Pasta Machines

[vogelap]

Well, the bug has bit.

Last night, I was thinking of making some fresh pasta. The idea was rolling around in my head, but solidified into a PLAN when I saw Alton Brown talking about PASTA on GOOD EATS! I've spent part of the morning looking at my options, and have pretty much decided on the ATLAS MARCATO PASTA MACHINE (model 150) with a chitarra. Also (finally!) replacing my bench scraper that was lost during the move.

Now, I'm looking for beyond-the-basics recipes for pasta... I'll make Ravioli tomorrow, so any filling/sauce suggestions would be most welcome. Seafood ravioli with a saffron-y sauce? Sounds good to me! Suggestions?

[Liza]

Before the filling, I'll suggest a slight change to the basic pasta recipe: we've been making pasta dough with half cake flour half all purpose flour and finding it much silkier than when done with all AP.

Question: if I'm thinking of the right chitarra, it's a pasta slicer that looks like a tiny loom, upon which you roll the pasta through the guitar-stringy-looking things- is that the same thing you're describing?

Oh. And seafood filling with saffron sauce sounds good to me, too!

[melkor]

I've spent part of the morning looking at my options, and have pretty much decided on the ATLAS MARCATO PASTA MACHINE (model 150) with a chitarra.

If you haven't yet purchased the atlas machine, take a look at the belpasta trattorina. I replaced my atlas with one about a year and a half ago. I think I paid about $90 for mine. Having the pasta flow from the front to the back of the machine makes it much easier to produce long sheets of pasta. I've also been using the machine to make eggroll wrappers and crackers and whatever else I don't feel like rolling out by hand.

I think my next pasta related purchase is going to be the meat grinder/pasta extruder for the kitchen aid, it'd be nice to be able to make tubes.

As far as pasta recipes go, I'm all for using semolina, sometimes mixed with AP, the pasta comes out more substantial that way. Every time I make pasta with all AP it comes out as paste

[vogelap]

Question: if I'm thinking of the right chitarra, it's a pasta slicer that looks like a tiny loom, upon which you roll the pasta through the guitar-stringy-looking things- is that the same thing you're describing?

Oh. And seafood filling with saffron sauce sounds good to me, too!

Thanks for the tip about the basic pasta recipe! As it turns out, I've got some cake flour sitting on a shelf at home! I'll do an equal mix of cake & AP and let you know.

The chitarra is as you described it... The lady at Sur La Table made me promise to call her with a full report once I've used it... I guess she hadn't sold any before. It was less than $20, so it wasn't an extravagant purchase. I'll report here as well once I've used it!

Now, if someone could just toss me some recipes for the ravioli stuff with seafood with saffron sauce that is rattling around in my head!

[vogelap]

If you haven't yet purchased the atlas machine, take a look at the belpasta trattorina.

I think my next pasta related purchase is going to be the meat grinder/pasta extruder for the kitchen aid, it'd be nice to be able to make tubes.

Shoot. JUST got back with the Atlas. The Belpasta you mentioned looks GREAT... It's clearly a Cadillac. Right now, I just want to see how much I enjoy hand-making pasta, so a Cadillac is a bit overkill.

My next big kitchen purchase is going to be a KitchenAid, that way I'll the main thing on which to attach the myriad attachments!

Oh boy... All semolina? All AP? Half AP & cake? Decisions, decisions!!!

[melkor]

Just to make things more complicated, half semolina and half AP works really well for thicker pastas... Really good and easy flavored pasta can be made with a few leaves of basil, a handful of semolina, a handful of ap flour, a pinch of salt, and some tomato juice. Just chop the basil really finely, toss it in with the flour and salt, and add enough tomato juice for it to come together into a ball. Let the dough rest, kneed it on the widest setting on your machine, and roll it out.

[Stone]

If you haven't yet purchased the atlas machine, take a look at the belpasta trattorina

Is this much different from the Imperia?

Vogelap -- you seem very troubled by this decision. It's not that serious. Cheer up.

[melkor]

The main difference between the machines is that the Belpasta passes the pasta from the front to the back while he Imperia and Atlas machines pass the pasta from top to bottom. The belpasta also has much wider rollers. Both designs work very well, I own an Atlas machine as well as a Belpasta and most of the time I make pasta with a rolling pin .

[joler]

I have the Atlas pasta maker and it works fine, however...I'm sorry I did not go to the local Restaurant Supply store instead of the local "Gourmet Shop" to purchase it. A friend of mine went to the restaurant supply and got a professional pasta machine with a ravioli maker for about $90.

As for recipes, I've never made pasta with all-purpose flour - I always use Semolina.

[Mottmott]

The KA pasta rollers are super.

[vogelap]

Just an update on the pasta machine...

Stone... I don't want you to think I'm overly serious about this! I'm not... Just interested in tapping the collective wisdom of this board.

I made some pasta (using only all-purpose flour; I thought we had some cake flour but was mistaken!)... It was noodles and some ravioli that I stuffed with camembert & toasted walnuts. It was pretty delicious!

This weekend, I'll be making fresh lasagna noodles... My question is -- what roller setting is the best for lasagna noodles?

Thanks!

[DaveFaris]

6?

[pacemazz]

How about Pumpkin ravioli with sage butter?

[vogelap]

Last night I attempted to make fresh pasta, but it didn't work. My flour was too dry, and no amount of additional liquid seemed to help. It just didn't work.

