Semolina pasta dough is an easy two ingredient dough that comes together really easily. Made with water rather than eggs this quick semolina pasta dough is naturally vegan and can be used to make all sorts of hands rolled pasta shapes. It is the dough I suggest making to any new pasta maker as you don't need a pasta roller. Turn it into easy shapes like my hand rolled gnocchi sardi, a perfect entry level shape. Shapes made from this type of dough have a delicious chewy texture that you will love.
Semolina Pasta Dough
Hello! I am writing up a guide for my semolina pasta dough to go into a bit more depth about this dough. If you have made an egg pasta dough, this will be a breeze. As I state in my where to start for making homemade pasta guide, it is the easiest type of pasta making.
With an egg dough, you need a roller (well you don't, but rolling by hand is HARD!) and with this dough all the shapes are hand rolled. The chewy factor is addictive and I promise you will fall in love with this dough like I have.
What is semolina?
Simple! It is a flour milled from a kind of wheat called durum wheat. It is just a different type of wheat and is often classed as a 'hard wheat'. The '00' flours or even plain flour is more of a 'soft wheat'.
Basically what that means is that shapes made out of a semolina pasta dough will have more of a bite, they often have, in my opinion, a really addictive and delicious chewy factor. When you add semolina into an egg pasta dough it helps to add structure and an al dente bite. That is why I often mix it into '00' flour when making my easy homemade pasta dough.
The difference between Semolina and Semola
This is something that confuses a lot of people and is VERY important! Both are made from exactly the same wheat but are milled differently. Semola is what we call really fine semolina and is the flour you need to use when making this pasta dough, it is also the flour that goes into an egg dough along with '00'.
It will most often labeled semola rimacinata. What is labeled semolina is a much coarser flour but it also used in pasta making, just not in the dough. When making any kind of pasta having the courser semolina on hand is very handy for dusting trays and preventing the pasta from sticking.
What shapes can you make with a semolina pasta dough?
So many! I need to get some more guides written up but until then the first shape you must make is my hand rolled gnocchi sardi pasta. It is hands down the easiest shape to make and the shape I always suggest for people who haven't made pasta before. My favourite pasta shape in the world (HUGE call, I know) is orecchiette, which you can also make with this dough, just with slightly less water.
How to make semolina pasta dough
- Weigh the flour and make a pile on your bench, I like to use the bottom of a bowl to make a firm indent in the flour to pour the water into.
- Pour your water into the middle then use a fork to start mixing the flour in, bringing small bits at a time from the outside into the liquid. It will thicken quite quickly and when it gets really thick bring all the remaining flour into the middle with your hands or a bench scraper.
- This is where I use the dough scraper to cut the dough up and down and side to side to incorporate the flour and water together into a shaggy dough.
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- Once you have an even shaggy dough bring it together into a ball, it will seem like a right mess at this point but I promise it will all come together!
- Squeeze the ball together and start to knead it, it needs a fair bit of elbow grease here. Knead for 3 - 4 minutes until it has a dimpled texture, then wrap it in cling film and rest for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes continue kneading for 3 - 4 minutes until you have a lovely smooth ball of dough. Wrap tightly and rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes but preferably an hour or up to three.
Let's talk hydration!
Have you ever heard people talking about the hydration levels in dough? Be it pasta or bread making? It sounds so technical but it's actually really simple, I promise! In most hand rolled pasta shapes, made with this dough the hydration is 50%.
That means that if you use 450g of flour, you would use 50% of that weight in water, so 225g. Easy right?! If you used 400g of flour, you'd use 200g and so on and so on. In my easy homemade pasta dough I use a hydration of about 56%.
An exception to the 50% hydration for this dough is if you are making my homemade orecchiette. It works better with a slightly lower hydration so I do about 46%. That means for 400g flour I would use about 185g water.
Need some sauce inspiration?
The thing I love about semolina pasta dough shapes is they truly go with any sauce. Throw out the rule book and do whatever you like! If you want something simple check out my 10 minute brown butter for pasta or my easy roast tomato pasta sauce.
If you are making gnocchi sardi check out my cacio e pepe with olives and basil, it's pretty much heaven in a bowl! For an orecchiette idea look no further than my creamy roast garlic and lemon pasta sauce.
It's just the traditional way! It's always a flour and water dough. Because the shapes are mostlt hand formed the semolina gives them strength so they hold their shape. My easy homemade pasta dough is a regular egg and flour dough.
It absolutely is!
I don't ever suggest freezing the ball of dough but you can absolutely freeze the finished shapes. Freeze them open on a tray for 20 mins or until hard then transfer to a freezer bag or container. Cook from frozen.
