A few months ago, my significant other and I had a huge group of people over and made fresh ravioli. To expedite the process, we enlisted the help of the Atlas Original Italian Pasta Machine which we borrowed from some friends. We loved it so much that I bought one for his Christmas present (sh! don’t tell). I did some research and Atlas seems to be the gold standard in pasta makers. This machine is entirely stainless steel and has a regular set of rollers and two other settings: fettuccine and vermicelli. The machine consists of the base with rollers and cutters attached, a removable handle, and a clamp to secure the machine to a counter or table top.
Things to love: This machine is sturdy, made in Italy, and fairly compact. It’s incredibly low-tech, which is always a bonus for me; the simpler the better, and this machine is simple. Once you get the hang of it, making fresh pasta doesn’t take much longer than boiling packaged pasta since the pasta cooks so quickly. The regular set of rollers adjust in thickness. At $76.99 on Amazon.com (I found mine a lot less expensively with some internet time), this is a good price for a sturdy machine. (A Kitchen Aid pasta attachment is upwards of $100!) The dough came out smoothly and we had no problem using the cutting attachments–something that my friends tell me is an issue with many pasta machines they’ve tried.
Less than perfect: Not the easiest thing in the world to clean. I would always recommend running a batch of test dough through the machine to make sure that it’s cleaned out ahead of time. Also, the clamp is too small to attach to my kitchen counters (which are a fairly average thickness) so you’ll need another spot to roll out your pasta. You need both hands or a friend to help when using this machine: one to turn the handle, the other to keep the dough from piling up and getting stuck together. Getting the coordination down might take a couple of tries.
Final analysis: This is a great machine for the money. We were very impressed and had fun using it. I can’t wait until Christmas so I can hijack this!
Tips for use: Run the dough through the plain rollers a couple of times, even if your plan to use one of the cutting attachments. This ensures that the dough is the right consistency. Also, get yourself a pastry brush and reserve it for cleaning this machine only. You can’t use water on it, and you’ll need something to help get in all the nooks and crannies.
Posted by: Catie
