Smoked Trout Tagliatelle with fennel & spinach

For the pasta, place the flour in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the eggs, oil and salt. Stir roughly with a wooden spoon and then with your hands incorporate the ingredients and shape the dough into a ball add 1 tablespoon of water if you feel it is necessary.

On a lightly floured bench, knead the dough for five minutes to incorporate all ingredients and to develop a silky consistency, it is the heat from your hands that will develop the silkiness and gluten. Use a squeezing action, do not fold it as this will dry the pasta dough. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until needed. (The dough will keep for two to three days in the fridge, and can also be frozen).

Take approximately 1/5 of the dough, flatten the piece slightly with your hand, and roll it through the pasta machine on the thickest setting a few times, folding in half each time and sprinkling with a little plain flour if needed. You need to aim for a rectangular shape so continue rolling the pasta through the machine, gradually decreasing the thickness of the pasta, till you reach setting number 8 or 9. The pasta sheet needs to be thin but manageable.

As you make each sheet, pass it through the tagliatelle cutter of your pasta machine. Sprinkle with a mixture of semolina and flour so the pasta does not stick together and toss the pasta occasionally to keep the strands separate.

Wash the spinach then blanch the leaves in boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Cool before squeezing out excess liquid and set aside.

Heat the oil and butter in a shallow pan and sauté the fennel and the garlic, add the wine and simmer for a minute or two. Add the trout, cream and spinach and stir gently to combine. Season to taste and simmer the sauce a few minutes to heat through all the ingredients.