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Fresh Pasta

Homemade Paglia e Fieno Tagliatelle (Straw and Hay Pasta)

Perfect for any occasion, Homemade Paglia e Fieno Tagliatelle are easy to make with eggs, flour and spinach. Here's how.
Recipe Homemade Paglia e Fieno Tagliatelle (Straw and Hay Pasta)
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Preparation 20 minutes
  • Cooking 3 minutes
  • Servings for 4 people

Homemade Paglia e Fieno Tagliatelle, “straw and hay” tagliatelle in yellow and green, are a different way to make tagliatelle and go well with any kind of sauce, from a rich Bolognese Ragù to a more delicate butter and sage.

Among Christmas first courses, a place of honor is always kept for homemade pasta: whether it’s lasagna, tagliatelle, ravioli or tortellini, fresh pasta is a must on Italian tables.

To make Homemade Paglia e Fieno Tagliatelle, besides the classic ingredients for egg pasta, you need spinach, fresh or frozen. Once cooked and puréed, it becomes your natural green coloring, essential for the color contrast between the paglia (straw) tagliatelle, which are yellow, and the fieno (hay) ones, which are green.

Looking for other ideas for unusual homemade pasta? Try the Ricotta and Spinach Caramelle, the Beet Reginette with Walnuts, with their gorgeous bright pink color, or the very dark Cocoa Tagliatelle with Walnuts and Gorgonzola.

Ingredients for 4 people

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Method

  1. To make the Homemade Paglia e Fieno Tagliatelle, start with the spinach. Once boiled, weigh out the amount listed in the recipe and blend it with an immersion blender until creamy.
    Homemade Paglia e Fieno Tagliatelle, step 1: boiled spinach blended into a cream
  2. Put the flour for the green pasta in a bowl, make a well and crack the eggs into the center. Add the spinach purée and the oil and start mixing, first with a fork and then by hand on a pastry board, until you have a smooth, even dough.
    Homemade Paglia e Fieno Tagliatelle, step 2: green pasta dough with flour, eggs and spinach purée
  3. Cover it with an upside-down bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes before continuing.
  4. Meanwhile, make the plain pasta too, again working flour, eggs and oil together, first with a fork and then by hand. Once you have a ball of dough, put it under a bowl to rest for half an hour as well.
    Homemade Paglia e Fieno Tagliatelle, step 4: pasta dough rolled out with a pasta machine
  5. Now all that’s left is to roll out the dough with the pasta machine, known in Italy as “Nonna Papera”. Divide each ball of dough into four pieces and roll them out, starting from the thickest setting down to the thinnest, dusting with fine semolina if the dough sticks.
    Homemade Paglia e Fieno Tagliatelle, step 5: yellow and green tagliatelle dusted with semolina
  6. Then run the sheets through the tagliatelle cutter, dust them with semolina and let them dry for another half hour before cooking them: whatever the sauce, cook them in boiling salted water for a couple of minutes. Finally, remember to download our App with exclusive content and fewer ads!
    Homemade paglia e fieno tagliatelle

Variations and Alternatives

To give the “yellow” pasta an even brighter color, you can add half a teaspoon of turmeric to the dough.

Tips

Making paglia e fieno pasta is easier than you might think. We recommend making it a few hours ahead and keeping it covered with a clean kitchen towel on a wooden board until it’s time to cook it.

Storage

Homemade Paglia e Fieno Tagliatelle can be kept out of the fridge for a few hours or in the fridge for a couple of days, or they can be dried in the open air or in a food dehydrator.

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