I know I'm late additing to this but here's an Italian kitchen tool that's hard to find in North America (though not as much anymore): "passatutto" or "macina legumi". The only English reference I've found is "food mill".

OK, I found a picture: http://www.applesource.com/foodmill.html

We use it to pass the tomatoes through; it pushes all the flesh through but leaves the seeds behind. I don't know how you would make good tomato sauce without it.

Both the mezzaluna and the passatutto were fun kitchen tools to get to use (with parental supervision, at least for the mezzaluna) when we were small.