Any brilliant advice on "fresh pasta" makers?

[IdaBriggs]

I keep seeing them on television, but the reviews on different websites look horrible.

I'm not big on clean-up -- I need "simple and easy" -- suggestions? :)

ON EDIT: Secret Reward for Reading Post: My Version of "Chocolate Raspberry Tiramisu" :)

Note: This was modified from the “Raspberry Tiramisu” recipe from the Everyday Italian Show. Raspberries are the favorite, but any berry combination could probably be used.

Chocolate Raspberry Tiramisu (Everyday Italian & Ida M. Briggs)

1 jar seedless red or black raspberry jam (10 ounces – Dickinson’s preferred)
6 tablespoons orange liqueur (recommended: Grand Marnier)
1 pound mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
8 oz (frozen) Extra Creamy Cool Whip, thawed enough to work with
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
24 to 28 HARD / crunchy ladyfingers (depending on size of dish)
NOTE: I like Balacco’s in the big orange bag; I find them at “Nino Salvaggio’s” and “Vic’s Quality Fruit Mart”. Your local “specialty” store probably carries them.
1 or 2 cups of chocolate milk
3 (1/2 dry pint) baskets fresh raspberries (about 3 3/4 cups total) CLEAN & DRY
½ bag of mini-chocolate chips (big ones are “too much” crunch)

Stir the jam and 4 tablespoons of the orange liqueur in a small bowl to blend.

IN SEPARATE BOWL Combine the mascarpone and remaining 2 tablespoons of orange liqueur in a large bowl and blend. Using a large rubber spatula, add in the Cool Whip. When mixed thoroughly, add the vanilla extract, and mix some more.

Before you start dipping the ladyfingers, determine how many ladyfingers you will need by creating one layer in the decorative serving dish of your choice (or a 13 by 9 by 2–inch glass baking dish). (NOTE: My favorite serving dish uses 12 per layer, which conveniently is how many are in each of the 5 “sub” package of the Balacco’s bag.)

Pour the chocolate milk into a small bowl (large enough to “dip” the ladyfingers into).

Do a “quick dip” (both sides) of the HARD / CRUNCHY ladyfingers into the chocolate milk, then layer your dish with them. Do them one at a time, because they will “dissolve” if you leave them in too long.

Spread half of the jam mixture over the ladyfingers. (I use a spoon to individually coat each one, with some ‘drippings for pretty’ between.)

Spread half of the mascarpone mixture over the jam mixture (doing your best not to have the jam show thru), then cover with half of the fresh raspberries, followed by as many of the mini-chocolate chips as you like. Repeat layering with dipped ladyfingers, jam mixture, mascarpone mixture, raspberries and mini-chocolate chips.

Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

[eleny]

1. I got one years ago from QVC

You can always settle on a brand and then google up some reviews online. I checked Consumer Reports and couldn't find any testing they did. Just reviews of attachments for mixers.

Btw, I also use mine when making meatballs. It blends the ingredients very well and saves my hands the grief of dealing with all that chilly meat, eggs etc. I use the bagel die so it extrudes the mixture in a thick rope. I break off pieces and form the meatballs. Makes it an easy job.

If you don't intend on using it a lot and don't care abut making the different flavored pastas - it's way easier to buy the raw, soft pasta at the market.

[Warpy]

2. I got a cheap tabletop, hand crank model

that does a square spaghetti and a fettucine. Broad lasagna noodles can be done if only the rollers and not the cutters are used. Cleanup means running it under the spray in the sink.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. Warpy, you shouldn't use water on that hand cranker

It can easily rust inside on the non-chromed bits and gears inside the thing. Just use it and dust it off. The pasta left inside the 'works' will just dry. When you go to use it again, just give it a tap and all that pasta from last time will fall off. In the extreme, you might have to use a toothpick to get a bit that's lodged someplace that prevents it from falling out. Plain old pasta will never just stick. Some of the vegetable pastas (basil, spinach, etc.) might, but even that is pretty unlikely.

[Warpy]

4. I live in the DESERT

Trust me, it won't rust.

[wryter2000]

9. That's what I use

And, like Husb2Sparkly, I don't wash it. I just dust it off.

I found some of those pasta cranks at Ross one day for under $25. I would have snapped on up if I didn't already have one.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. I don't know how brilliant this is, but here's some info on pasta makers

There are all kinds of them. From simple to sublime to ones the size of houses. I'll stick to the simple and the semi-sublime.

First, here's one your already own:



Once washed and the fingernails cleaned of axle grease, these work great. In fact, this is my personal pasta maker of choice. Clean-up is easy too. Just dust off your counter, wash your hands again, and you're done. Seriously, making pasta by hand is not only the fastest was, it gives the best result. The pasta turns out consistently smooth and silky. Here's a tip. Use 3 parts all purpose flour and one part cake flour. Your pasta will be the best you ever tasted.

At this point, you can either continue to make the pasta by hand or employ a cutter. To make it by hand, you need to first let the dough rest. Maybe an hour. Then roll it out thin. Then shape or cut it. I say 'shape' it because there are some pastas that you shape rather than cut. Like these cavatelli.



They're made with the flick of a finger or the tip of a fork. It is easy to do, but hard to describe. Farfalle (literally 'butterfly') is a shape that is both rolled flat and shaped. SparklyJr is our champion farfalle pincher.



My grandmothers (both of them) made pasta once a week and made a week's supply. They rolled out the dough on pretty much the same sort of homemade table shaped more or less like a wide ironing board. They both used a similar method, too. They rolled out great, huge, bed-sized sheets of pasta, so thin it was almost transparent. The rolling pin was one that is slightly tapered. They call these a french rolling pin.



