Semolina - what is it? Where to use, what to replace, recipes

In the recipes of certain dishes, traditional wheat flour is sometimes partially or completely replaced by semolina. Few know what it is. Therefore, it is difficult to guess what can replace this ingredient in dishes with an unusual name. To understand this article with semolina and its analogues.

Semolina - what is it: flour or cereal?

The word "Semolina" came to us from Italy. In this region of pasta and pizza semolino means "semolina". And indeed, according to the grind of semolina, it reminds everyone of the famous manga. It is produced exclusively from durum wheat. The protein content in such a crop is at least 12%.

Very often, mainly because of the area of its application, semolina is considered a flour. From it, prepare a traditional Italian pasta, often mixing with wheat flour. By the way, there is also corn and rice semolina. What is it, know a few. In fact, it is semolina, obtained after the milling of rice and corn. It is often used in baby food for first-time feeding of babies.

Italian semolina: what to replace?

Often in the recipes of Italian cuisine, there is an ingredient such as semolina. Few people know how to replace it. In Russia, too, is produced semolina. What it is? This is a well-known semolina of hard wheat, which is marked with the letter "T". The usual manga used to make traditional milk porridge is indicated by the letter "M" on the package. And this is not Semolina, because it is not made only from hard varieties.

On sale there is also a manga with the marking "TM". This is a mixture of semolina from hard and soft varieties of wheat. Therefore, if the recipes have an ingredient such as semolina flour, then do not be afraid. It can be replaced with semolina, but only solid grind, the taste of the dish from this will not change much.

Where is semolina used?

In Italy, semolina is made from pasta, Italian flat cakes or ciabattu bread, gnocchi dumplings, added to the dough when preparing pizza, desserts and pastries. It has a low glycemic index, which means that even diabetics can afford it.

Used for cooking milk porridge, puddings and casseroles such flour. Semolina can replace bread crumbs when preparing meat and fish dishes, it sprinkles a baking dish.

Bread of ciabatta with semolina

Ciabatta is rustic bread originally from Italy. Translated from the Italian language, the word ciabatta translates as "slippers". This is due to the fact that on the baking sheet, as a rule, bake at once two cakes, which are very similar to the home slippers.

A special feature of this bread is a crusty crust and a porous pulp with large holes, like Swiss cheese. A real Italian ciabatta is baked from semolina. Recipes of bread in different regions of Italy are different, but in most of them, rustic bread is baked from such ingredients:

• Opara: 3 g fresh yeast, 125 wheat flour, 125 g semolina flour, 125 g water.
• Dough: 1 g fresh yeast, 25 g semolina flour, 125 g water, 1 tsp rye malt, 1 teaspoon honey, 2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp. Spoons of olive oil.

Step-by-step cooking consists of several stages:

1. Make the spit from the prepared ingredients. Stir well and cover with a food film. Leave at room temperature for 12-14 hours.
2. Combine the ingredients for the dough: water, malt, yeast and honey. To stir thoroughly. