This Is The Best Type Of Flour To Use When Making Pasta

Making at-home pasta has never been more popular. With a full year of quarantine under our belts and the explosion of social media cooking content — up to 70% of people now find recipes online rather than in cookbooks, according to the Independent – making delish dishes like pasta from scratch is no longer scoffed at like it may have been in the past. Plus, with experienced chefs and influencers churning out quick and delicious recipes left and right, finding inspiration and guidance has never been easier, too.

But while viral cooking videos are great for figuring out how to cook a recipe, the hosts don't always give away all their secrets. One of the most important being — how do you know which ingredients to use exactly? This is especially true when it comes to the type of flour you should use for homemade pasta. There are so many options to choose from, but one in particular is recommended again and again.

It turns out the preferred flour for handmade pasta time and time again is 00 flour. According to Serious Eats, 00 flour is a bit different from standard all-purpose flour in that it's more finely milled (with a texture similar to baby powder) that produces an ultra-fine, super-workable ingredient. And that's an important distinction. Because 00 flour is so fine, it produces the smoothest possible dough (also via Serious Eats) for silky, presentable noodles with no rough, grainy edges. Don't fret though, all-purpose flour works well too and is great for convenience since you can find it virtually anywhere. With 00 flour you'll likely have to go to a specialty grocer or order online.

Aside from top chefs in America choosing 00 flour for their pastas, it's also the most commonly used flour in Italian kitchens for true, authentic dishes (via Pasta Evangelists). So if you're modeling your pasta-making after anyone, they're the experts to follow. Pasta Evangelists further explains that 00 flour is great for ravioli and softer pastas like tagliatelle that need to be molded into shape. If you have some left over, you can also use it for crumbly pastries and cakes for great results. For another tip, Gimme Some Oven also recommends combining some semolina flour with 00 flour if you want a bit heartier texture for sauces to stick to the noodles.