Product Reviewed:
Ronco Pasta Maker
Making pasta can sound intimidating; generally reserved for fancy Italian restaurants and dinner party overachievers. But with the Ronco Pasta Maker, it couldn’t be simpler. Having never used a pasta maker before, I appreciated the easy setup (I got the machine going, made my pasta and cooked it — all in 30 minutes) and cleanup (the entire thing is dishwasher-safe).
The user’s manual included simple recipes and tips for both wheat-based and gluten-free pastas. Following the instructions, I poured whole-wheat flour into the main bowl of the machine, added the liquids (water, egg, olive oil and crushed garlic) separately and turned the machine on to mix the dough. After three minutes of kneading, I flipped the switch and the blades reversed to push the dough through one of five pasta attachments: rigatoni, spaghetti, linguini, lasagna and fettuccini. The Ronco Pasta Maker also comes with sausage-making accessories.
When the dough was used up and the noodles were finished, I quickly boiled them in hot water for three minutes and tossed them with a simple sauce. My taste-testers were very pleased, enjoying the thick, chewy texture of the fresh noodles!
The only negatives of the Ronco Pasta Maker are that it is fairly noisy when running and some dough was wasted because it couldn’t get through the noodle attachment. But mostly, I liked how easy it is to assemble, use and clean, and how fast you can get fresh pasta on the table!
