Type 00 flour: for perfect bread and pasta

Nothing beats home-made. Serving your own bread or pasta will always elicit heartier gasps at the table than something you’ve bought.

And yet, for all the love and care you’ve put into your own Italian masterpieces, often the texture and consistency of your bread and pasta isn’t quite what your local Italian bakery or pasta restaurant manages to create.

The secret? Italian type 00 flour.

If you’ve seen an authentic Italian recipe for pasta, bread, pizza or dough of any variety, it’s likely you’ve been directed towards Type 00 flour (or ‘dopio zero flour’ or ‘tipo 00’ flour).

But what is the difference?

Type 00 flour has a finer grain than commercial plain flowers, resulting in airy, light bread and soft, delicate pasta.

Molini Pizzuti, available in The Essential Ingredient stores and online, is one of Italy’s most beloved flour manufacturers. Milling since the 1950s, the company combines tradition and innovation to create the most reliable and versatile flour, used by bakers and chefs across Italy and Europe.

Molini Pizzuti flours are natural, contain no additives, and will give your bread, pizza, focaccia and pasta all the authenticity of the Italian countryside.

Try using Type “00” flour wherever plain flour is indicated in a recipe, for incredible results. Cakes, scones, pastries, biscuits; the fine grain of tipo 00 will create delicate new mouthfuls.

Or, try this Molini Pizzuti fresh pasta recipe:

Molini Pizzuti fresh pasta recipe

• 500gr Molini Pizzuti “00” flour
• 5 medium-sized eggs, or 10 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 10 grams salt

Mix the eggs, salt and oil in a bowl.

Gradually add the flour to the liquid, combining slowly until soft dough is formed. Do not overmix, as this activates the gluten in the flour and creates a tougher dough.

Using a pasta machine or rolling pin, roll pasta out as thin as possible. Generally, pasta should not be thicker than 2mm.

Cut pasta as desired. Fill with ricotta and spinach or any other of your favourite ingredient combinations for a spectacular ravioli.