A dough is first made of by mixing semolina and water to give a moisture content of about 30% in the dough.
Wheat semolina is the most common raw material with granulation ranging from 200 to 300 um and containing 0.8-0.9% of ash in dry mass, 12-13% of protein and no less than 30% of wet gluten of good quality.
It is to ensure the viscosity of the dough is low enough to avoid the use of excessive pressure within extruder.
The dough is kneaded brought to a temperature of about 49 °C. Kneading is critical as it works the flours gluten content, resulting in a firm yet tender dough.
It is important if rolling and cutting by hand, as the more elastic the dough, the easier it will be to roll.
At the end of the kneading process, the dough is sent to the dough sheeter, and is then extruded through a hydraulic press to form a thin sheet which can then be cut into strips and the strips carefully dried.
Temperature not above 49 °C to prevent cooking the product and avoid denaturing the protein.
Traditional process of kneading or sheeting of pasta
