• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Trips
    • Day Trips
    • Weekend Trips
    • Week Trips
    • Beyond Italy
  • Recipes
    • Course
    • Cuisine
    • Equipment & Gadgets
    • Seasonal
    • Special Diet
    • Specialty Italian Foods
    • Type
  • Podcast
    • Subscribe to the Podcast!
    • Food & Wine
    • Travel
    • Culture & Lifestyle
    • Style, Design, Invention
  • When in Rome
    • Food in Rome
    • What to See and Do
    • Holidays
  • Italian Cooking Classes
    • Culinary Team Building
    • Culinary Sustainability
    • Food Photography
    • One Day Gourmet
    • Pizza Making
    • Online Cooking Classes
    • Student Cooking Programs
  • About
  • Generic selectors
    Exact matches only
    Search in title
    Search in content
    Search in posts
    Search in pages

Flavor of Italy logo

You are here: Home / Podcast / Homemade pasta using the Ultimate Pasta Machine Cookbook – Podcast Episode 21

August 4, 2020

Homemade pasta using the Ultimate Pasta Machine Cookbook – Podcast Episode 21

If you’re  interested in making perfect and easy homemade pasta then the Ultimate Pasta Machine Cookbook is a must for you. It’s a great book that not only has wonderful recipes but it clearly lays out everything you need to know about pasta makers from hand cranked to electric. And it also talks a lot about some of the best pasta machine attachments and tools that make pasta-making easy and enjoyable. I have a lot of cookbooks but this has become one of my bibles!

The Ultimate Pasta Machine Cookbook is one of my cookbook bibles!


I learned all about Lucy in my fascinating podcast interview with her: her Uzbekistan heritage, her culinary and photographic training, and her cookbooks culminating in the fabulous just-published Ultimate Pasta Machine Cookbook.

Author Lucy Vasefirer counts this as her fifth cookbook over the past decade and it really is her best achievement so far. Lucy talks a lot about the ins and outs of pasta making and all the concepts that go behind it so you really have a great feel for what you’re doing as you delve into homemade pasta making. Her photographs are all her own and she uses them to illustrate techniques, show delicious recipes and capture some of her amazing pasta tools and attachments in her photographs.

Lucy loves her classic hand-cranked Marcato pasta machine that she’s had since her college days but she also loves the KitchenAid electric pasta sheeter attachment.

KitchenAid pasta attachments!

If you’d like a machine with a cavatelli attachment then choose a hand cranked Imperia pasta machine.

Lucy feels that electric pasta extruders overheat the dough so she suggests hand cranked pasta tools that don’t overheat the dough. She’s in love with her bigolaro.

Make homemade pasta with a Bigolaro from the Italian company, Bottene

If you’re a home cook or have a small culinary business and would like semi-professional pasta equipment then reach out to either Pastabiz or Arcobaleno, both wonderful prosumer companies Lucy recommends.

Another thing we chatted about that Lucy addresses beautifully in her book is the topic of metric versus US standard measurements. She makes a very clear case that explains exactly why metric is the way to go when you’re cooking, and as it turns out she also sold her editor on metric.
Lucy and her family are originally from Uzbekistan with a strong Jewish heritage, both of which form part of her culinary background and tradition. Lucy came to the United States when she was just three years old and grew up in Texas, but in the home family culinary traditions came through. One of the most delectable foods from her culinary heritage are hand-pulled noodles and these Manti that she features in the Ultimate Pasta Machine Cookbook.

Learn how to make these Manti in the Ultimate Pasta Machine Cookbook

Lucy attended culinary school and studied following a French tradition, but as soon as she set foot in Italy and tasted her first  plate of pasta in Venice she was in love with Italian food. Lucy traveled to Bologna on her first Italian trip and was able to dabble in exquisite Emilia-Romagna food and she discovered the Antica Aguzzeria del Cavallo shop on that very first trip. She wasn’t able to fit in all the culinary plans (like a visit to a Balsamic Vinegar producer) she had envisioned for that first trip so she had to come back again! She bought some of her favorite culinary tools on that second trip, like her troccolo from the Antica Aguzzeria del Cavallo. It’s originally a tool from Puglia used to cut 3mm rustic noodles.

f you’re fascinated by Bologna then why not join Flavor of Italy for our one day Culinary Walking Tour of the city? Here’s more info about amazing Bologna.

Lucy features all kinds of pasta shapes in the Ultimate Pasta Machine Cookbook.

An assortment of homemade pasta shapes

Lucy also adds color and flavor to her homemade pasta.

Add color and flavor to homemade pasta!

The dark brown dough ball has cocoa powder in it and Lucy features a pasta with strawberries recipe in her book….delicious! Cocoa powder is also added to dough for savory dishes like Pappardelle with Wild Boar.

Pasta with wild boar sauce

And green pasta is made by adding spinach, stinging nettles or other cooked greens. You might want to try this Stinging Nettle Pasta.

Stinging nettle spaghetti adds gorgeous green color to any pasta dish!

Please subscribe to the podcast and remember to review and rate it because it help the Flavor of Italy Podcast grow ! Here’s how to leave a review.

I make a small commission on purchases made through links on my website. Prices are identical for you, but purchasing through my links helps support my work to bring you great recipes, culinary and travel information.

You may also be interested in:

Share On:

Filed Under: Elements & Ingredients, Equipment & Gadgets, Food & Wine, How-To Culinary Tips & Techniques, Podcast

Reader Interactions

Please leave your comment here. Your feedback is important! Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Search in posts
Search in pages

About

For decades I've pursued my passion for Italian food and culture through bespoke food tours, hands-on cooking classes, travel tips, walking tours, day trips and weeklong food holidays at charming spots throughout Italy. Continue Reading...

Follow Flavor of Italy

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Latest Additions

  • Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese – Episode 44
  • Cristina Bowerman, Michelin Star Chef Glass Hosteria – Episodes 42 & 43
  • Pork Sausage and Lentils (Cotechino e Lenticchie)
  • Covid Christmas in Rome 2020
  • Rimessa Roscioli and the Wine Club – Podcast Episode 41
  • Traditional Italian Christmas Cookies and Holiday Desserts – Podcast Episode 40
  • Holiday Gift Guide for the Chef & Passionate Home Cook – Podcast Episode 39

Footer

Flavor of Italy
Food & Travel Guide

Via Stazzo Quadro, 15b - 00060 Roma (Riano)

Email: flavorofitaly@gmail.com

  • Home
  • Trips
  • Recipes
  • When in Rome
  • Italian Cooking Classes
  • Privacy Policy

© 2005–2021 Flavor of Italy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok