This homemade semolina and 00 flour pasta recipe blends two Italian flours into one easy egg pasta dough. Soft wheat 00 flour keeps it silky and tender, while twice-milled semolina rimacinata (hard durum wheat) adds the chew and texture that holds onto sauce. Just three ingredients and stellar results in under an hour.
If you've ever wanted to try making your own pasta, this is one of my favorites on the site. But if you only happen to have Italian 00 flour and no twice-milled semolina flour, then check out my 00-Flour egg pasta recipe here, which uses only 00 flour and eggs.
This easy homemade pasta is perfect for lasagna, ravioli, tortellini Bolognese, tagliatelle, even fettuccine, or cut a little wider to make chewy ribbons of pappardelle to twirl in your favorite pasta sauce.
Luca's Zia and cousins in Abruzzo make almost all of their egg pasta (including their specialty, spaghetti alla chitarra), exclusively with finely ground twice-milled semolina. This type of pasta is typical of the region and countless others in Italy. And it's delicious! While his mamma uses only 00 flour for making her ravioli because it's tender, silky, and easier to roll.
I wanted a Goldilocks version between the two, and this recipe is it!
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The Best Flour Blend for Egg Pasta
A 50/50 mix is still plenty tender but with more bite and gripping ability than an all-00 dough. You can shift the ratio of semolina anywhere from as low as 25% up to 75% semolina, depending on what pasta you're making and how much chew you want. I've done it, and it makes great pasta.
Semola rimacinata (pronounced: ree-match-ee-nahtta) is the finely ground, twice-milled hard durum flour, so the more you use, the more water the dough wants. It's forgiving, too, so it's the dough to make when you're low on one flour or another but still want fresh pasta. For a full breakdown of each flour on its own, see my 00 flour egg pasta guide.
NOTE: Below, the dough on the left has just been kneaded until nice and smooth, but it hasn't yet rested. It looks a little drier than the dough pictured on the right which has been rested. The rested dough is both a deeper yellow color and has a slight sheen and richness to it that the unrested dough doesn't have.
Ingredients
- 00 Italian flour (choose a brand with between 11-11.5% protein)
- Twice Milled Semolina Flour (aka Semola Rimacinata di Gran Duro Italian flour)
- Eggs (preferably pasture-raised organic eggs). In Italy, we specifically use "pasta gialla" eggs, prized for their deep orange, carotene-rich yolks. More on choosing eggs in my 00 flour egg pasta guide.
- Water (only as needed)
NOTE: Depending on the absorption potential of the flour and also how large your eggs are, you may need to add more or less water to the dough if it's too dry. Or if your pasta is too wet, you may need to add a little extra sprinkle of flour.
RATIO OF FLOUR TO EGGS NEEDED FOR PASTA MAKING: On the backs of Italian flour bags, the ratio of flour to eggs is typically 1 large egg (weighing between 45g and 55g) to every 100g of flour. This is to be used as a starting point and guideline. The more you make homemade pasta dough, the easier it is to know if/when you need a splash of water or a little more flour.
Instructions
The method is the same as for any fresh egg pasta: make a well, work in the eggs, knead, rest, then roll and cut. The one difference with this blend is hydration. Because twice-milled semolina is thirsty, add water a little at a time if the dough feels dry, especially as you go heavier on the semolina.
Step 1. Mix the two flours and eggs. Combine the 00 and semolina in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine; make a well in the center. Add cracked eggs into the well and beat them with a fork, slowly pulling flour in from the inner wall until a shaggy dough forms. If it won't form a dough ball that holds together, add water 1 teaspoon (5g) at a time until it holds its shape. (A stand mixer with the dough hook or a food processor works too.)
Step 2. Knead until smooth. Work the dough until it's smooth, firm, and elastic, about 15 minutes by hand. The semolina makes this blend feel firmer and a bit more resistant than an all-00 dough, so give it the full kneading time. If it cracks or stays dry, wet your hands or add water one teaspoon at a time. If it sticks, dust with a little more flour.
