Pasta machine as pastry chef

Rolling out dough by hand for hors d’oeuvres or desserts is a time consuming task—especially when crafting hundreds for an event. A pasta machine can make the process more efficient and the end product more consistent, says David Kamen, a project manager with the consulting team at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. When making individual tarts, Kamen sets a pasta machine to its thinnest setting so the dough crisps up during baking. “If I’m rolling them by hand … even within the same batch, there could be one side of the dough that’s a little thicker than the other side,” he says. “A pasta machine can get them really even and accurate.”

David KamenProject ManagerCulinary Institute of AmericaHyde Park, NY