Ok folks.....I finally have given in and bought the only gadget I didn't have :D But I know so little about it and the instruction manual is VERY basic! Made in Italy and I guess the people who buy them there have grown up with them!

I would very much appreciate any hints, tips or recipes to help me produce perfect pasta.

I seem to have tripped at the first hurdle.....went into Asda Superstore to buy Pasta flour and there was none! :(

I need help!!!! Please!!!!

Jank get yourself some strong flour (I live in France and use Carrefour organic type 65) and fresh free range organic eggs (and yes they DO make a difference). The amount of egg yolk required will vary depending on flour batches/weather/freshness of egg. I have not found pasta making a precise science and although I have made the stuff for more years than I care to say I am not a huge fan of the stuff but have been playing about with different raviolis.

I always use one whole egg then all yolks thereafter and make in Magimix - then knead on board before rolling. Marcella Hazan has an excellent book if you wish to re-invent the wheel and do the lot by hand. You will perhaps have to waste a bit but once you have seen how it looks when its right you will be on your way.

If you have one of those tiny blender things you can make just a bit using an ounce or three of flour and egg - play with it - get the 'feel' of the dough and you should be fine.

Jank ~ as well as the strong flour that Sylv has recommended you can also use the following:

Italian type 00 flour, durum wheat flour, unbleached plain flour.

Thanks Sylv and Jill for the advice When you say Strong Flour, do you mean Strong white bread flour which I purchase anyway to bake bread? And is the unbleached plain flour just the regular stuff for pastry etc? I have heard of the type 00 flour and durum wheat but couldn't find it in my local supermarket, although I will check other shops out.

Do the different types of flour make a huge difference to the end product?

I really appreciate the advice

yep Jank they do! Use.

Pasta (which means pastry in English) is simply the result of mixing water with flour obtained by the milling of wheat. Durum wheat which is when milled produces semola and semolato and common wheat which is when milled, gives white flour. Italian law says only 7% can be common wheat in a mix but other countries do not follow.

Type 00 is available in the UK but to give an example type 22 is equal to bread flour. Use plain and hang the expense!

Yes the flour does make a difference.

Thanks Martino, I read with great interest your advice. When you say use plain, do you mean the type 00 and not our very cheap plain flour here?

I assume it is worth searching out the proper type 00 and as you say, I'm sure I will find it in one of the supermarkets.

sorry yes use 00 flour if possible. If you look at flour you will find strong bread flour at one end is loaded with gluton and ordinary plain at the other has a whole lot less. Get used to this figure in choosing bread rather than just the name.

I've seen Type 00 flour and also durum wheat flour for sale in the branch of Tesco that I shop at.

Thanks Martino.....I will look for the type 00 flour.

Was quite surprised that the Asda Superstore did not stock it, but I will try my local Tesco.....thanks for that Jill.

I use 3/4 wholemeal flour with1/4 00 flour and the pasta turns out fine, as well as having a distinctive taste. I also add 1 tablespoon of olive oil with the eggs

The type of Pasta depend on the sauce you wish to make. You can break pasta down into about 4 groups. The bigger the pasta the richer the sauce and short wide pasta is good for baking. In Italy there is an excess of 500 different types of pasta.

So it depend what pasta you wish to make: Orecchiette, one of my childrens favourites is made with the 2 flours water and salt. While cannelloni and lasagne are made with just type 00 flour, eggs, virgin olive oil and salt.

There must be a site out there somewhere. Try lasagne to start. Your machine is also good for rolling out pastry as it can go really thin or thick and then you can cut out.

They could do a whole series on this! There are so many sauces and pastas that it is not as simple as saying here is the pasta recipe.

Make sure wholemeal does not have other aditives such as anti-mildew and ensure it was produced with wholemeal flour and not simply ordinary flour with bran added.

Hope that helps! Let us know how you get on!

Nigella Lawson mentions '00' flour a lot in her recipes. They do it in Sainsbury's too.

It is definately better to use the correct flour for the fresh pasta as the first time I used just ordinary strong plain flour and my tortellini was more like little dumplings!!

Use 00 if you can as it is high in Gluten so the pasta will have more bite when cooked. Do not add salt to the flour as as the pasta drys you will get grey spots where the salt absorbs the moisture. Oil can be added as a bit of a cheat to keep the pasta slighty slacker when you are kneading but from what I know italian grannys dont use any.
After kneading let the dough rest in the fridge for 1/2 hour before rolling out. NEVER EVER wet the pasta machine, i.e. dont wash it. use a brush to remove any excess flour. On first use you may get oil on the pasta from the edges of the machine, just cut and discard those bits, the oiling would soon stop.
Make sure the machine is well clamped to the table as you dont want to be fiddling with that once you start rolling or the pasta will dry out and you will be in trouble. Best to have someone helping you the first couple of times just to wind the handle.
Have a clean broom stick ready so you can hang the pasta as soon as you have cut them so they do not stick.
Always best to let the fresh pasta dry for an hour or so before cooking very quickly in a large pot of heavyly salted water at a rolling boil. Never put pasta in water less the rolling boil, it would just come out soggy and with no bite.
last and most important. please make sure you cook it Al dente ( to the bite). there is nothing worse then soggy overcooked pasta or to hard uncooked middles.

otherwise, enjoy and experiment

Thanks to everyone for all the fantastic advice and information......I feel much more confident about trying the machine out. It's soooooo good to be able to tap into other peoples experience and knowledge......I have no doubt it will save me, and many others, from making lots of basic errors.

