A classic of fine Italian cuisine, tagliatelle paglia e fieno make simple sauces special and enhance full-bodied ones.

Tasty yet delicate, they are excellent topped with butter and parmesan cheese and tomato sauce, but become truly irresistible when combined with full-bodied sausage, game and - why not - even fish, for a surprising result.

This type of pasta is easily available in delicatessens and fresh pasta shops or in grocery shops and supermarkets in the dry version. If you have a little time, however, you can take the satisfaction of trying your hand at home preparation: having a pasta machine will make the job easier.

Ingredients:

For the egg pasta (yellow):
- 140 g flour
- 60 g of remilled durum wheat semolina
- 2 eggs
- salt to taste

For the spinach pasta (green)
- 140 g flour
- 60 g durum-wheat bran flour
- 2 eggs
- 100 g spinach
- salt to taste

Preparation:

Yellow dough:
Place the flour and semolina in a heap on a wooden surface, break the eggs in the centre and add a pinch of salt; now beat the eggs with a fork, gradually incorporate the flour and knead everything by hand until a smooth, homogeneous-looking dough is formed. Once this is achieved, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for about an hour at room temperature.

Green dough:
Boil the spinach, drain it thoroughly and chop it with an immersion blender. Place the flour, semolina and spinach on a wooden board, break the eggs in the middle and add a pinch of salt. Then proceed with the preparation of the dough as for the yellow dough, and once the desired consistency has been obtained, wrap this too in plastic wrap and let it rest for an hour at room temperature.

After this time has elapsed, cut small portions from the dough, one at a time, and pass them through the pasta machine after having flattened them a little with a rolling pin and floured them so that they do not stick. As you proceed, keep the unused part of the dough in plastic wrap so that it does not dry out too much. Once you have obtained a medium-thick dough, pass it through the roller to prepare the noodles.