Pasta Making Machines: How to Use a Pasta Machine

Spaghetti, fettucini, lasagnette, pirogi, tortellini, capellini, etc., are the different types of Italian pasta. You must have seen or heard about the pasta making machines, but must be thinking that it is difficult to make those beautiful homogeneous pasta shapes yourself. On the contrary, pasta making at home is quite simple. Once you master the technique, you would love to try making different pasta at home itself.

Pasta Making Machines

Pasta making machines are available in different sizes. They have numerous adjustable settings for the benefit of the user. You also get different kinds of cutting blades with the machine to prepare different variety of pasta. Pasta machines can be used at home or restaurants. The two types of pasta making machines are electronic pasta machines and the hand operated ones. The hand operated pasta machines cost around $50, whereas, the electric pasta machines cost more than $100. The electronic pasta machines, though costly, are much easier to use and come with many accessories. The bigger ones that are used for commercial purposes cost more than $1000.

How to Use a Pasta Machine

Once you have bought the pasta making machine after your long research in the market, it is time to use it! Let us see the detailed method of using a pasta machine for preparing pasta at home. The machine used here is the hand operated one. You need the following ingredients to make a serving of pasta for 4.

Ingredients

1¼ cup flour
2 eggs
Pinch of salt

Method

1. Put the flour directly on the cooking surface. Create a pit in the flour, break the eggs and pour them in it along with the salt.
2. Mix it with s fork or you can even make use of your hands. Try to avoid spilling the eggs out of the flour.
3. Once the mixture becomes manageable, knead the dough. If it is too sticky, add a little flour. You must knead it enough to make a homogeneous dough out of it.
4. When the dough becomes soft, flatten it and make equal parts out of it. Flatten these parts with your hands.
5. Now set up the pasta machine in wide settings. Put one rectangular sheet in it and crank the machine. When the sheet comes out, fold it in three parts just like you fold a letter.
6. Open the folded parts and put the sheet into the pasta machine again. Continue this process for a couple of times.
7. Now change the setting of the machine to narrow and again put the sheet in it. The sheet will become thinner.
8. Once you get the necessary thickness of the sheet, use the required cutting blades and put the sheet in the pasta machine again.
9. Collect the cut pasta with one hand. You can even take the help of another person to collect the pasta while you crank.
10. Set the pasta to dry in a pasta tray for 10 - 15 minutes. But do not let it over-dry as it can crack.

In case of the electronic pasta machines, you just need to put the flour and eggs into the machine and it manages the rest. Your homemade pasta is ready to use in your favorite pasta recipe!

How do I Care For my Pasta Machine

The pasta making machine made of stainless steel is easier to clean. You can make use of a wet cloth to clean the machine. A toothbrush or pastry brush can also be useful to clean the tiny corners. You must not put the pasta making machine directly in water or even in a dishwasher as it can start rusting from within. If it is possible, try to dismantle the machine, clean it and assemble it again. But you must do it only if you are aware of the machine's mechanism.

You can see that making pasta at home is not so difficult. Once you get used to the technique, you can try making different types of pasta. And you will definitely not want to buy pasta from the supermarket any longer!