As an amateur cook aspiring to follow in the path of mother’s effortlessly perfect dinners, I had always been fascinated by the idea of making pasta by hand. But when my first forays into the kitchen revealed that I couldn’t even get boxed brownies right, making homemade pasta for my Italian family seemed like an impossible feat.

Fast forward through a few more epic kitchen fails, and I was away from home for the first time, studying abroad in Florence. I could cook well enough to feed myself and follow a basic recipe, so I decided to take a course on fresh pasta at a local culinary school. In a colorful, homestyle test kitchen in the quiet Oltrarno neighborhood, I spent the day making fresh tagliatelle and ravioli, and I couldn’t believe how simple it was. Now it’s my favorite meal to experiment with for Sunday dinners at my grandparents’ house, but I also crave it in my Alphabet City apartment with a galley kitchen small enough to fit on a boat.

This list of tools will help save time and space while making your favorite pasta dish by hand.