3 cup olive oil extra-virgin
• 1 pound pappardelle pasta or dried fresh
• 0.5 teaspoon pepper 
• 1 pinch saffron threads 
• 2 cups whole-milk greek yogurt plain homemade

Equipment

• bowl
• sauce pan
• pot
• sieve
• microwave
• mortar and pestle

Directions

1. Combine labneh, lemon zest and juice, salt, pepper, garlic, and oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Set aside.
2. Cook pasta as package directs.
3. Meanwhile, pulverize saffron with a mortar and pestle.
4. Add 1/2 cup hot pasta water and loosen saffron bits.
5. Pour into a small saucepan, add butter, and heat until simmering; keep hot. Microwave labneh-lemon mixture until hot but not boiling, 1 minute. Rinse crab with hot water in a strainer to warm.
6. Drain pasta and return to pot. Toss with saffron butter.
7. Add labneh mixture, crab, half of dill, and a little Aleppo pepper and toss very loosely to mix slightly.
8. Pour into a warm rimmed bowl.
9. Sprinkle with remaining dill and a little more Aleppo pepper.
10. Serve with more Aleppo pepper at the table.
11. *Find labneh at Middle Eastern markets, Aleppo pepper in some stores' spice aisles, and Aleppo and Urfa biber at worldspice.com