I've made it with both. But I normally use regular flour. I do find that there is more of a "bite" to pasta made with semolina.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Homemade Pasta Pictorial
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I watched a friends Italian Momma make her pasta one day. (She did it all by hand) I make it following her directions but I use the Food Processor to mix and knead.

1 egg for each cup of flour( plus an extra egg for every 3 cups of flour, ie. 3 cups flour = 4 eggs, 6 cups flour = 8 eggs.
Salt
1 tablespoon of olive oil, per three cups of flour.

Put the flour on a large board and make a well in the centre. Crack the eggs into the well and sprinkle with salt and oil . Use your fingertips to mix up the eggs and then start to incorporate the flour into the eggs. Eventually it will all come together. (add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water if necessary) Knead dough until smooth and elastical. Let sit covered for 15 or 20 minutes. Divide dough into smaller portions and run through a pasta rolling machine or roll out by hand. Let dry slightly and then cut into desire widths. Leave out to dry or use fresh. When dried she always stored it in a wax paper lined box, in a cool place.

You can also mix and knead this in the cuisinart, which is what I do when I make it.

My friends mom would make 12 and 15 egg pasta at a time and give it to all of her family members (and me, a would-be family member). After she cut the pasta she would lay the strands flat. She would have it spread
Out everywhere there was a flat surface and also hang it from a broomstick strung between two drawers. Once it was dry she would gather up the stiff pieces and put them in boxes. Because I don't make that
Much at a time, I just lay it all over my table and counter.

NOTE: Depending on the flour and the eggs, sometimes you will need more eggs

Thanks. Will eat lunch and then make my pasta. I am using mine for canneloni so I guess I should assemble right away so my sheets will still roll up.

Cookie, our favorite Italian restaurant, that has since closed, had home-made canneloni on their menu. To make it, they cut a piece of thin sheet pasta to about 6" square and then put a line of the cheese mixture, just off center. Then they folded the upper pasta over the cheese, but the top layer ended up shorter than the lower one. On the plate, they put down a layer of marinara then a layer of white sauce, then the canneloni. Absolutely delicious and much easier than doing tubes. Elegant, too! That's the way I do it too.

I remember making canneloni about 13 years ago and it was a major pain. I was very young (so no doubt very impatient) and it was probably one of my first "adult" meals I ever made but, forget it, I wasn't going to stuff the premade ones again.
I actually made it for my husband when we were dating - wonder if he'll make the connection.

I generally use one part semolina to two parts regular flour. If made with only regular flour, it is too soft for me. Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup semolina flour
1 cup unbleached white flour, plus more for kneading
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Make the dough by combining all ingredients in a large food processor. Process until the dough forms a ball and rolls around without sticking to the sides. You may have to add small increments of flour to get to this point. If you have too much flour, you can add a few drops of water, but you will not want the dough too dry at this point.

Remove the dough from the processor and knead with more flour until the dough is elastic and not sticky. Knead the dough by folding it over in half after it has been very lightly dusted with flour. Then flatten the dough and repeat folding over and flattening until it is the correct consistency. It is better to be slightly too wet than too dry, as flour can be added when you are putting it through the pasta machine.

Allow the dough to rest for one hour, covered. This time is required for the moisture to be absorbed fully into the flour.

Next, cut the dough into pieces making approximately 2" diameter balls and roll one piece out with a rolling pin so that it will be in a flat shape for the machine. Keep the rest of the dough covered until you are ready for it. When the dough piece is flat enough, put it through the machine at the first setting (#1) and then fold it into thirds and roll it through again at the same setting. This makes the dough into a more rectangular shape and gives it straight sides. Folding it over also allows you to get a tiny bit more flour into the dough. As you continue rolling the dough, sprinkle it with flour (I use a flour shaker.) to prevent it from sticking to the rollers. Excess flour can be dusted off but does not really hurt, since you will not be folding the dough again.

When you have rolled out the dough, place the strips on a broom handle (or similar object) to dry for about an hour. Now it is ready to be cut into shapes. If you are making ravioli, there is no need to hang the strips to dry.

I have tried making it with a bit of olive oil added to the dough, but the dough falls apart for me when I do that.

Lars

I like to add some semolina to my pasta dough. Like Lars maybe 1/3 semolina to two parts regular flour. Especially when I'm making something like lasagna noodles or cannelloni that requires a pasta that can stand up to the filling and hold it's shape.

For a linguine I'll some times use all regular flour if I'm serving a very light sauce.

I think I should research a bit next time. I made my pasta - Ann's recipe and then to keep them from drying out I put layers of wax paper between each sheet. It stuck to the paper. It was also weird when I went to roll out the dough that most pieces rolled out smoothly but I got two sections where it was an oatmeal mess. Weird how only parts of it didn't turn out. Anyways, the canneloni is made and is ready to be baked. After all this work, I think I will clear a spot somewhere alone in the house and eat mine there because the complaints will be flying when everyone sees the spinach in there. I just don't want to hear it.
BTW, I was feeling so ambitious yesterday with my new pasta maker, today - not so much.

Semolina is a coarse flour milled from the endosperm of durum wheat (the bran and germ are removed). Durum has the highest amount of protein of all the wheat varieties, and is especially suited for pasta because of it's dominant protein - gliadin. The dominant protein in hard red and white wheat varieties is glutein - which is best used for yeast breads. If the pasta/noodle product is "whole wheat" then the whole durum grain is milled.

Yes, so-called "regular" flour will make pasta and noodles, and for the most part, it's been all most of us have had available to us for making pasta. But it's better made with semolina or flour milled from durum wheat for it's strength, protein and texture.

For pasta use the more coarse semolina, and flour milled from durum wheat for noodles. Check a box/bag of dried pasta and see what the ingredients are? Usually it's semolina or durum wheat - and semolina is nearly always milled from durum.

I mill durum wheat into a coarse flour like semolina (using the whole grain) for pasta making, and mill durum into a finer flour for noodles. Recipes that include eggs or egg yolks make a superior product that absorbs sauces more readily than egg-free pasta.

-Grainlady

Cookie, I hope you enjoyed your cannelloni. I'm sure it was delicious.

Ann