The set up the table next to their beds. As they rolled it out, they allowed it to accordian fold onto the bed (protected by an old sheet for one and a special canvas sheet (so full of flour that it was probably waterprrof) by the other. Once all rolled out, they'd lay the sheet out flat on the bed and let it air dry for an hour or three. They then cut it into strips as wide as the wanted the finished product to be long. Roll up the strips into jelly rolls and then slice the noodles. Unroll each one (very tedious), toss them ina bit of flour, and store for a day in shallow layers on a table or the bed. They then stored the final, dried pasta in paper bags.

One gramma had a chiatarra like this:



Chiatarra means "guitar" and is pronounced 'kee TAH ra'. It is a series of piano wires strung across a board. The pasta dough, rolled flat, is laid on the wire. The rolling pin is then rolled over it, pressing the pasta through the wires and on the board. These are available in a narrow range of widths to make spaghetti and linguine or fettuccini.

You could also mix the pasta in a machine. A stand mixer or a food processor will work fine. I still prefer it handmade, though.

Then you need to cut it.

One of these hand crankers works fine. They also make motor accessories for some of these. There are a million brands, so if you want the motor, be sure you pick a brand that offers a motor accessory. They're not all interchangeable.



They make a similar device that fits on the end of your stand mixer.



Both Kitchenaid and all the various hand crankers have ravioli makers that use the same basic system. These metal units are easy to clean. Just dust them off and tap them. Let any leftover pasta just stay where it is. It will naturally fall out on the next use. Never wash with water as the metal parts are prone to rusting.

The last type of maker is the all-in-one mixer extruder. Like this one:



These work fine ... as far as they can go. Commercial pasta makers use machine cut bronze dies. These use molded plastic. The bronze dies get very hot from friction. This dries out the pasta as it passes through. The plastic dies don't. As a result the finihsed pasta could be a bit gummy. The broze dies are very sharp. The plastic aren't. Consequently the pasta shapes are a bit 'muddy'. The coomercial machines build up a lot of pressure. The small home machines don't. The result is a tendency for the pasts to sometimes 'shmoosh' its way through, leading to a sort of fuzzy appearance from a shredded surface on the shaped pasta. I wound up giving mine to one of my sons who is very happy with it (maybe cuz of the price?) These need to have all their parts disassembled, washed, and reassembled with each use. It is about the same level of clean-up effort as a food processor.

The last little device is this guy:



A BEEBO (brand) cavatelli maker. This makes just one shape - the cavatelli. They look like longer thinner gnocchi, but are all pasta dough, not potato/pasta dumplings. We love these cuz the cavatelli made on ths machine are perfectly chewey. Mixing my pasta by hand, I can go from thinking about cavatelli to eating cavatelli in about 15 minutes with almost no cleanup (assuming we have some gravy ready).

I you want a recipe for hand made pasta, lemme know.

[IdaBriggs]

6. I cannot BELIEVE I didn't respond to this -- I read your reply days ago!

If you wouldn't mind sharing your recipe for hand made pasta (as well as any tips), I would love a copy! Thank you! :) Best, Ida

[Stinky The Clown]

8. See the link AZDem posted, immediately above ... er .... below this reply.

The volcano! :)

[NMDemDist2]

7. the handmade stuff? the volcano on the counter one? I LOVE that one

:rofl:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=236&topic_id=4427&mesg_id=4510

[wryter2000]

10. Rolling pasta by hand -- oy!

I'm perfectly happy to mix and knead the pasta dough by hand, but rolling it out takes a lot of work and time. I have to use my hand-crank roller.

I usually mix up the dough in the food processor. For about two people. Put one cup AP flour and a tsp salt in food processor. Beat one egg. With processor running, pour egg into flour/salt to mix. Add a bit of water until it almost forms a ball on top of the blade. Remove from processor and knead in more flour until it has the right consistency.

Then, press that flat, and put through the pasta cranker at the thickest setting. Fold in two, and put through again. Repeat several times to finish the kneading. You'll probably have to dust with flour a bit between crankings. Start setting the cranker at thinner settings until you have the thickness you like. The third setting is about right. Fourth if you like thinner. The last (fifth) setting is REALLY thin.

Hand mixed pasta is a bit better, but this saves some work and mess.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. I agree .... rolling it by hand is a huge pain in the ........

assneckbuttwhatever.

I use the roller attachment on my Kitchenaid.

But I always mix by hand.

[wryter2000]

15. Forgot the olive oil

I add a tablespoon of olive oil to the beaten egg. That's not necessary. It might not even be a good idea.

[Warpy]

13. My gramma was from eastern France

or western Germany, depending on who won the last war. Her tools were a tabletop, a rolling pin, a knife, and yes, that flour caked piece of canvas. Her pasta was NOODLES, thick and wide and light as a feather and nobody in the family has ever managed to duplicate them.

Many years ago, I just sighed and gave up on the dream and bought the crank job for mundane pasta. It's served me well for 30 years, but oh, the memories of those noodles....

[Stinky The Clown]

14. Were her noodles made from a dough?

I ask, cuz most all noodles are pretty much the same ....... egg noodles. Where dried macaroni that yu find in the soopermarket is all just flour and water, fresh is almost always made with egg. Just the flour type and the flour/egg ratio changes. Some use part egg and part water for the liquid, and the more flour you use the grater the water concentration might be if one chooses to use it.

[Warpy]

16. Egg yolk and bread flour

were all she'd ever admit to, and I never saw her sneaking anything else into it.

She just had the touch, that's all there is to it.

[Mojorabbit]

12. I love my

hand crank Atlas.