For our first three Pasta School lessons, we've been working with fresh egg pasta dough. We started with the basics, turned that dough into silky fettuccine and then hand-cut beautiful, rustic pappardelle.
Now we're leaving the eggs behind.
If fresh egg pasta is one great Italian pasta tradition, semolina and water pasta is the other. And if you've ever made pasta with me, you know how much I love this dough.
Throughout southern Italy, particularly in regions like Puglia, Calabria, Basilicata and Sicily, generations of home cooks have made pasta from little more than durum wheat and water. No eggs. No fancy equipment. Just good flour, water and hardworking hands. There is something beautifully simple about it.
Why no eggs?
Like so much of Italian cooking, pasta developed around what people had available to them.
In northern and central Italy, eggs became an important part of fresh pasta making. But as you travel south, durum wheat has long been king. The warm, dry climate was particularly well suited to growing this hard wheat, and when its flour was mixed with water, it created a sturdy dough that could be shaped by hand and dried for later use.
This wasn't fancy food. It was practical food: cucina povera at its very best.
And from two incredibly simple ingredients came some of Italy's most recognizable pastas.
Explore more lessons from Lowcountry Bella’s Pasta School.
What is semolina?
This is where pasta terminology can get a little confusing.
Semolina comes from durum wheat, a hard wheat with a naturally golden color and a higher protein content than many common wheat flours.
For handmade pasta, I prefer semola rimacinata, or finely milled durum wheat flour. Rimacinata essentially means that the semolina has been milled again, giving it a finer texture.
Traditional coarse semolina can feel almost sandy between your fingers. Semola rimacinata is much finer and easier to knead into a smooth, supple pasta dough.
If you're standing in the Italian market wondering which bag to grab, look for the words semola rimacinata di grano duro.
What can you make with eggless pasta dough?
One simple dough can become dozens of wonderful shapes.
Hand-shaped pasta: orecchiette, cavatelli, strascinati
Rolled pasta: pici and other rustic hand-rolled shapes
Tool-shaped pasta: maccheroni al ferretto and other pastas formed around a rod or ferro
That's one of the things I love most about this dough. Your hands, and sometimes a simple knife, wooden board or little metal rod, do most of the work.
And just like our egg dough, don't worry about making every piece identical. Handmade pasta should look handmade.
Simple semolina and water pasta dough
(Makes 4 servings)
You will need:
2 cups semola rimacinata (finely milled durum wheat flour)
¾ cup warm water, approximately
Pour the semola rimacinata onto a clean work surface and create a wide well in the center. You can also do this in a large bowl if you're new to pasta making.
Slowly pour most of the warm water into the center of the well.
Using a fork or your fingertips, begin incorporating the flour from the inside edges of the well into the water.
Continue mixing until a shaggy dough begins to form.
Use your hands to bring the dough together. Add the remaining water a little at a time only if you need it. Depending on your flour, the temperature and even the humidity in your kitchen, you may not need every drop, or you may need a splash more.
Begin kneading the dough with the heel of your hand.
Knead for approximately 8 to 10 minutes, until the dough becomes smooth, firm and elastic.
At first, this dough may feel much firmer than the egg dough we made in Lesson 1. Keep kneading. Give the flour time to absorb the water before deciding the dough is too dry.
Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap or cover it and allow it to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
Once rested, the dough should feel noticeably softer and easier to shape.
How should the dough feel?
This may be the most important lesson of all.
A pasta recipe can give you measurements, but eventually your hands have to tell you when the dough is ready.
Your finished dough should feel smooth, firm, supple and slightly springy.
It shouldn't stick to your hands or crumble apart when you work with it.
And don't panic if it doesn't look perfect during the first few minutes of kneading. Pasta dough changes as you work it.
The more pasta you make, the more you'll recognize that moment when the dough suddenly feels right.
That's something a recipe can't completely teach you. It comes from practice.
Bella's Pasta School Tip
Don't add all of your water at once.
You can always add another teaspoon or two of water to a dry dough, but fixing a dough that has become too wet is much harder.
And remember: before adding more water, knead first.
What looks dry and shaggy at the beginning can become beautifully smooth after several minutes of kneading.
Pasta teaches patience.
Two ingredients. A pair of hands. And centuries of Italian tradition.
That's all we need.
In our next Pasta School lesson, we'll take this simple southern Italian dough and begin shaping it by hand; proof that you don't need a pasta machine to make something truly beautiful.
Until next time —keep your hands in the dough and your heart in Italy.
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