Yes, I do it all the time! It's so much quicker and easier. Put your weighed ingredients into a food processor and pulse to combine. When it is an even mixture, take the blade out then squeeze it into a ball as best you can before bringing out onto the bench to knead.
Made this semolina pasta dough and loved it?
I would love love LOVE if you could leave me a review down below and let me know what you thought! I love to hear any changes or adaptions you have made too. Also if you put a photo on instagram, please tag me so I can see, it makes my day!
Recipe
Semolina pasta dough
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Ingredients
- 450 g semolina rimacinata flour
- 225 g warm water
Instructions
- Make sure you check out all the photos above to see the process!
- Pour your flour out onto your bench and use the bottom of a bowl to make a well in the middle. Pour the water into the middle then use a fork to start whisking, slowly and carefully incorporating the flour into the middle.
- When the centre liquid gets really thick, abandon the fork and go straight in with your hands or alternatively use a bench scraper to start mixing it all together until you end up with an even shaggy mixture.
- You can also bring it together in a bowl if you want an easier clean up!
- Bring it together into a ball and start to knead, this will be messy but it will come together I promise!
- Knead quite vigorously for a few minutes until it comes together and has a dimpled texture. Wrap tightly and leave for 10 mins.
- After 10 mins knead again for 3 - 4 mins until you get a really smooth ball of dough. Wrap again and rest at room temperature for at least 30 mins but preferably an hour or up to three.
Notes
- Want an easier way to bring the dough together? Use a food processor! Put the flour and water into a food processor with the blade attached. Pulse until it is evenly combined then squeeze it into a ball and knead on the bench.
Renata says
The only semolina I found in the store was the coarse kind. Can I use regular flour instead? Or should I process the semolina to make it finer?
Emilie Pullar says
Hi Renata, can you find any online? If you have a way to process it then great! Plain flour won't work for most semolina shapes sorry!
Evan says
Somehow despite being only two ingredients, this is the best pasta dough recipe. Makes amazing homemade pasta and tastes better than many top pasta restaurants. Easy to follow instructions, can’t go wrong!
Emilie Pullar says
Thanks so much Evan!! 🙂
Eman says
Great recipe, so easy. Used King Arthur’s course semolina flour to make the dough for Shisk Barak. For half a pound of ground beef filling, it was perfect! I like to pinch off pitches of the dough ball and then mash them in a tortilla press between a cereal box wax paper for the pasta disc before I fill and fold. Easier than rolling out and cutting. Thank you.
Emilie Pullar says
Thanks so much for making! The tortilla press is genius!! 🙂
Sherry Hofer says
This is really the only egg pasta recipe I use. I have tried some of the Masters, but I like this one the best. Emilie‘s just good at what she does. Everything is well thought out, well tested, and then, as a result, will be well executed when you make it.
Emilie Pullar says
Thank you Sherry that is SO kind of you to say!
Laura Ouellette says
Best pasta
Laura says
Can this dough be used in a pasta press machine to make rigatoni and other tubular pastas?
Emilie Pullar says
Hi Laura I am SO sorry for my slow reply. I have never tested this in an extruder so might not work sorry!
Ines says
Best Pasta ever! Love this recipe!
Lotte Weyns says
Works like a charm every time!
Nadira says
Hi Emilie!
Can I (should I?) add a bit of salt to this dough? If so, how many grams, more or less?
Emilie Pullar says
Hi Nadira, I personally don't add any salt to any of my doughs as seasoning comes in the pasta water and sauce 🙂
Ali says
I did the double rest and went to shape after 30min but it’s super sticky. What have u done wrong?
Emilie Pullar says
Hi Ali, hmmm not sure what must have happened. Did you weigh out the ingredients with a scale? You can sprinkle with some extra flour until it no longer feels sticky. Let me know when you try again!
Anna says
As with all recipes on here: they work! 🙂 thank you for the great content.
This dough recipe is easy to follow and the double resting did wonders.
Emilie Pullar says
H Anna, thanks so much!! 🙂
Irini says
It's the second time I've used this recipe and it is super easy and amazing! It might look like it needs more water in the beginning, but stay true to the recipe, because, as it says, it does come together!
I used the dough to make ravioli. The dough kept its shape and the ravioli tasted great (despite them looking a little sad as it was my first try shaping them-haha). Will be using this dough again in the future!
Catherine says
So easy to follow and make! Pasta came out perfectly. We made several different hand rolled shapes and they were delish!
Emilie Pullar says
Hi Catherine, thanks so much for making. I love hand rolled shapes so much!