Pasta schmo to pasta pro

Our writer spins water and flour into gold. Well, golden pasta.

"Life's too short to make fresh pasta." That's what one of my cooking mentors told me years ago when I asked her for a good, fresh pasta recipe. And after I received a pasta machine as a gift-but only putting it to use a few times with a somewhat muddled recipe from Marcella Hazen (damn you, dreaded flour well)—my friend's advice seemed quite reasonable.

Yet I chose to soldier on, and in my latest Schmo to Pro quest, I decided the best way to add killer fresh pastas to my oeuvre was to pick the brains of some of the city's renowned Italian chefs.

First, I'd visit with Michael White, who produces arguably the most revered fresh pasta in the city at midtown northern Italian spot, Alto. Then I'd head to A Voce, where new chef Missy Robbins would show me how to turn authentic fresh pasta into a complete dish. And lastly, Fiamma's former three-star chef Fabio Trabocchi would teach me the perfect shortcut using a premium dried product-the most logical plan for nights when devoting hours to rolling dough just isn't in the cards. By Jeremy Cesarec, Photos: Melissa Hom