Semolina

olwen, Jan 14, 7:48pm
If a pasta recipe calls for semolina is that the grainy stuff I have or some sort of finer flour made from the same grain.Example: http://www.allaboutspaghetti.com/pastadough.html
lilyfield, Jan 14, 7:59pm
you won't be able to buy this flour in NZ. Just use high grade
olwen, Jan 14, 8:08pm
That was what I suspected
harrislucinda, Jan 14, 8:09pm
you canbuysemolinainnzjusthaveitwasfineasjustuseditinthatgreekjamieolivermade
olwen, Jan 14, 8:14pm
I have semolina, but it doesn't look right for pasta (as confirmed by lilyfield).That was my question.
cgvl, Jan 14, 9:14pm
if you have some dessert semolina and a kitchen whiz thingie then you can make semolina flour.
Weigh out the amount you need the process it until fine like flour.
lilyfield, Jan 15, 7:01am
no way can you grind semolina down to a consistency like durum flour. You need a grain mill for that. It would be a very expensive exercise to make pasta with it. If used when not sufficiently finely milled(like flour) your pasta will fall apart. Like I said before- just use ordinary strong flour.
ant_sonja, Jan 15, 7:24am
I have bought the fine semolina at New World in the past and use it in my Pizza dough at times and have successfully used it in pasta making. New World also used to stock another variety that wasn't as fine but I haven't seen that around for a while and I don't recall the brand names right now. (It was great for making dumplings :-)) Have a look online at bel mondo .co.nz - they are a local food importer/deli type shop here in Tauranga and also sell goods via their online store. They may have what you are after if you send an enquiry through to them.
davidt4, Jan 15, 7:26am
If you have an Indian food market handy look there for fine semolina flour - my local has several different grades.
harrislucinda, Jan 15, 10:03am
thefinethatigotwassun valleyfoods
buzzy110, Feb 2, 8:10am
Durum wheat is what is traditionally used to make pasta semolina. It is much harder than other wheats.

Now, a purist wouldn't dream of using anything else (me for instance). However, there are lots and lots of pastas on the market that are not made with durum wheat or semolina from durum wheat.

Also, most people couldn't care less what their pasta was made from, so long as it performed how they wanted. That is the important part - the pasta does, more or less, what is expected of it. So find a good strong flour if you cannot find durum wheat semolina or flour and create to your heart's content because in the end you won't really be able to tell the difference, unless you were raised to know the difference or learned later on how to tell the difference.