Who makes their own pasta? Is it worth the effort?

[Kellamity]

I'm thinking about getting the pasta attachment for my kitchen aid but is it worth it? Or should I just buy the fresh/dried stuff?

[EclecticShock]

I don't, it is effort. Maybe for a special occasion.

[TunipTheVegemal]

The only time when I do is when the kids nag me, because they love winding the handle of the pasta machine in the same way I used to love winding my mum's mincer when we made shepherd's pie from the leftover Sunday roast.

So on that basis an attachment for a KitchenAid wouldn't really cut the mustard as there would be no handle to wind!

[orangina]

I haven't made it for years, but home made pasta is DELICIOUS. Uterly different to the dried store bought stuff (which obviously we eat and love for 99.99999% of the time).

Good for a special treat. Have no idea whether you ought to buy the kitchen aid attachment, I make it by hand and roll it out with one of those roller devices (which hasn't seen the light of day for at least 8 years.......)

Ahem.

[BettyBathroom]

I have a pasta machine - the pasta is incredible - spaghetti is easy...best served with something simple like a fresh tomato sauce or just butter and parmesan. Shop bought "fresh pasta" is not something I'd never consider as good - dc's like ravioli and I buy that for them - I find it a bit dull. It's tricky to make good ravoli..the pasta needs to be nice & thin - it's a skill I've yet to master in the three times I've attempted it.

Buy good quality dried or make your own, forget about shop bought "fresh".

[flatpackhamster]

I don't have a pasta machine. I've made fresh pasta sheets using a rolling pin to make lasagne a few times. It's fantastic but it is an awful lot of work. I do it for special occasions.

[BrianButterfield]

I do it sometimes - it's nice, and you do feel a real sense of achievement, but turning the handle of the machine makes my shoulder hurt! However, if I had the KA pasta attachment I would do it way more often. The dough's super easy to make - 100g pasta flour, 1 egg for two people. (I'm putting the pasta attachment on my wish list after the grinder!)

[BettyBathroom]

Life maybe too short to make pasta....but if food is one of your passions then it is the stuff of life! For me life is too short to waste on tasteless food!

[VikingVagine]

I disagree with the shop bought pasta being dull, we get the gnocchi and tagliatelle and they're so much nicer than dried pasta. I love cooking and I love food but I'd never do homemade pasta unless I really had too much time on my hands!

[Bucharest]

Home made pasta, unless made by someone very very good at it (and I am surrounded unfortunately by Italian toothless widder-wimmin of the kind Jamie Oliver waxes lyrical over who think they are very very good at it) is disgusting.You can never get it thin enough for a start.

Dp is an ex-chef and even he reckons only 1 in a 100 people can do it properly. He never makes it.

Just buy a decent brand of fresh pasta.

[EatsBrainsAndLeaves]

I made pasta at home once. No it was not worth the effort. I am obviously not a good enough cook. Shop bought dried was much nicer

[MoreBeta]

I agree with Bucharest. Making great pasta is very hard to do consistently well. A chef told me the same is true of filo pastry. Even good restaurants buy in filo (and pasta) because it can only be made in carefully controlled conditions that simply cannot be guaranteed in a commercial kitchen.

In my view, buy the very best dried pasta you can get from a specialist Italian deli. The secret is to find a really good brand made from good Durum wheat that is made in Italy and imported. The stuff we make in this country and sell in supermarkets is not good.

I've had really grim stodgy 'fresh' pasta in a so called top restaurants that really was not as good as dried pasta and it cost a fortune as well.

[stealthsquiggle]

We have the KA attachment (having used a hand-cranked machine for years) and home made pasta is a doddle and is yummy. Easy as pie to get it thin enough. You do need the right flour though, and we have a surplus of super- fresh eggs from our chooks, which helps.

[ProfYaffle]

I make it occasionally but that's because we have chickens and it's a good way of using up a summer glut of eggs without resorting to yet more cake . It's fun to do with the dc and with our eggs it's much nicer than shop bought but it's a right old palaver and difficult to get right.