My review of the Imperia pasta machine

Since interest in homemade things is growing, and many of you are curious to understand exactly how the Imperia pasta machine works, today Virginia -author of Sweet & Sour - tells us her point of view on this utensil and how to use it.

The flavor and texture offered by homemade fresh pasta is incomparable to supermarket fresh pasta. And don't be mistaken, it's much easier than you might imagine. In fact, in my case, since I got my Imperia Pasta machine years ago, no other fresh pasta has entered my home, except on rare occasions.

Making fresh pasta dough is simple: flour, semolina, and egg. But where the “quiz” of the matter often comes in is handling that dough until you obtain the desired thickness and cut.

With the Imperia pasta machine it's easy because, to roll the dough to the desired thickness, it has rollers that progressively, across 9 different settings, adjust the thickness of our sheet from 2.5 mm to 0.3 mm, with no more effort than turning the crank. You only need to lightly flour the piece of dough and the pasta will pass through the rollers without problems, producing each time a longer and thinner sheet.

In addition, the roller adjustment lets you leave the pasta at the desired thickness depending on the type of cut or pasta chosen. Slightly thicker for lasagna sheets and thinner for tagliatelle or the pasta we will use for filling.

Beet pasta with gorgonzola sauce

With this Imperia pasta maker you can forget about the hand rolling pin, obtaining effortlessly and without having to spend time sheets all of the same thickness, so that when cooked the pasta is light and pleasant to the palate.

To keep the machine from moving during use, it comes with a table clamp system that is very secure.

The machine also comes with a cutting head for two different shapes: Fettuccine (6.5 mm), and tagliolini (2.00 mm), also allowing the preparation of lasagna sheets of 15.00 mm.

And I can assure you that if there is something I have to highlight about the Imperia Pasta machine that sets it apart from cheaper brands, it is its cutting ability. Cheaper brands have heads whose cutting ability leaves much to be desired, because in many cases, due to the material used in their manufacture, they do not fully cut the dough, so in the end you have to spend a lot of time separating the strips manually. But on top of that, in most cases it is impossible to do this without tearing the dough, so besides wasting much of the preparation that ends up in the trash, you end up very frustrated and giving up on making homemade fresh pasta. I can assure you this does not happen with the Imperia Pasta machine, with which you can cut 300 g of dough in a few minutes.

And Imperia is a recognized quality brand, made with the best materials, and which for generations has allowed Italians to prepare their renowned fresh pasta at home without major complications.

It is made of stainless steel, easy to clean and maintain, since just wiping with a damp cloth cleans it perfectly, thanks to its chrome finish. Although I must admit I like to first brush off flour residue with a large brush.

If you make the mistake of preparing dough that is too soft and some dough remains stuck to the heads, it is easy to remove with the tip of a wooden skewer.

Fettuccini with eggplant and cherry tomato

Its dimensions are suitable for storing in any cupboard at home, since it is detachable, leaving the body on one side and the clamping clamp, the crank and the cutting head on the other.
It is not a heavy machine, though it is sturdy, making it light and easy to move.
Assembly is simple, by simple fitting, and allows both right- and left-handed people to use it, since you can place it in both directions, as well as the cutting head.

Finally you will tell me… But it will be expensive… Well no, for only 64,50€ you can get all these elements that will allow you to prepare your own fresh pasta. In addition the Imperia pasta machine has accessories and heads to prepare other types of pasta, such as ravioli or the Imperia pasta dryer.

In short, it is a lifetime investment; with the Imperia machine fresh pasta will delight even the most demanding palates or simply any home cook who wishes to prepare fresh pasta to taste.

To those of you who are encouraged to try freshly made pasta, or those who want inspiration, I encourage you to see a couple of recipes that you will surely love:

- Beet tagliatelle with gorgonzola sauce and pine nuts

- Fettuccini with eggplant and cherry tomato