Two ingredients,
one ratio.

It should look like damp sand, never a ball. Squeeze a handful: it holds the shape of your fist, then falls back into crumbs when you poke it. A solid lump means too wet; refusing to hold together at all means too dry. That test matters more than the number.

1. Mix on the lowest setting, adding the water in a thin stream, for 3–5 minutes. Don't help it into a ball.
2. Rest 15 minutes, covered, then run the squeeze test again — the semolina is still absorbing, and that second reading is the one that counts.
3. Extrude. The first few inches are always malformed; cut them off and drop them back in the hopper. Dust with semolina, not flour, and cut to length.
4. Rest 15 minutes on a rack, then boil 2–3 minutes in well-salted water. Start tasting at ninety seconds.

Adjusting. Every Macaroni Labs insert extrudes a 1 mm wall, which narrows the window from both sides — wet dough slumps and rounds off the shape you drew, dry dough strains the machine against a thin channel. Move about 3 g of water at a time. Most people land between 33% and 38% for their flour and their kitchen.