Imperia 700 GSD Electrical Pasta Machine Pastapresto, Stainless Steel, 85 W, Multi Colour

This is a game-changer if you make lots of pasta. Sturdy and heavy so it can sit, free-staring on the counter leaving both hands free to feed the pasta through. So much quicker and easier than a hand turned roller. Quite expensive so you need to be sure you'll use it quite a bit, but a brilliant bit of kit. I love it.

Had a hand cranked one but had problems getting it to sit steady on the work top - which didnt have a good lip for the clamp.This is a dream. Make your pasta the traditional way, then switch on and feed in - easy easy easy peasy! The machine is heavy so it just sits on the work top with no need to anchor and the dough is turned into perfect, yummy pasta in no time. Have used for ravioli, lasagne and tagatelle to date - the difference fresh pasta makes is amazing! Well worth the money!

After what felt like a lifetime of getting through manual pasta machines, I have to say that this is the best investment if you love making and eating a lot of pasta. Originally bought for my 6 year old (whiz in the kitchen but obviously not to be used without adult supervision)) but we are both enjoying using it. Couldn't be simpler and takes the frustration out of clamping manual machines to the work board and rollers getting misaligned.Would also like to recommend the seller for their prompt action, admit was a bit gutted when machine arrived (very promptly) only to use and for the pasta to get entangled everywhere, upon closer inspection it was (if you looked closely) obvious that the machine has suffered damage in transit - I contacted them they immediately dispatched another one and sent a returns label for the damaged one. New one arrived plug and play - we now use this at least once a week and invest in a good airer because you will have miles of pasta drying.

Easy to use and value for money

I bought the Pasta Presto because (a) I had previously owned an Imperia machine and enjoyed making pasta with it (b) I envisaged an electronic machine giving me greatercontrol over the pasta making operation and (c) any machine i bought needed to be free-standing as I did not want to use a clamp on the marble countertops.After one month with the Pasta Presto I can recommend it wholeheartedly. As you'd expect from Imperia, the machine is strongly made, functional and durable. Making pasta with an electronic machine is so much easier than with my old Imperia hand-cranked one. The pasta is processed quickly and easily, with the electric motor keeping things rolling in a smooth yet controllable fashion and you have two hands available for feed and take-off.The machine, as supplied, comes with cutters for fettuccini and tagliatelle and, using the thinner roller settings it is possible to make flat sheets of pasta for lasagne, ravioli, capuletti etc. A wide range of other cutters can be purchased as accessories.The Pasta Presto is easy to clean - run some spare pasta through it a few times then finish by running some kitchen towel, folded several times, through the machineon number 1 ior 2 setting. Under no circumstances use oil or water on the rollers, particularly water, as you will end up with a gluey mess inside the machine, making it impossible to clean.Keep water out of the pasta blend, too. Also salt. 100g of flour to one whole egg makes very nice pasta. Briefly blend, then wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least half an our. Stretch the pasta dough, dust it with a little dry four (do this before every time you pass the pasta through the machine - don't worry about excess flour, it will shake off or drop off in the cooking process) and pass it through the rollers at the widest setting (6) ten times (River Cafe cookbook tip). Then reduce the setting by one and pass the pasta through the rollers. Repeat, reducing the thickness setting by one notch at a time until you reach the desired thickness - probably 2 or 1, depending on what you are making. If the length of pasta gets too long to handle, cut it in half. Finally, pass the pasta through the cutters and hang the strips to rest. A 'pasta tree' is useful for this purpose. Imperia make one.Cook the pasta until al dente in a large quantity of boiling water to which salt and a small spoonfull of olive oil have been added.Among the many features I liked is the safety guard, which does not allow the machine to operate unless it is in the down position. The only reservation I have about the Pasta Presto is that it is very expensive - about twice the price of a motorised version of the small hand-cranked Imperia. That said, looked after, it should last a lifetime.

This is the second one of these I've bought - the first lasted 10 years, used very very frequently. A really high quality machine.

The instuctions are a waste of time however this is a great machine which is easy to use and extremely well made. There is simple no drama in using it as opposed to turning a handle and trying to feed the pasta dough between the rollers. An expensive but great buy, which we hope will give many years of service.Update.After 15 months of light use, only used once or twice a week, the motor on my machine would over heat and stop. Given the cost of the machine I was not, and am not,impressed with imperia. When I contacted imperia i was ignored. Contacted amazon who agreed to refund my money. When this machine works it is very good but mine was obviously not reliable. I have therefore changed my initial rating from being highly recommended (5 stars) to buy with care (1 star). I will be buying another electric pasta machine from Amazon but not imperia.

I can't believe how easy it now is to make pasta. This machine works extremely well and makes the whole process effortless. Highly recommended.