Like Aziz Ansari, I dedicate a substantial portion of my life to making and consuming pasta. This little device allows you to make ridged dumplings like gnocchi, capunti and cavatelli. It’s also very easy to make and is a great holiday gift.
This process makes it easy to make several at once, you can generate a long peice of it and chop it Ito many paddles. However I suggest shaping a peice that’s no longer than 2’ because that length is manageable on a table saw and makes 4 almost 6” paddles. Use 1” maple about 3” wide. Set your table saw blade at 45 degrees and set it super low...just high enough to cut a V-groove that’s a hair bigger than 1/8” wide (definitely experiment with waste stock before running your maple). Run the board with the fence 1/8” away from the blade. Then move the fence in 1/8” steps and repeat the cut over and over until you’ve got a textured board. Then cut into approximately 6” lengths, ease the end of the Vs and the corners with some sandpaper. You can coat this with mineral oil for food safe protection. I took this one step further and laser etched two of my fav pasta recipes on the back. Va bene!
Later addition...here's the recipe text...
CAPUNTI
1C water
Pinch of saffron
1.5C all-purpose flour
1.5C semolina flour
Steep saffron in water.
Mix flours into volcano.
Mix in water slowly and form dough.
Amend with small amounts of flour
or water if too wet or dry.
Let sit covered at room temperature for
20 minutes until color develop.
Roll dough out into 1/2” ropes.
Cut into 1/2” chunks.
Using a knife or dough scraper, press and roll
the chunks over a textured gnocchi paddle.
(cook in boiling salted water for 4 -5 minutes
and serve with an olive oil and fresh
summer vegetable sauce.)
CAVATELLI
2.5C all-purpose flour
1 pound ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
In a bowl, add cheese and eggs
to flour and gradually mix in.
Amend with small amounts of flour
or water if too wet or dry.
Let sit covered at room temperature for
20 minutes or 30 minutes.
Roll dough out into 1/2” ropes.
Cut into 1/2” chunks.
Using a knife or dough scraper, press and
roll the chunks over a textured gnocchi paddle.
(cook in boiling salted water for 4 -5 minutes
and serve with a red sauce.)