Semolina drying pasta

Semolina Pasta: Our Way (Part 2)

Semolina sounds like a really fancy term only a professional chef would know, but it’s actually a pretty common ingredient you can find in your favorite foods.

If you're unfamiliar with Semolina pasta, don’t worry! We the experts at Dagostino’s can loop you in.


Why is Semolina flour used for Pasta?

The biggest reason Semolina flour is popular for pasta making is because of the high gluten and content. High amount of gluten helps the pasta dough stretch without breaking and helps pasta retain its shape while boiling.

Semolina is made from Durum wheat, which grows very well in Italy’s sub-tropical climate. The production of Semolina pasta began in Sicily where Durum wheat would grow and the warm climate dried pasta. Using Semolina prevents pasta from falling apart, separating or from becoming too soft. Semolina is the ingredient that gives pasta its beautiful gold color.

Dried semolina pasta


Why does Dagostino’s use Semolina pasta?

Semolina flour is what makes our pasta special, it makes our pasta taste fresh, tender and delicious. Our pasta is hand crafted using only water and Semolina. We never use eggs in our pasta. In fact, pasta that contains large eggs is actually referred to as noodles.

Dagostino’s never uses preservatives or additives in our pasta, making it fresher and tastier than mass-produced pasta. Semolina provides the best texture for pasta dishes, we use it to create the “made at home” fresh pasta taste.


How do you make semolina pasta?

Dagostino’s has a very special process of making semolina pasta. We start with adding our Semolina to the pasta machine, then it’s carried up to the agler. From there, we start the pasta maker and choose the mixing speed and width setting.

The width setting ranges from very narrow for our birdseye pasta to Lasagna, the widest setting. We then connect our water pump, which carries artisanal spring water to our semolina. We then add more Semolina or more water to achieve the desired thickness and texture depending on which pasta we’re making. When our mixture is perfect, we extrude it through bronze die and place it in our wooden cellars. The pasta is put to rest at room temperature in the wooden cellars for 72 hours, when it’s fully dry.

 

Buon Appeitio! We hope we’ve answered your questions about Semolina Pasta. Now it’s time to sit down and enjoy a bowl.