Three Flours Tested for Pasta-Making

Knowing what type of flour to use to make pasta is half the battle. There are a tons of different options and dozens of varying opinions to add to the confusion. So to help quell the confusion for the studio, Christina, the Creative Projects Coordinator, recently tested three types of flour to find out which one will work best for making pasta. She rolled out three different types of dough and tried to keep the circumstances the same for each one. The only variations made were based on the how the dough was responding to the flour and egg ratio.

Here are her thoughts:

All-Purpose Flour

2.5 cups flour
3 eggs, 1 white
Oil
Pinch of salt
Rested 1 hour

This flour was crumbly when trying to form dough, and didn’t come together well when kneading. This dough needed oil and an egg white to come together. While it stayed dry after resting, it was pretty easy to roll out.

Ranking: Least favorite to work with.

Flavor: Good but not great.

Semolina Flour

3.5 cups flour
3 eggs
Pinch of salt
Rested 1 hour

Because it is a fine, crumbly flour, I didn't force it to take more flour than the dough would hold. This resulted in having more flour leftover than other types. The well was harder to build since this flour didn't hold it's shape well. It's known for being hard to work with, but it wasn't as difficult as I expected. It was less crumbly than the all-purpose flour and came together well, but it was hard to unroll. It stayed a little too sticky. It bounced back and didn’t spread as wide while going through the machine.

Ranking: Favorite to work with. 

Flavor: It had the best flavor.

00 Flour

3 cups flour
3 eggs
Pinch of salt
Rested 1 hour

This flour is super fine and easy to pack together. The dough was dry, but not as dry as the all-purpose flour. It was crumbly, but also not as crumbly as the all-purpose flour. It didn’t come together easily when kneading, but it also did not need an extra egg white or oil. It was super glutenous and bounced back while rolling. It also rolled out thin and long, but that was probably my fault.

Ranking: Second favorite to work with.

Flavor: Second best flavor.

Recommendation

Use a flour blend of semolina flour and 00 flour. You'll get a good texture, good taste and workable dough that won't be too crumbly or too sticky.

Photos by Christina Becker and Amanda Kerzman.