Your advice is much appreciated folks.

Big THANK YOU

J x

Jank

I am sure you will have fun whatever you do and will feel it tastes better. Living here in Italy where this is a way of life everyone has a different method but the rules are the same.

So it depend what pasta you wish to make: Orecchiette, one of my childrens favourites is made with the 2 flours water and salt. While cannelloni and lasagne are made with just type 00 flour, eggs, virgin olive oil and salt.

If you want to deviate from the norm then go for it and have fun but I suggest what ever recipe you pick up you stick to the recipe for the first couple of times.

We could do with a programme on glutton in flour. I think Type 00 has a little bit more glutton than plain but not a lot. Then there is type 22 which is used for bread which I guess is the same as bread making flour. But it seems each country has its own levels of gluton.

My favouite grappa is grappa di poli because it has nice bottles! Oh sorry not the answer you wanted!

Trudi, no recipe as it is a basic pasta of say 160g type 00 flour and 240g of durum (semolina) flour with water and SALT. In the normal way you mix the flours together on a clean surface add a pinch of salt and enough water to mix and knead to a sort of smooth elastic dough. You do need to work it for about ten minutes though.

Then! The trick! Role out into long thin sausage rolls and cut into 1cm lengths. I use a round bladed knife to flatten them into a shell shape (on a floured surface). Then mould them into little ears by moulding each one of them over the tip of your thumb so they look like little ears (guess what little ears translates to in Italian!). Then as usual leave them on a lightly floured tea cloth to dry.

I assume you know how to cook fresh pasta?

hello people.
just a novice @ all this. See!! cant even put capitals in!!!. Hav had a pasta maker 4 a year, never used it!! frightened of showing myself up, i think. hope u hav more luck than me .

Hello narn Have faith in yourself and just keep practising once you have made the dough then just put it in the machine and see what happens. You won't improve if it stays in the box.

Narn, Karen is right go for it! But wait! Don't do as I did the first time... Made angels hair... I had metres of it all over the kitchen! Over the doors, everywhere. Fun though, kids loved making it but we decided not to eat it...

So as I say make some simple egg based lasagne sheets and enjoy that first. Then turn down the settings and see how small you can make it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try it with pastry if you make that set the setting on high and plop it through the machine. I wonder if you could creat fillo pastry in it??!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Jank
The Pasta Machine debate rather caught my eye. I too had an unused machine for many years, then I hit on the solution - I went on a half-day course to learn how to use it! Hope that doesn't count as cheating. I shall try & share the pearls of wisdom I gleaned -
It is essential to use 00 flour, of course preferably organic and the same for the eggs. I can tell you the ratio if you are still unsure (just don't have it with me). Once the dough is made, divide it into small amounts and cover all but one with cling, so you just have the one piece you're working on. Obviously start at the thickest setting & feed it through briskly, don't treat it too gingerly! If it sticks, add a bit of extra flour, pat off excess and start again. Wind the handle with one hand and take it from the machine with the other. Work quickly. Pass it through the first few settings several times at each. Don't feel obliged to go right to the thinnest, one from thinnest might be OK (and can be a lot more manageable!). Lay the sheets out on a clean tea towel and leave to dry (half hour?) Cook in the largest saucepan you have, salted water on a rolling boil. Scoop them out after two mins and straight into a bowl of cold water. Then straight out of there and on to another clean teatowel. Use as required! Hope this helps.

Hello Jank,
Once you have mastered making plain try colouring/flavouring the pasta.
Tomato - simply add 1 tbls tom puree to egg
Spinach - boil large handful, squeeze, puree
add to egg
Basil - as above
Corriander - as above but you need less
Black - squid ink as above

If the pasta doesn't work don't waste it. Roll it out as thin as you can, spread a filling all over it, roll into a tea cloth, tie the ends and poach in a fish kettle. Serve with tomato or walnut sauce. Yumyum.

You know these last two suggestions are so right. Go for it and have fun. Just a couple of things. There is not really a ratio as I said there are hundreds of different types of pasta. But are some basic recipes to keep you going. I use over 30 different types. some with eggs and oil some with out some with 00 and duram some with other combinations.

Remember most of all that it is "pastry" you are making and you know the permutations for that!

Experiment! Try original true Italian recipes but try those others are suggesting. Just cos we think of pasta coming from Italy does not mean they own it.

I love the coloured ones and also the waste as Gayes says.

But please tell us how it went?

Hi Chard, Martino and Gaye......once again, a huge THANK YOU for all the great advice. I am keeping a note of it all and I know it will prove invaluable. Not tracked down my flour yet :( but I think I will have more luck going into some of the larger supermarkets or into the city (Glasgow) near where I live.

I will certainly get back to you and let you know how it goes.......and I really do appreciate all this help