Abstract: An improved machine for manufacturing short cut varieties of Italian pasta ("orecchiette", etc.) comprises three cascaded units: a first unit, with screw feeders, by which pasta mix is fed in and extruded into sticks; a second unit by which the pasta sticks are cut into cylindrical pellets; and a third unit by which the pasta pellets are gathered up and shaped, comprising a first knurled roller and a forming plate with a bead, which operate in conjunction to the end of flattening and curling the pellet, and a second roller in soft material that rotates in the opposite direction to the first roller and interacts with a third roller, carrying a projection, to form the pasta into the typical cup shape of the varieties in question.