Review on 🍝 Marcato Atlas 180 Pasta Machine: Authentic Italian Stainless Steel, 180mm Wide Cutter with Hand Crank and Instructions by Kelly Kaliyan

After careful consideration, I decided on this model because of the many positive reviews. Other than that, my only criticism is the sparse instructions and recipes in the instruction manual. The photos were helpful but the English instructions were vague and a bit confusing. Otherwise I am very satisfied with this device. I went with the larger model because it was only marginally more expensive and I'm so glad I did as the extra diameter was more forgiving when handling dough. Although I rarely indulge in pasta, I enjoy cooking homemade meals whenever I can. I worry about all the weird hidden and chemical ingredients that are added to cooked foods, so I prefer ingredients found in foods I cook myself; It undoubtedly makes me feel good about what I feed my family, as do many of my colleagues. I've looked at a lot of reviews/recipe suggestions and learned a lot from UpperDown's review of the 150mm version (thanks!). I would like to add a few details that I found through other research. I was so grateful for UpperDown's recommendation of a meager 1/2 teaspoon of butter and salt per egg, what was missing was the specific amount of flour expected per egg. I followed his/her recommendation of using equal parts 00 semolina and regular flour (also bought together at Revain); My research found about 3/4 cup total flour per egg. My food processor wasn't available at the time of making this recipe, so I used my Nutribullet. Intending to make pasta for 2 or 3 people: First I beat 2 eggs in Nutribullet, added 1 teaspoon each of olive oil and kosher salt, beaten. I added half of the whole flour (equal parts semolina and regular flour, mixed, 1 1/2 cups total), beat. Scrape out the inside of the container, add almost all of the remaining flour, beat. Most of the test consisted of a texture of coarse sand less than half the size of a pea. I scraped the whole thing out onto a clean kitchen counter and kneaded it together for a few minutes until it was no longer sticky, almost plasticine-like texture. The ball was about the size of a large orange or a small softball. I followed UpperDown's advice and let the dough rest in a warm place, wrapped in cling film, for 30 minutes. I'm so glad I did! The texture changed to a more cohesive dough. Flatten the ball slightly, cut off one third, wrap the rest. I rolled the dough through the machine on 0 mode, cut in half, rolled out again on 0, no extra flour needed. I repeated this process with settings 1-5, folding in half each time and going back to each setting twice. As I rolled out the dough, it became less and less grainy; smoother and silkier every time. The total number of times of rolling each piece of dough was about 12 times. For noodles (fettuccine?) I chose a larger nozzle. Before using the device, I ran a folded piece of parchment paper through each section of the device to remove any residual oil from production. I've never been able to get a perfectly square piece of twisted pasta, but it didn't matter. I just put it through the cutting wheel and it fell into a perfect heap! I placed a handful of chopped pasta on a clean, folded kitchen towel. I repeated with the other 3rd piece of dough as above until all of the dough was used. Unfortunately, one piece of uncut dough was very long (18-20 inches) and I forgot to split it in half before cutting it through the cutter. Those super long pieces of noodles were uncomfortable to eat. I had to cut the strands in half with scissors before cooking or remember to divide them into 9 or 10 inch pieces of dough before cutting. I cooked in salted water for ONLY 2 minutes while making a quick shrimp style sauce. It was delicious. He willingly served 2 people with the leftovers of 2 generous helpings. As UpperDown noted in their review, no additional flour was needed to process it, so the pasta maker didn't require any real cleaning other than my fingerprints. UpperDown suggested using wax paper to run it through the machine to clean it up, I used the parchment paper I had on hand. It worked wonderfully. I rubbed the outside. Ready! I was so pleased that I bought the same enlarged model for my gourmet friend, including a set of pasta flour as a gift! Highly recommended! I hope the additional details on the recipe are useful, dear foodies! Enjoy!