MARCATO Atlas 150 Classic Manual Pasta Maker Machine, Made in Italy, Chrome Steel with Black Hand Crank. Makes Lasagna, Fettuccine & Tagliolini. Made in Italy

Why it's worth it

This all-metal Italian roller takes dough down through ten thickness settings, from lasagna-thick to nearly see-through, and the 150mm rollers handle a full sheet in one pass. Spaghetti and tagliolini cutters come in the box, and owners routinely report keeping theirs for a decade or more.

This is the machine to buy if you're only buying one. The Atlas 150 rolls a wide, even sheet, and ten settings give you somewhere sensible to land for almost any shape. Start thick, fold, roll again, then work down a notch at a time. Around setting seven the dough turns translucent — that's your fettuccine. Two more notches and it's thin enough for ravioli that won't bully the filling.

Marcato has been making these in Italy for the better part of a century, and it shows in small ways. The gears are metal, not plastic, and owners who take the machine apart out of curiosity say so repeatedly. The crank turns smoothly even through a stiff semolina dough. At about five and a half pounds it feels planted on the counter but still lifts into a cabinet one-handed.

From our review of 5 pasta makers, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +This is the machine to buy if you're only buying one
• +Marcato has been making these in Italy for the better part of a century, and it shows in small ways
• +Nothing about it is intimidating
• +The cutter situation is worth understanding before you buy

What to know

• –You do all the work. Rolling enough pasta for six or eight people is twenty-odd minutes of cranking, and it's genuinely easier…
• –Cleaning is dry-only