So, you want to start making your own pasta? Said another way, you’re angling to become a spaghetti sorcerer, a ravioli wrangler, a macaroni magician? The good news is that it’s not really that hard to learn how to make pasta, once you get the basics down. Ultimately, it’s all about using good eggs and flour, mixing the right proportions, learning to read the dough, and shaping and cooking it properly. It’s a discipline people have been perfecting for hundreds of years, and a tradition that you can get into with just a couple good tools.
Before you get started, though, you’ve gotta spend at least a little time planning. Within the realm of “pasta,” there are centuries of debate about how to make and serve it, which is why it’s important to first figure out what kind of pasta you want to create, and what a real, high-quality version of it looks and tastes like. In the end, the decisions come down to your preferences and which techniques you’ve studied. Thus, immerse yourself in the pasta life. Read a legendary cookbook, like American Sfoglino by Evan Funke (with Katie Parla); Cooking by Hand by Paul Bertolli; Mastering Pasta by Marc Vetri; or, of course, the GOAT: Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. Learn how to cook amazing dried pasta, whether you get it from an American artisan like Sfoglini or your local Italian grocery store/import shop; maybe even buy some fresh pasta from a local restaurant or market. Figure out what your favorite sauces are, and which shapes go well with them. Watch all of Fellini’s films and Moonstruck. Drink a lot of wine from the Piedmont and Chianti regions of Italy. Listen to three Puccini operas. Rewatch The Sopranos. Once you’ve done every single thing I just mentioned, you’ll be ready to start making pasta.
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I used to make fresh pasta about once a week, and I can say that the first couple times you do it, it might not be very good. When you get a sense of how to make dough and can get it to a tasty place, though… that’s where the fun begins. Then, you’re ready for tagliatelle, ravioli, lasagna, and all the weird shapes and colors that are out there. Recommending “the best pasta makers” is kind of backwards, because, really, the goal is for the best pasta maker to be you. That said, here are some pasta-making machines that could help you on your journey to become the next Tony Soprano Garfield.
All hail the king
For most things in life, it’s hard to say this thing or that option is clearly the absolute best. That being said, the Marcato Atlas 150 is probably the most ubiquitous, beloved, and iconic pasta machine in the game. With 10 thickness settings, narrow and wide pasta cutters, and a hand crank, this bambino couldn’t be simpler. I’ve spent a ton of time with this thing, and recommend it wholeheartedly. When using it becomes second nature (and it will, quickly), you’ll be an unstoppable force when it comes to fresh pasta.
(Don’t) crank that
Forming pasta by hand is what many of the realest do, but making it using a KitchenAid stand mixer is also a super popular option that carries no shame in its game. Two of the best tools—if you go that route—are the three-piece KitchenAid pasta attachment set and the Antree pasta maker. These attachments can size and cut pasta sheets (for lasagna and ravioli) as well as long shapes like fettuccine and spaghetti. Both attach easily to the KitchenAid and roll out the pasta for you so you can save your energy to crank—er, cook—other things.
Deus ex pasta machina
Thinking about entrusting your pasta to technology? Philips has a couple of super well-reviewed mixer-extruders, meaning that the machine kneads the pasta and then presses it into shapes. With the entry-level option, you can do spaghetti, penne, and spaghetti; a slightly more expensive and ambitious version can prepare spaghetti, penne, fettuccine, lasagna, tagliatelle, pappardelle, and angel hair. This will give you time to create an hours-long ragu while drinking amaro and watching Amarcord.
Ravioli, ravioli, give me the ravioli maker
You wanna make some good ravioli and don’t feel like shaping and cutting it by hand? That’s totally fine. You can use a ravioli tray, or at least some cutters to make things easier and more uniform.
Carry a big stick
If you really wanna go old school and roll the pasta by hand, you’ll need a good mattarello, or pasta rolling pin. Watch Evan Funke use a scarily huge one here—don’t worry, he’s (probably) not going to jump out of the screen and beat the shit out of you with it—and you may be inspired to go that route.
Get on the board
Making gnocchi? Good call—it’s one of the simplest formats to master, considering that these pillowy little dumplings don’t need to be totally uniform. This board will help you shape and texture the perfect pasta.
This list could go on forever and get into different shapes, drying racks, bench scrapers, and all that jazz. Honestly, though, if you have one of the above pasta rolling tools, a decent knife, and a pot to boil water in, that’s really all you need. I’m ready for a Negroni!
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