How to Roll and Cut Pasta Dough

A rolling pin: Traditionally, Italian cooks would use a rolling pin or even a wine bottle. However, the dough is tough and resists your best efforts. In the end, pasta rolled with a rolling pin is usually too thick.

A manual pasta machine: This machine rolls the pasta to an even thickness, and you can get the sheets of pasta quite thin. This machine also cuts the pasta. Most models can cut the pasta into fettuccine or spaghetti.

A manual pasta machine produces two shapes — fettuccine or spaghetti. However, you can take the long sheets of dough that the machine rolls and cut them yourself to make other shapes.

Electric extruders: Basically, these machines are a food processor and pasta machine in one. You put the ingredients in the machine and then press a button to knead and then extrude a variety of shapes. Unfortunately, most electric pasta machines don’t work all that well.