Paglia e fieno

Paglia e fieno is a mix of narrow egg pasta ribbons in two colours, yellow and green. It belongs to egg pasta and is sold both fresh and dried, usually as nests.

The ribbons are about 3 to 6 mm wide, like tagliolini or narrow tagliatelle. The yellow ones are made from ordinary egg dough, the green ones from dough with added spinach. On the plate the pasta really does look like a handful of dried grass.

The name means “straw and hay”: the yellow ribbons are the straw, the green ones the hay. The dish is made in the egg pasta regions of northern and central Italy, especially Emilia-Romagna.

The dough is made from wheat flour and eggs; for the green half, cooked and well-squeezed spinach or spinach powder is added. Both sheets are rolled out, cut into thin ribbons and mixed, then twisted into nests.

Fresh paglia e fieno cooks in 2–3 minutes, dried in about 4–6 minutes. The nests go into boiling water and are gently separated with a fork.

The classic sauce is cream with cooked ham, peas and parmesan; versions with mushrooms, or simply with butter and parmesan, are also popular. The delicate ribbons do not like heavy sauces.

When buying, check the label: the green colour should come from spinach, and the egg content of dry egg pasta is usually stated. The nests should be whole, without many crumbs in the pack.