Yes, that's right. KitchenAid now has an attachment for their mixers that lets us make shaped pasta at home. We're talking fresh spaghetti, fusilli, and rigatoni, folks. We couldn't believe it when we saw it either! We don't know about you, but we're nursing a pretty serious crush on this one.
This attachment is technically a pasta extruder. It works like those old Play-Doh Spaghetti Factory play sets: fresh pasta dough gets put into a hopper and then pressed out through plates. The noodles are cut when they get to the desired length.
The KitchenAid attachment actually comes with six different plates for making six different pasta shapes. You can make regular spaghetti, bucatini (hollow spaghetti), large or small macaroni, fusilli, and rigatoni. It looks like the hopper is made of plastic, but the plates themselves are metal.
This is the first pasta maker or attachment we've seen that lets us make shaped pasta at home. We absolutely love our KitchenAid pasta roller attachment - not to mention KitchenAid in general - so we have high hopes for this attachment. We'll be saving our pennies starting right now!
• Check It Out! Pasta Press KitchenAid Attachment from Williams-Sonoma, $179.95
What do you think about this attachment? Has anyone had a chance to try it?
Related: Weekend Project: Make Pasta!
(Images: Williams-Sonoma)
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Jim got me this for Christmas and we love it! I'm sure we gained 20 lbs in January and February since we were eating nothing but pasta.
Great machine! Still rely on the hand roller for delicate pasta sheets.
I will agree with Stuccolow wholeheartedly.
I was skeptical at first - so much machinery! I want my pasta-making experience to be all Campari, wooden tools, and Nonna-aprons. But, truth be told, this thing spits out pasta beautifully. My 3 year old loves helping, and it expands my ability to make home-made pasta from simple sheets and long noodles, to more difficult shapes like rigatoni.
I know you can do it by hand -- the nonnas of the world certainly can -- but if I've had that Campari, I sure can't.
Whoa! I have a KitchenAid pasta plates that work with the meat grinder, and it totally sucks. This looks amazing though!
Woah, this cost more than what I paid for my KitchenAid Artisan!
I have one too! Still haven't perfected the art of perfectly spiraled fusilli... but owning this has me convinced that I never need to buy pasta again. Plus the kid in me is mildly obsessed with the play-doh-like functionality.
This is awesome. I don't have any KA currently but will add this to the list along with the pasta roller and meat grinder. I wonder if Jim will buy me one too?
My kitchen aid grinder came with a set of pasta discs for extruding the dough. I'm not a big pasta eater but the pasta plates worked well and were much cheaper than the model above.
My boyfriend gave this to me for Christmas because I wanted it really bad. I'm ashamed to say that I have not yet used it :(
We've committed to making pasta this weekend, thanks for reminding me that I need to use this!
I just had to have this pasta press, but not sure I really like it. My main reason for purchasing was the bucatini press. It just seems to come out too thick and heavy...much thicker than the dried pasta I've purchased. Also, be very careful with the wire cutter. It's very delicate and I snapped it in two already. It was user error, however.
I got this one for Christmas, too, and I LOVE it. I posted about it when I first got it because I was so in LURVE. It really is easy to use, and fresh pasta can't be beat. http://remarkablydomestic.com/2010/01/07/fresh-delish-homemade-pasta/
Awesome! I've had this on my wish list for a while now...anyone else who's used it, definitely speak up. I want all the feedback I can get before deciding if it's worth the splurge.
Looks awesome! I think it's something that someone else would have to buy for me though given the cost. I also hope it wouldn't just end up sitting around collecting dust.
I read this was only supposed to be exclusive to Williams-Sonoma for a few months in 2009 and that sometime in 2010, this will be available elsewhere--can anyone find it anywhere else?
I have the previous version (the plates for the meat-grinder) and they seriously suck. I'll be curious to see how this one works.
My mom gave me her pasta plates but not the grinder attachment so I haven't tried that one. I was thinking of getting the roller/cutter set, but I could roll those by hand and try to talk my husband into homemade macaroni...
Repeating a previous question:
Has anyone found this attachment at any store other than Williams-Sonoma? Thanks!
ok so i don't know if this question will even get a response since this post is months old but i received this press for christmas and was reallllly excited to try it out. I found the press really easy to use and prepared my dough with a recipe from smitten kitchen. The downfall: the pasta came out rather thick and when i cooked it, it became bloated and slimy...such a letdown! Needless to say i haven't use the machine since for fear of screwing up again. I've heard that using too much egg with the press can cause this problem but i'm not sure. Any fool proof pasta recipes that will work with thick thicker result??
@KitchnCartel... I don't have the KA attachment yet so I don't know if this recipe will do what you want, but I always use the Pasta Fresca from here: http://www.seattlepi.com/food/193836_lasagna06.html
Good luck with it!
I love mine, and would love to be able to buy more pasta dies to use.