These are tools I use when working with fresh pasta. Fresh pasta is not superior to dried, or the other way around - they are just different. They cook differently too, as dried pasta is made of hard winter wheat semolina, while fresh pasta is generally made from softer wheat flour.
In the upper left are a number of shape cutters. In the lower right is a scraper, very useful for scraping the board clean, distributing flour, etc. The brush is useful for brushing water to seal stuffed pasta, or oil for other purposes.
The straight rolling pin is capable of making very thin pasta sheets. After rolling as thin as it will go, you start stretching. The roller follows the hands. The hands stretch the pasta thin, then it is quickly rolled up around the pin before it has a chance to spring back. The sheet is unrolled and turned 45 degrees, then stretched and rolled up again, until as thin as you want.
The background here is the 2 x 2 foot (60 cm) lightly varnished plywood board I use for all bread and pasta projects.
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