Paglia e fieno, that translates to “straw and hay”, is old dish. The recipe gets its name from the two types of pasta used—egg fresh pasta for the straw, and spinach fresh pasta for the hay.
Nowadays is really difficult to find it in store or even in the restaurants’ menu. Making them at home is quite simple and even quick if you have Imperia pasta machine; for those who are expert pasta makers, there’s a rolling pin.
The shapes can be thin, like a tagliolini, as I like them, or a bit thicker, like tagliatelle; the essence remains the same.
I prepare them with a simple sauce with cream and prosciutto that reminds me of the ’80s when I was a child… yummy.
Paglia e fieno my way
- Preparation time: 40 minutes
- Ingredients for 4 servings
- Difficulty: Easy recipe
- Ingredients
- For the yellow pasta:
- 200 grams of all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- For the green pasta:
- 200 grams of all-purpose flour
- 60 grams of spinach
- 1 egg
- For the sauce:
- a knob of butter
- 150 grams of prosciutto
- 200 grams of cream
- Grated Parmesan cheese to taste
- Salt to taste
- Instructions
- Make the yellow pasta dough. Pour the flour onto a pastry board, make a well in the center, and pour in the lightly beaten eggs. Knead until smooth. Cover with cling film and let rest at room temperature for an hour.
- Make the green pasta. In a small saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the well-washed spinach for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with very cold water to bind the chlorophyll, keeping it nice and green. Drain again and squeeze well. Using a blender, blend the boiled spinach and the egg. Pour the flour onto a pastry board, make a well in the center, and pour in the spinach and egg mixture. Knead until smooth. Cover with cling film and let rest at room temperature for an hour.
- First, roll out the yellow pasta dough using a pasta roller until it is 2 mm thick (Imperia pasta machine size 5/6). Let the pasta dry for at least ten minutes. Dust the dough well with flour and cut it into 1 mm diamonds. Let it dry on a pasta rack.
- Repeat the process for the green pasta dough.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta.
- Chop the prosciutto.
- In a large saucepan melt the butter, add the prosciutto. Continue cooking until the prosciutto is nice and crispy. Remove it from the pan and place it on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Place the cream in the skillet and cook until it thickens.
- Salt the pasta cooking water with 7-8 grams of salt per liter of water. Cook the tagliatelle for about two minutes. Drain and toss them in the pan with the sauce, turning off the heat.
- Serve with the crispy prosciutto and generously grated Parmesan cheese.
Tips to ensure the success of the dish:
- To chop the spinach, I use a blender along with the egg, so that the pasta is uniformly colored. You can also chop it with a knife.
- If you prefer a yellower pasta, you can use a little ground saffron.
- Once cut, the tagliolini should be left to dry on a pasta rack, otherwise they’ll form a single blob that won’t separate even during cooking. You can also let the rolled pasta dry a bit before cutting, but this second method requires a balance of timing, as you always risk having pasta that’s too dry to be cut with a pasta cutter. I prefer the first method.
- When pasta is cut this thinly and seasoned with such a simple sauce, it should be served immediately.
- Remember, to cook pasta properly, you should consider 1 liter of water for every 100 grams of pasta.
