My opinion on the Imperia pasta machine

As the 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 taste and texture of fresh homemade pasta is incomparable to that of fresh pasta bought in supermarkets. And make no mistake, it is 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 our house, with a few exceptions.

Preparing fresh pasta dough is simple: flour, semolina and egg. But in many cases, the key to success is manipulating the dough to obtain the desired thickness and cut.

With the Imperia pasta machine it is easy because, to stretch the dough to the desired thickness, it has rollers that progressively, and over 9 different levels, adjust the thickness of our sheet from 2.5 mm to 0.3 mm, with no more effort than turning the crank. You only have to be careful to lightly flour the piece of dough and the pasta will pass through the rollers without problems, obtaining a longer and thinner sheet each time.

In addition, the roller adjustment allows you to leave the pasta with 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 are going to use for filling.

Beetroot pasta with gorgonzola sauce

With this Imperia pasta maker you can forget about the manual rolling pin , effortlessly and without having to invest time, obtaining sheets of pasta that are all the same thickness, so that when cooking it, the pasta will be light and pleasant to the palate.

To prevent the machine from moving during handling, it is equipped with a table anchoring system, which is extremely safe.

The machine also comes with a cutting head for two different types of shapes: Fettucine (6.5 mm) and tagliatelle (2.00 mm), also allowing the preparation of 15.00 mm lasagne sheets.

And I can assure you that if there is something I have to highlight about the Pasta Imperia machine , and that sets it apart from other cheaper brands, it is its cutting capacity. The cheaper brands have heads whose cutting capacity leaves a lot to be desired, since in many cases, due to the material used in their manufacture, they do not cut the dough completely, so in the end you have to invest a lot of time separating the strips manually. But on top of that, in most cases it is impossible to do this task without tearing the dough, so in addition to losing a large part of the preparation that ends up in the trash, you end up very upset and giving up on preparing fresh homemade pasta. I can assure you this does not happen with the Pasta Imperia machine , with which you cut 300 gr. of dough in a few minutes.

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

It is made of stainless steel and is easy to clean and maintain, as it is perfectly clean by simply wiping it with a damp cloth, thanks to its chrome finish. Although I must admit that I like to wipe it with a large brush beforehand to remove any traces of flour.

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

Fettuccini with eggplant and cherry tomato

Its dimensions are suitable for storing it in any cupboard at home, as it is removable, with the body on one side and the holding clamp, the crank and the cutting head on the other.
It is not a heavy machine, but it is robust, light and easy to move.
Its assembly is simple, by simple coupling, and allows both right- and left-handed people to use it, since you can place it in both directions, just like the cutting head.

Finally, you might say… 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 an investment for life, with the Imperia machine fresh pasta will delight even the most demanding palates or simply any cook who wants to prepare fresh pasta to taste.

For those of you who are encouraged to try freshly made pasta, or for those of you who want to be inspired, I encourage you to check out a couple of recipes that you will surely love:

- Beetroot tagliatelle with gorgonzola sauce and pine nuts

- Fettuccini with eggplant and cherry tomato