Step 3. Rest. Wrap tightly or cover with an inverted bowl and let it relax at room temperature, at least 20 minutes. This gives the semolina time to fully hydrate and the gluten time to settle, so the dough rolls out without snapping back. It's ready when you can poke a hole in it, and it stays indented (or mostly indented).
Step 4. Roll into sheets. Divide into 4 pieces and keep the rest covered. Flatten one piece, dust it with a little flour, run it through the widest setting, fold it like a letter, and pass it through again. Step the rollers down one setting at a time until the sheet reaches your desired thinness (around setting #6 on Atlas Marcato pasta machines) for ribbons and lasagna, thinner for filled shapes.
Step 5. Cut and shape. Run the sheets through your cutter or slice by hand, then dust with semolina and coil into nests or hang to dry. Cook right away, or freeze in floured nests for up to a month.
STORAGE NOTE: Freezing nests of fresh pasta is how everyone I know here in Italy stores it, including Luca's mamma and zia. For drying, refrigerating, and the full food-safety rundown, see the in-depth storage section in my 00 flour egg pasta guide.
Full detailed instructions in the recipe card below.
How to Cook Homemade Fresh Pasta
Homemade noodles need plenty of water to boil in and usually take just a few minutes to cook to "al dente" doneness, so be sure to check them after about 1 ½ minutes to see how much longer they'll need.
They are easy to overcook, so keep that in mind (I usually never cook homemade Italian egg pasta for more than 5 minutes total). Also, don't salt pasta water to "taste like the sea" -- if you do, you're all but guaranteed overly salty pasta.
Semolina and 00 Flour Pasta FAQ
Each flour brings something different. Soft wheat 00 keeps the dough silky and tender, while twice-milled semolina rimacinata adds chew, structure, and a slightly rougher surface that grips sauce. Blending the two gives you a dough tender enough to roll but sturdy enough to hold its shape and bite.
Anywhere from 25% to 75% semolina works because I've tested it. A 50/50 split is the easiest place to start and works for almost any shape. Lean toward more 00 for a softer dough that rolls more easily and is a bit silkier for ravioli and tagliatelle, or go heavier on semolina for firmer, chewier strands that grip sauce.
It can depend especially on the size of your eggs. Semolina absorbs water more slowly than 00 flour, so the heavier you go on semolina, the more water the dough will likely need. Add it a little at a time, and if a semolina-heavy dough feels sticky, wait about 10 minutes before adding more flour to let it finish hydrating. If it feels tacky, but isn't sticking to your fingers it's time to start kneading it.
Technically, yes, but I don't recommend it. Semola rimacinata is twice-milled and therefore has a really fine texture that lends itself to a strong, but smoother dough. You can also swap in more 00 flour if that is all you have.
Because it needs more time to relax and let the gluten relax. Twice-milled semolina flour (farina di semola rimacinata) is a hard wheat and also typically has more protein than 00 soft wheat flour. So this blend can feel springier than a 00-only flour dough. Resting it for 20 to 30 minutes relaxes the gluten enough to roll out cleanly. For the full why behind resting, see my 00 flour egg pasta guide.
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Print📖 Recipe
Homemade 00 Flour & Semolina Pasta Dough (Semola Rimacinata)
- Total Time: 54 minutes
- Yield: approximately 1 pound 6 ounces pasta (615g)
- Diet: Dairy-Free, Kosher, Low Fat, Vegan, Vegetarian
Description
This homemade semolina and 00 flour egg pasta recipe is simple to make and uses just 3 ingredients -- a combination of soft wheat Italian 00 flour, semolina rimacinata (twice-milled hard wheat flour), and eggs. Stellar results in under 1 hour!
