pnovak@ihhfl.UUCP (10/13/83)
i've been considering buying someone a pasta making machine as a gift. does anyone have any experience with them? am i being a duffus to even consider such a creation? do they work? if yes, what are the differences? what attachments are desirable? etc.... paul novak ihhfl!pnovak
notes@ucbcad.UUCP (10/15/83)
#R:ihhfl:-10500:ucbcad:8000004:000:762 ucbcad!max Oct 14 12:27:00 1983 I have used and seen various pasta machines in the last few years. If someone really likes pasta, they'll be hooked on good homemade pasta, since it has so much more character than the dried version (including dried homemade pasta). Some machines have motors and some can even mix the noodle dough. There is one big distinction, though -- some machines roll the pasta in sheets and cut it, while others force the dough through holes. Avoid the extruding type at all costs. The texture of the product is inferior; it lacks the resilience of rolled pasta, as you'll see right away if you compare them. Restaurants and shops featuring fresh pasta almost always use a rolling machine. Max Hauser, UC - Berkeley (...ucbvax!ucbcad.max; max@ucbmedea.arpa)
grunwald@uiuccsb.UUCP (10/20/83)
#R:ihhfl:-10500:uiuccsb:7000011:000:821 uiuccsb!grunwald Oct 19 13:51:00 1983 I've used them and really enjoyed the pasta that I made with it, but you should be sure that the person is going to use it enough to justify having it around. You can make pasta just using a rolling pin, but it's much harder to do, and takes a good deal of time. Even using the rolling machine, it takes a while and you have to pass it through the machine in several passes to get dough to become thin enough and yet not tear or rip. It's not a trivial process, however I only did it a couple of times. I made the noodles for a "pasta party" I had this summer. And, I do have to admit, the homemade noodles disappeared very quickly, and they were very tasty in dishes such as pasta alfredo (sp?). Spoken : Dirk Grunwald University of Illinois USENET : ihnp4 ! uiucdcs ! grunwald CSNET : grunwald.uiuc@Rand-Relay
wombat@uicsl.UUCP (10/21/83)
#R:ihhfl:-10500:uicsl:3800010:000:1144 uicsl!wombat Oct 20 15:51:00 1983 We received an "Atlas Marcato" manual pasta maker as a wedding gift. It's great. I like ours so much I gave my aunt one, too. Here in Champaign-Urbana, it cost $35. It comes with a double-headed cutter for 1/16" and 1/4" wide noodles. I recently bought a lasagna cutter for it, but haven't tried it yet ($15). It does take a while to make pasta, but it's worth it. Depending on how often you want to it eat, you can take a day to make several meals worth, then dry and store what isn't used that night. I'd recommend giving a cookbook with the machine; the Atlas comes with brief instructions poorly translated from Italian, and only a few recipes. "Sophie Kay's Pasta Cookery" (an HP book, $6.95) has clear instructions for using a pasta machine, as well as recipes for broccoli, spinach, carrot, beet, egg, ... pastas, as well as recipes for using pastas in soups, casseroles, desserts, meat dishes, ... There are some sauces, too. The book seems to be sold nearly anyplace that the machines are sold. I believe the most recent Consumer Reports (Nov.) mentions pasta makers in the gifts section. Wombat ihnp4!uiucdcs!uicsl!wombat
vtl@stolaf.UUCP (Victor Lee) (10/21/83)
Instead of drying fresh pasta (as suggested by uiucdcs!????!wombat), roll it and freeze it inside of an airtight container. Frozen pasta cooks in the same amount of time (~2 minutes) as fresh and tastes just as good, too. Victor Lee -- St. Olaf College, Northfield MN -- ihnp4!stolaf!vtl