Guide to Italian Flours — Nina's Pasta Project (2024)

FAQs

What is the best flour for pasta in Italy? ›

In Italy, the recommended homemade pasta recipe includes two different types of flours in equal parts: one part is the popular “00” soft-wheat flour, and the other part is finely ground semolina flour.

Pasta is prepared using dough made from any suitable material such as semolina, durum flour, farina flour, corn, rice, wheat, or any combination of these, with water. Also, pasta can be enriched, supplemented, fortified, or remain conventional.

Type 2 flour: also known as "semi-wholemeal" flour, it is a flour characterized by large granules and a greater quantity of fibrous components and seed germ compared to the previous ones. It is a flour that has excellent nutritional characteristics and is easier to process than whole wheat flour.

T65 : This is also a white flour used to make farmhouse bread, special breads (traditional) and pizza dough. T80 : This is a semi-complete flour frequently used in organic bakeries and is used to make special and semi-complete breads.

Tipo 00 or double zero: best flour for egg pasta

The fine grind allows it to absorb liquid and fully hydrate more which results in a more tender and pliable pasta dough. Normally tipo 00 flour is combined with eggs in a 2:1 ratio (200 grams flour for 100 grams egg - which is approximately 2 whole eggs).

All-purpose flour does what it says on the tin, so it's perfectly fine to use for making pasta. However, most pasta recipes will recommend either semola or “00” flour.

Type 00 flour is the quintessential Italian flour synonymous with quality. It's extra refined, very soft, and stark white in color because it contains none of the wheat bran. Despite its popularity, type 00 flour isn't fit for all baking.

There are two basic types of flour used to make almost all pasta doughs: type '00' flour and semolina flour. Type 00 flour is a finely ground soft wheat flour while semolina is a finely ground durum wheat flour.

The various types are: 00 (doppio zero, the finest grade), 0, 1, 2 (the coarsest grade, more akin to a meal). The coarsest grain is effectively integrale, that is, wholegrain. Although 0 and 00 are commonly used for bread-baking, both are loosely interchangeable with British plain flour or US all-purpose flour.

Type “0” common wheat flour made by cynlinder milling 100% Italian wheat, grown with organic farming systems. Ideal for all types of doughs for bread, pizza, pastry and fresh pasta. It gives products a delicate wheat flavor and aroma.

What is the grading system for Italian flour? ›

Italian flour is graded on a scale from 00 (the finest) through to 2 (a coarser flour), with integrale being the coarsest flour. Both grano duro (hard wheat) and grano tenero (soft wheat) are used to produce flours of different grades.

No matter how the flour gets processed, the Italian kind is already softer, slightly sweeter, and lower in protein (i.e. gluten), while American wheat is already harder, slightly more bitter, and high in protein (i.e. gluten).

T45 flour is equivalent to Type 00 Italian flour, Euro 450 flour type and American Cake flour.

T65 flour is equivalent to type 0 italian flour, euro 550 flour type, and american all-purpose flour. Our T65 flour is non-fortified, unbleached and unbromated. Our farine de ble T65 bread flour is used by chefs & bakers across the globe.

T65 flour is equivalent to Type 1 Italian flour, Euro 650 flour type, and high gluten bread flour.

Usually, Italian wheat flour is split into two large groups: Grano Tenero (soft wheat flour) and Grano Duro (hard wheat or semolina flour). All Italian wheat flour fits into these categories one way or another, but this classification doesn't apply to other grains.

No matter how the flour gets processed, the Italian kind is already softer, slightly sweeter, and lower in protein (i.e. gluten), while American wheat is already harder, slightly more bitter, and high in protein (i.e. gluten).

Another difference is that 00 flour is made from durum wheat, while all-purpose flour is not. This means that all-purpose flour creates stretchier gluten strands and will tend towards producing a chewy pizza base, rather than a crispy one.