Marcato Atlas 150 Pasta Machine Review, Tested by Food & Wine

Few things beat the convenience of dumping a package of pasta into a pot of salted, boiling water and having noodles ready to go in less than 10 minutes. Dried pasta remains a pantry staple of mine — but sometimes I feel like taking the extra steps to make it fresh. Though having a pasta machine at home might seem like a big deal, it doesn’t have to mean bringing in yet another bulky appliance. In fact, it doesn’t even have to use electricity. 

When I bought my Marcato Atlas 150 four years ago, it was a spontaneous purchase. I was walking past a kitchen supply shop in a small village in northern Italy, and a flash of gleaming silver in the window display caught my eye. A few minutes later, I walked out with a shiny new hand-cranked pasta machine, eager to get back home and put it to use. 

I may have bought it on a whim, but it wasn’t a novelty piece — I still use it and I still love it.

How I Use the Marcato Atlas 150 

Now, I’m not going to lie and say that I’m making fresh pasta every week. But this machine is easy to use, and when I want it, my Atlas 150 is ready and waiting and sets up in minutes. I just clamp it to the edge of my countertop, twirl open my pasta drying rack, then get to work turning flour (semolina and 00, usually) and egg into a smooth ball of pasta dough. When I’m really on my game, I’ll have made the pasta dough about an hour prior to ensure it’s good and rested by the time I’m set up otherwise.

Using the machine itself is just as simple. The knob on the left twists to adjust the rollers — and subsequently, the thickness of the dough sheets — while the handle on the right facilitates the movement of dough through the rollers. A few passes through increasingly narrowed rollers will yield a sheet that is ready to be fed through the pasta cutter. Lots of different attachments are available for this machine, but the one that comes standard with the Marcato Atlas 150 cuts fettucini and tagliolini.

What I Love About the Marcato Atlas 150

Ease of use is a big selling point of this pasta machine. My biggest learning curve was with the dough — the Atlas 150 itself is about as simple as it gets. I also appreciate its compact size. This little machine can easily fit in a deep drawer or a kitchen cupboard without fuss.

That being said, this is a solid piece of equipment. It weighs nearly five pounds — which contributes to its stability while rolling out pasta dough — and feels incredibly well-built. The Atlas 150 has been around since 1965 and is still made in Italy. I love being able to see and feel the quality and precision each time I use it. 

Finally, it just looks cool. The Marcato Atlas 150 really is a sleek pasta maker, and it comes in seven colors. 

The Caveats

This will be true regardless of the pasta machine in question, but I learned right away how important it is to make sure the pasta dough is properly ready before trying to portion and run it through the Atlas 150. My first attempt left me with a shaggy dough that never quite smoothed out, no matter how many times I passed it through the rollers. It all worked out in the end, as I used the raggedy sheets to make a delicious lasagna, but I did my homework for the next time.

An Italian friend told me to knead the pasta dough for a full 10 minutes before even thinking about leaving it to rest, and sure enough, putting in the work resulted in a smooth, elastic, cooperative dough. 

Tips and Tricks for the Marcato Atlas 150

The Atlas 150 is a pretty straightforward machine, but I did learn quickly to be careful with the crank handle. It’s removable so that you can stick it where it needs to go, whether that’s to work the rollers or the pasta cutter, but it doesn’t exactly slot in securely. I’ve bumped it in such a way that the handle fell out and (luckily) hit the floor instead of my foot — not a big deal, just something to be aware of during the first use or two when you’re still getting the hang of things. 

Also, don’t stress when you aren’t getting ultra-thin sheets of dough right away. The rollers are adjustable for a reason — you need to gradually smooth and flatten the dough through a series of passes through the rollers, adjusting along the way. It might take eight, nine, ten passes, depending on the consistency of the dough and your desired pasta thickness. Trust the process.

And it’s definitely worth buying a pasta drying rack alongside the Marcato Atlas 150. At first, I thought I’d be fine with laying out some floured kitchen towels and lining up my freshly cut pasta on those, but it quickly turned into a mess. This is one of those times when it’s worth having the right tool for the job. 

(But if, like me, you’re not especially keen on spending half the cost of the pasta machine on a matching Marcato drying rack, you can pick up a dupe design that’ll do the trick just fine.)

How It Compares

We’ve tested other pasta makers and the Marcato Atlas 150 was our pick for best overall — so you don’t have to take my word for it that this machine is great. 

We did pick the Imperia Pasta Machine as a similarly styled runner-up, and if you already have a KitchenAid stand mixer, the pasta roller and cutter attachment is a worthy purchase. 

If you’re looking for an extruder-style pasta machine that can make pasta shapes beyond flat noodles, the Philips Viva Collection Pasta and Noodle Maker is a great choice. 

The Verdict

I would happily buy my Marcato Atlas 150 all over again. It’s a beautiful machine that is a joy to use, reliably turning out precisely cut pasta every time. Just writing this review has inspired me to put homemade pasta on the menu this very weekend — so if you’re on the fence, consider me your enabler. Buy it.

Warranty

Marcato backs the Atlas 150 for two years from the date of purchase. I have not had to make use of my (now long-expired) warranty.

Our Expertise

This article was written by Summer Rylander, a food and travel journalist who has written about food, beverage, and cooking products for Food & Wine, Allrecipes, Serious Eats, The Kitchn, and more.