Paglia E Fieno

This indulgent pasta with its creamy garlic, mushroom, and prosciutto sauce is perfect for cold winter nights.

Photo Phil Webb Props and styling me

My eldest brother Chris created this dish and it will always hold a special place in my heart. He gleaned it from a trattoria owner in Milwaukee and wrote the recipe on the back of a napkin. Wisconsin, where we grew up, had a small Italian contingency with its own quarter in the city. We loved all the tiny restaurants and local food shops where my mother would buy her imported ingredients. This creamy spinach and egg pasta translates to ‘hay and straw’, and references the different colors of pasta. Its roots lie in Emilia Romagna, ‘the pasta epicentre’, but it made its way to the Midwest of America in the last century.

Paglia e Fieno

prep 10 minutes prep cook 15 minutes serves 4

• 2 tbsps extra olive oil

• 3 large cloves garlic chopped

• 750g/3/4 lb chestnut or white mushrooms sliced

• 6 slices prosciutto chopped

• 250ml/1 cup white wine

• 300ml/1 and 1/4 cups cream

• 400g fresh spinach and white pasta linguine

• 60g/4 tbsps grated parmesan

• 3 tbsps chopped flat leaf parsley

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil with a handful of salt. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil until very hot. Add the garlic and mushrooms and a large pinch of salt. Saute for 5 minutes on high heat, stirring often. Add the prosciutto and cook another couple of minutes. Pour in the white wine and simmer for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the cream and let reduce a little, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add half the cheese and all of the parsley.

2. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente, about 4-5 minutes. If using hard pasta then it will take 8-9 minutes. Drain, saving a bit of the water, and add the pasta to the pan with the cream and mix together. If it needs a bit more liquid, add a bit of the reserved cooking water. Serve in bowls with the remaining cheese sprinkled over.