HOW TO MAKE DURUM WHEAT DOUGH
Now let’s take a look at durum wheat flour and water-based dough. This dough doesn’t include eggs (usually) as durum wheat already has enough bite. The resulting dough won’t be as stretchy as an egg-based dough made from 00 flour. This type of dough is used for all the pasta shapes you find in southern Italy such as cavatelli and maccheroni and orecchiette. When you make a sfoglia, it’s always slightly thicker and the pasta ribbons you can make from it include sagne ritorte and taccune.
Step 1: Weigh out your ingredients
Allow 45–50 g (1½–1¾ oz) tepid water for every 100 g (3½ oz) semola rimacinata (semolina flour). Incidentally, the volume of the water is the same as the weight: 45–50 ml (1½–1¾ fl oz), but scales are more accurate than measuring jugs.
Add 4 g (1 teaspoon) salt to a litre (34 fl oz/4 cups) warm water. Salt is not there for flavour; it helps to make the gluten strands slide along one another better.
Step 2: Mix them together
Either use a bowl or heap the flour onto your board. Using your fingers, make a well and pour in the amount of water you need. Mix the flour into the water, making sure you mop up all the excess flour.
Step 3: Knead the dough
Knead the dough, as described for the egg pasta, for 5 minutes. You want a dough that is silky and not sticky to the touch. It won’t have the soft pillowy feel of egg-based pasta dough, but it will feel nice and plastic – and you can use it immediately, there’s no need to leave it to rest. If you knead the dough for longer, it will develop some elasticity and then you will have to let it rest for 20 minutes or so.
Step 4: Shape the dough
Roll the dough if necessary (lots of southern Italian pasta shapes don’t require the dough to be rolled out). Keep the dough covered while you are making the pasta shapes to stop it drying out.