Ingredients
- 200g 00 Italian flour
- 200g Semola Rimacinata di Gran Duro Italian flour
- 4 large eggs (pasta gialla eggs or other richly-colored egg preferred) (150g)
- a splash or 2 of water (this 50/50 blend usually takes a little more hydration than an all-00 dough)
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Make the dough. Add both flours to a countertop or large bread bowl and make a "well" in the middle. Add the cracked eggs to the center and begin agitating the eggs to combine them with the flour being sure to keep them in the center of the "well". Work in a circular motion incorporating more flour into the center until the mixture is combined and forms a shaggy, stiff dough. *Alternatively, you may place all of the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and knead them on medium speed for 5 minutes using the dough hook or into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade and pulse until the mixture is combined.
- Knead the dough. Form the dough into a ball and remove it to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough by turning it clockwise a quarter turn and repeating until the dough becomes soft and pliable, or about 15 minutes. It should be much smoother and somewhat elastic at this point. *Alternatively, you may knead the dough using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment for 10 to 12 minutes on medium-low speed (speed #2 on a KitchenAid).
- Rest the dough. Cover the dough with sustainable plastic wrap, or simply cover it with a small bowl turned upside down and allow the dough to rest for at least 20 minutes and up to 2 hours. This step is essential for the dough (specifically the gluten network formed during the kneading process) to have time to relax making it easier to roll out and help create that springy "bite" we love about good pasta.
- Roll out the dough. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces and work with one piece at a time covering the other piece so they don't dry out. Press down to form a disc just thin enough to be fed through the pasta machine's widest setting (0 or 1 depending on your pasta machine). Feed the dough through the rollers while turning the crank. Lightly dust both sides of the pasta sheet with flour and fold it like a letter (bringing in the two ends to the middle) to form a more even rectangle. Feed the pasta sheet back through the rollers on (0 or 1) until it is long and rectangular in shape. Cut the pasta sheet in half and dust each piece lightly with flour. Set the adjustment knob to 1 and pass the pasta sheet through one time. Set the adjustment knob to 2 and pass the pasta sheet through one time. Set the adjustment knob to 3, pass the pasta sheet through one time, and continue on adjusting the knob setting and passing the dough through until you've reached the desired thickness (the recommended thickness setting is typically number 6 for fettuccine, tagliatelle, ravioli, lasagna, etc., but it's is up to you.
- Cut the desired pasta shapes. Attach the pasta shape cutter attachment and run the sheets of pasta through them, sprinkle them with semolina (or other flour) and shape them into a bird's nest, or hang them on a pasta drying rack. Alternatively, you may roll up the rectangular sheets of pasta and cut them into the desired thickness for fettuccine or pappardelle, etc. If making lasagna, leave the sheets just as they are or trim them to the desired length. If using immediately, allow the noodles to dry for at least 10 minutes before boiling (or layering uncooked into lasagna). You may store the pasta in an airtight freezer-safe container, but try to use them up within a month or so for best results. You may also allow the pasta to dry at room temperature loosely covered with a tea towel and then store in a jar at room temperature, but make sure they are completely dried out before using this method. If making filled pasta like ravioli, etc. follow the instructions according to the recipe you're using and Enjoy!
Notes
Bring eggs to room temperature before starting. Cold eggs make the dough harder to bring together.
For filled pasta (ravioli, tortelli, tortellini), leave salt out of the dough. For cut shapes (fettuccine, tagliatelle, pappardelle), a pinch of salt is fine (but I've never seen an Italian here ever add it). If you add it, stir it into the eggs first so it dissolves before it gets mixed into the flour.
Because this is a half-and-half blend with more semolina than an all-00 dough, it may need a little extra water to make it cohesive. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons at a time until the dough comes together.
Never wash your pasta machine with water. Flour and water turn to glue and clog the rollers. Brush it clean and wipe with a dry cloth.
For freezing, drying, and cooking fresh egg pasta, see my full 00 flour egg pasta guide.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Rest Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Mix & Stir
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 ounce serving
- Calories: 297
- Sugar: 0.3g
- Sodium: 39mg
- Fat: 3.5g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 54g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 12g
- Cholesterol: 113mg
Kelly Leding says
The Goldilocks of homemade pasta!