Fresh Pasta

[WhateverYouWant]

Back in the days when I lived in Santa Monica, CA... I made fresh pasta with semolina flour that I bought from a local Italian market. It wasn't cheap, but it made great pasta. I see a lot of pasta recipes online using AP flour, but none of the ones I have followed was as good as using semolina.

Now-a-days, I am at the mercy of a SafeWay supermarket, or can order online. So... for those of you that make fresh pasta, what are you using for semolina (via the local SafeWay, or online)?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Is there a natural food store near you? I drive two hours to Natural Grocers in Cheyenne, WY to get my bulk ingredients. One of the "perks" of living in the boonies.

 

[pepperhead212]

I was never crazy about the pasta I made with semolina, but it was alway slightly coarse, not really a flour - almost like masa harina, or even more coarse, and that was before I had a way to grind it finer. And I wasn't crazy about that 00 flour, that was recommended by some, as it has less flavor than AP. However, I got some artisan flour, for bread making, which made great bread, so I tried it with pasta, and it came out great! I've been using that ever since. The amount of gluten in it is in between AP and bread flour, so it uses a little more egg to flour, which helps the flavor, but it doesn't get too rubbery, like bread flour seems to me.

 

[Andy M.]

I use AP flour with eggs and salt. Turns out great. Soft and silky.

 

[taxlady]

I use whole grain bread flour and that works well. I usually make pasta with just flour and water. Since I have read that 00 flour is commonly used for pasta in Italy and that it is softer than AP flour, I have considered using whole grain pastry flour or a combo of mostly soft and some hard flour added.

Edit: Hmm, maybe I heard that 00 flour is used a lot in pasta recipes that include egg.

 

[WhateverYouWant]

I drive two hours to Natural Grocers in Cheyenne, WY to get my bulk ingredients.

That's crazy!

I was never crazy about the pasta I made with semolina, but it was alway slightly coarse, not really a flour - almost like masa harina, or even more coarse

I have seen the coarse grind stuff, which is one of the reasons I asked the question. The stuff I got from the Italian market was fine grind, and truly made the best pasta.

 

[kenmiller]

Back in the days when I lived in Santa Monica, CA... I made fresh pasta with semolina flour that I bought from a local Italian market. It wasn't cheap, but it made great pasta. I see a lot of pasta recipes online using AP flour, but none of the ones I have followed was as good as using semolina.

Now-a-days, I am at the mercy of a SafeWay supermarket, or can order online. So... for those of you that make fresh pasta, what are you using for semolina (via the local SafeWay, or online)?

Can you please share the image? I am keen to see the pic

 

[WhateverYouWant]

Can you please share the image? I am keen to see the pic

What image?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

That's crazy!

But worth it, only make the trip every two months or so and share the driving with my parents. The only other option is a one hour drive to a place run by rude idiots.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Thise site - The Best Pasta Flour For Homemade Pasta, is super informative. It describe the types and grinds of flour used for different pasta shapes and uses. I highly recomend reading it through
It will help.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the Norh

 

[CraigC]

We've made pasta with all purpose flour for years. We recently tried "00" and really couldn't tell any significant difference. For stuffed/filled pasta, we prefer a combo of all purpose and semolina. Gives the dough more structure. We have made gnocchi with semolina.

 

[WhateverYouWant]

I really prefer the semolina for both taste and texture (especially for extrusions). I will hit up the SafeWay tomorrow to see what they have (as buying online seems to cost 3-4 times as much with shipping). It occurred to me (based on my chickpea flour experiment) that if it is too course, I can easily thin it down a bit in the VitaMix.

 

[dcSaute]

if your market carries Bob's Red Mill products, they sell a semolina.
I use it mostly for pizza - a blend of KA Bread flour + semolina (1.4:1)

 

[msmofet]

2 C. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
2 TBSP. extra-virgin olive oil

 

[letscook]

I always wanted to try making it and final did a couple of years ago. brought a pasta machine ( Marcato 8320 Atlas 150 Machine ) and checked out a few recipes and I use the same recipe as Msmofet, works out great. If I want extra egg flavor I add one more yolk. Decided to try making lasagna. Made it into sheets and now hubie won't eat any other pasta. Love making fresh pasta