If you’ve got a KitchenAid stand mixer, the new pasta roller and cutter attachment is a must for anyone who wants homemade pasta made easy.
I once knew a person who told me they’d lost the ‘little silver logo’ for their KitchenAid Stand mixer
They didn’t realise that it wasn’t merely decoration, it was the gateway to a special extra part of the machine, the bit that drIves KitchenAid accessories.
You can plug all kinds of things into this ‘drive’, there’s the shave ice attachment, the meat mincer, the sausage stuffer extension for the meat mincer, a food processor attachment to slice, dice, shred and julienne, a vegetable slicer and shredder attachment, a pasta press attachment, pasta cutters and pasta roller attachment set, and now a 3-in-1 metal pasta attachment too.
I’ve had a KitchenAid Mixer of my own for quite a few years, as well as the original pasta kit, and very good it is too.The one niggle was that one piece of the old three part pasta kit always seeeds to go missing when needed. The new version is now one complete piece, which makes a lot of sense.
Making your own pasta is fun and practical, especially if you want to make stuffed pastas like canelloni, ravioli etc. The dried sheets you buy are never as easy to deal with. And fresh strips like linguine are better too, not least because you get to choose the quality of ingredients and not Mr Sainsbury
The great thing about the KitchenAid pasta kit is of course the ease of use. Anyone who has a standard hand-cranked pasta machine knows it can be hard physical work, and having to use one hand to crank, and one to feed in pasta, is always awkward. With the new attachment, The KitchenAid’s powerful motor rolls out even the stiffest dough fast and easily, and with both hands now free you can control the cutting much better.
Fitting it is easy. I took off that silver cover (being very careful to put it where it wouldn’t get lost) and slotted the accessory straight in. Speed is governed by the usual selector and it’s best to stick to low speeds like 1 or 2 to keep things calm.
It’s a hefty bit of kit, as you would expect from KitchenAid, their stuff is seriously built to last. It would certainly capsize anything less solid than a KitchenAid mixer, but once the stainless steel cutter and rollers unit was slotted in, and the locking screw done up, it felt super solid and unlikely to go anywhere.
The main roller has eight settings, because when rolling pasta you start thick and then pass through again and again, reducing the thickness each time until you get to where you want to be for the kind of pasta you want to have.
This is kind of tedious, but it’s exactly how a Nona would make pasta, except that she’d have to do all the rolling work herself. A machine is far better and more consistent. I find pasta sheets for lasagne, ravioli, tortellini, cannelloni etc are better thicker, while pasta sheets for fettuccine or tagliatelle are better thinner. The beauty of making your own pasta is you decide what’s best for you. You can’t of course make spaghetti, as spaghetti is tubular.
It’s great fun running the pasta sheets through the cutters and seeing the perfect strips pile up under the machine. If you dusted them first they should stay separate and you can spread them out to dry a little more before using them, or gently put them in a zip lock bag to hold in the refrigerator for a few days.
This resting, plus the dusting, will help stop the ribbons from sticking together after being passed through the cutters. It also keeps the insides cleaner
In fact, the old system was rather awkward to clean up. The new 3-1 now has a removable top cover, so you can take it off, let it dry, and clean it up easily after each use.
To that end the kit comes with a dual-ended cleaning brush, and a custom pick to dislodge dried dough. This is very useful and means it packs away sparkling. The box the attachment comes in, by the way, is sturdy and moulded inside to hold the unit, so it’s perfect for keeping the attachment safe in your cupboard.
And at £199 (average) you will definitely want to look after this attachment. There is a plastic version available at £149, but for the £50 difference you might as well go for the one you’ll be able to confidently hand down to your grandchildren, along with the actual mixer of course.
With KitchenAid kit you’re investing for the long term and in this case, years of making perfect pasta for the family.
RRP £199 from kitchenaid.co.uk