Even Italian Chefs and Restaurant Workers Swear by This Bestselling Pasta Machine

Few things compare to the taste of freshly made pasta. Whether it's piled under a succulent pomodoro sauce, plated as a decadent carbonara, or topped off with good quality butter and sprinkled with parmesan cheese, homemade noodles can take any dish to a new level. And, making pasta at home is quite easy, especially when you have a quality pasta machine to help you bring it to life. Even Italian chefs approve of this bestselling pasta machine, and it's only $81.

Hailing from Italy, the Marcato Atlas 150 is Amazon's bestselling manual pasta maker. We also found it to be one of the best manual pasta makers on the market, after sifting through thousands of reviews. It has a sturdy chrome-plated body, hand crank, and clamp to prevent the machine from slipping as you use it. The lower-tier section of the machine has a knob with 10 levels of thickness (from 0.6-millimeters to 4.8-millimeters), which can be adjusted depending on your desired noodle. Once you have your thinness dialed for your angel hair pasta (super thin) or lasagna (thicker noodles), you can then cut the dough into noodles on the upper tier of the machine (the part that looked more serrated). You can make fifteen different pasta shapes with this little machine — from tortellini to ravioli to spaghetti.

To buy: Marcato Atlas 150 Pasta Machine, $81 at amazon.com

Shoppers on Amazon can't get enough of this pasta maker, giving it over 6,800 five-star ratings. In fact, this Amazon shopper bought it after a cooking class in Milan with an Italian chef who declared it was the "only model worth buying." Another satisfied shopper even goes as far as to call this the "Cadillac of pasta makers," while a third says that it "takes the intimidation out of pasta making."

After I used it to make fresh tortelli in a cooking class in Florence, Italy last month, I can also vouch for this machine. As a pasta-making novice, I found that it was super easy to use, and I fed my sheets of dough without snagging. I'm even considering buying one for myself. Plus, it comes with a handy instruction manual to help you get started. The one downside that reviewers found is that this item is not dishwasher safe, so it's best to hand wash each piece separately after using it. There's no doubt the Marcato Atlas 150 is a great investment that you'll use for years to come.