Fortunately, I had some dried lasagna noodles on hand, so dinner came off without a hitch. I prepared a meal for my chef-mentor, his wife (also a chef), my fiancee, and a friend of ours. Everything was very good, and I was explaining my fresh pasta catastrophy to my chef-mentor.

He asked me to go through the steps I'd followed... I said, "I got some flour together, and dumped it on my work counter in the kitchen. Made a little well in the flour...".

"STOP!" he said. Loudly. My chef-mentor is a really wonderful guy, but he hides it well under a gruff exterior.

"What?," I said, "I thought the well method was the way to go (that's what Alton told me to do!)."

"Yeah, the well method is the way to go if you live in the [explitive deleted] 16th century. Now-a-days, we have this thing called a food processor. Just throw the flour in there, add your liquids, and pulse it two or three times, until it comes together into a ball. Then you work it by hand for about 5 minutes, then toss it into the fridge while you drink a [explitive deleted] beer. And, while you're up, get me one too. :wink:"

Next time I make pasta (sometime this week), I'm going to use his [explitive deleted] method . I'll report back how it goes.

[Matt Seeber]

vogelap, as you further your quest you'll realize that EVERYONE has a different idea on how to make pasta the "best" way.

i doubt you'll wanna drop $1000 on a pasta machine but if your birthday is coming up or your significant other owes you big time, this machine is the mac daddy!

IMPERIA P108 - ELECTRIC PASTA MACHINE

[vogelap]

vogelap, as you further your quest you'll realize that EVERYONE has a different idea on how to make pasta the "best" way.

i doubt you'll wanna drop $1000 on a pasta machine but if your birthday is coming up or your significant other owes you big time, this machine is the mac daddy! IMPERIA P108 - ELECTRIC PASTA MACHINE

Holy smoke! $1000 for a pasta machine seems excessive to me! I'm getting plenty of use out of my $40 machine at home.

Yes, it is clear to me that everyone has 'their' formula for pasta, though I must admit that my chef's suggestion to use the food processor instead of the well method makes sense, especially since I had one well 'break' and spill the egg mixture across my island.

Ah well. Live & learn!

[DaveFaris]

Yeah, baking your own bread is the way to go if you live in the [explitive deleted] 16th century. Now-a-days, we have this thing called a grocery store.

There are plenty of reasons why old techniques are just as valid today as they were 500 years ago. Your friend sounds to me like a bore.

[riboflavinjoe]

im pleased with my mixing in a metal bowl, and so on. all flour, or all semolina have both yielded good results. and really, a grand for a pasta maker? my 45 $ (canadian) machine is fine.

in schoolwe made a chocolate lasagna for the dessert of the day. we made a cocoa pasta with citrus segments, and ginger and chocolate sauce, which we layerd in the plate as the order came in. it was quite nice!

and for an amuse bouche, i made shrimp ravioli with saffron and orange creamy sauce, which we served in a chinese spoon.

joey

[riboflavinjoe]

oh yeah, and then there was the time we had a "carte blanche" to do what we wanted, and i made foie gras-maple syrup-hazelnuts-walnuts-almonds stuffed ravioli with a cinnamony creamy sauce. it was more like a dessert. man, it knocked my socks off!!!

[22tango]

One great attachment to my Atlas Pasta Machine I couldn't live without is the add-on motor, so you no longer have to turn the crank and can use both hands to lovingly feed the dough through!! WHAT FUN!!!

[Matt Seeber]

i thought that $1000 machine might tickle your fancy....

on the issue of a food processor, if making a small batch, i would prefer to incorporate the dough by hand.

if making a larger batch i would get it started in a kitchenaid type mixer with a paddle or dough hook, mix just until it starts to come together and finish it by hand. the intense action the blade from the food processor is going to exert on the pasta is detremental to your final product, IMO.

[vogelap]

There are plenty of reasons why old techniques are just as valid today as they were 500 years ago.  Your friend sounds to me like a bore.

Dave... Nah, he's actually VERY awesome. Great culinary sensibilities, and a truly outstanding touch with flavor and presentations. He's a Certified Executive Chef and works with students in cooking competitions, as well as being a competitor (at a different level, of course) himself.

He's got this "Chicago attitude" that I was attempting to convey in my message, and certainly did not mean to cast him in any sort of a borish light. That's not the case at all!

[vogelap]

if making a larger batch i would get it started in a kitchenaid type mixer with a paddle or dough hook, mix just until it starts to come together and finish it by hand.  the intense action the blade from the food processor is going to exert on the pasta is detremental to your final product, IMO.

Of course the processor would toughen the dough if you left it in there, but he said to pulse just until it comes together, then take it out and work it by hand...

I'm probably going to try that sometime this week. I'll report back!

[oraklet]

"Of course the processor would toughen the dough if you left it in there"

i'm not sure i get this. i let the machine work the dough until it comes together, and at that time it should be taken out, (cause if it's worked any further, the machine will probably blow a fuse...) but by then it's fine, and don't need any further handling. well, perhaps a little pushing together. i don't even let it rest, just take it to the working table, cut slices, roll them out a bit and then: through the old atlas. perhaps this very plain method works well because i only use eggs and durum semolina. never tried anything else...

but "toughen the dough", what does that mean? gluten development?