The pasta shaper attachment makes creating your own fresh pasta at home so quick and easy.

To assemble the attachment ready for use, first fit the scroll inside the body, followed by your chosen die. Secure tightly in place with the securing nut and lock into your stand mixer’s slow speed outlet. Fit the hopper.

Next, fit the cutting assembly over the securing nut, so that it sits flush with the die. This is what will help you to cut your pasta into the desired lengths.

Switch your stand mixer onto speed 2-3. Place some of your pasta dough onto the hopper and then slowly feed small amounts into the feed tube, a bit at a time. Allow the scroll to clear each time before adding more. Don’t allow the feed tube to fill up. If it does become clogged, use the end of the spanner handle to gently push the mix onto the scroll.

When the pasta is long enough, cut off by moving the handle on the cutting assembly back and forth.

Top tip
For easier pasta making, warm the body, die and ring nut in hot water before use, and then dry.

The attachment comes with one die included, but other different shaped dies are available to buy separately, each one used to make a different pasta shape. Included in your pack is the Maccheroni Rigati die, which can be used to make macaroni.

All of these high quality bronze dies give the pasta a rough, more porous surface favoured by artisanal producers because it allows sauces to cling to the pasta for a more authentic flavour.

Choosing the right pasta shape for your dish is a serious business in Italy. Generally speaking, tubular shapes are paired with thicker sauces because the sauce gets trapped within them and you get lots of flavour in every mouthful, whereas long strands are good for absorbing juices from more delicate sauces without going soft. Get creative with the 12 other shapers available:

Bigoli- long, thick tubes with a heavily textured surface, perfect for serving with thick sauces like a meat ragu.

Bucatini- a thicker type of spaghetti with a narrow hollow centre, traditionally served with a classic Amatriciana sauce.

Casarecce- originally from Sicily, these short twists of pasta with curled edges and a groove down the middle are traditionally paired with sauces made using Mediterranean ingredients like tomato, basil and eggplant.

Conchigliette- small shell shapes with a ridged exterior that are used to add extra heartiness to broths and soups.

Fusilli- short, spiral shaped twists that are often served with heavier, meat or cream-based sauces that get trapped in the grooves. Also can be used cold in pasta salads.

Linguine- long flat strands of pasta that are super versatile and complement a variety of sauces. Can also be used in stir-fries.

Maccheroni Lisci- short tubes that work really well in baked pasta dishes.

Orecchiette- translated literally as ‘little ears’, this pasta's cup-like shape makes it great for holding sauces.

Pappardelle- broad, flat ribbons of pasta, often served with hearty meat or game based sauces.

Silatelli- short strips of tagliatelle which are pinched in the middle. Traditionally cooked with courgettes, or seafood like mussels or clams.

Spaccatelli- similar to bucatini, these long rolled up scrolls work especially well with chunkier sauces that can wrap into the pasta’s folds.

Spaghetti Quadri- known the world over simply as spaghetti, these long round strands of smooth pasta are best paired with light sauces like a carbonara, or with seafood.

You only need your stand mixer and a few simple ingredients to make your own pasta dough, and it takes no time at all. This recipe makes enough to serve 4.

Ingredients
250g 00 flour
100g beaten egg (approximately 2 medium sized eggs)

Tools
Stand mixer
K-Beater
Place the flour into the mixer bowl and fit the K-Beater. Gradually add the beaten egg on minimum speed, increasing to speed 1. Mix for 30 - 45 seconds, then scrape down. Switch on again and continue mixing for approximately a further 30 seconds.

The mixture should resemble coarse breadcrumbs, or a crumble texture. If it forms a ball of dough then too much liquid has been added, but you should still be able to squeeze a small amount together to form a clump that stays bonded. If you can’t do this, the mixture is too dry and it could damage your pasta maker attachment.

Create different coloured or flavoured pasta by adding herbs, tomato or spinach purée or squid ink to the pasta dough.

As well as beautifully formed, authentic pasta, you can also use the attachment to make a variety of delightful biscuits with the biscuit shaper, available to purchase separately.

To make perfectly shaped biscuits of a consistent size, first remove the shape selector from the biscuit die. Assemble the pasta maker attachment with the biscuit die, making sure the slots on either side of the die run horizontally across it.

Fit the attachment to your stand mixer. The cutting assembly should not be fitted when making biscuits- instead just use a knife to cut the dough into suitable lengths.

Slide the shaper through the slots on either side of the die until the shape you want to use sits within the centre of the hole.

Place some of your biscuit mix onto the hopper, switch the speed to 2-3, and feed a small amount of mix into the feed tube at a time, using a knife to cut away.

The pasta shaper attachment is compatible with all latest generation Chef stand mixer models (with model numbers starting with KQL, KCC, KCL, KWL, KVC, KVL) as well as kMix models with a slow speed attachment outlet. It can also be used with some older Kenwood stand mixers, but you will need to purchase a separate adapter. You can find the model number on the underside of your machine.

Using your stand mixer to make your own pasta is just one of the many things your machine can do. With a range of over 25 additional attachments available- from blenders and juice extractors to mincers and dicers, you can personalise your mixer to be your ultimate sous chef, and open up a whole new world of meal creation. Explore the range here.