I had to laugh when the person said making the pasta dough with the
KA machine was like Lucy in the candy factory.
A hand roller pasta maker is probably the best method. I've made lots
of pasta that way. You can make the dough in the KA machine, or in a
good processor and then follow the directions that come with the
pasta roller. You can make several widths. It works best to have a
pie pan with corn meal in it sitting under the roller and let the
dough fall into it. Toss it every time you run a batch through and
then lay it on a dry towel. The first stem is to divide the dough
into several sections and then run 1 section through, fold it and run
it through another time or two. Lay these sections out on the dry
towel and then sprinkle them with flour. Do not let the lay there too
long before cutting them or they will dry too much and fall apart. If
you want to make the pasta the day before you are serving it, go
ahead and cook it, 3 minutes only, in boiling, salted water. Drain in
a colander and then run cold water through it to stop the cooking and
then sprinkle with a small amount of olive oil, toss it and put it in
a bag and refrigerate it. The next day, either bring a pot of water
to a boil and drop the cooked pasta into it and then drain
immediately, or add the cold pasta to the sauce and let it heat up.
You also can freeze the bags of dough and when ready to use them,
drop them in the boiling water for only 1 minute before draining.
Incidentally, do not try to use the ravioli attachment unless you
have at least 3 hands.
Gloria Martin ggmartin2@juno.com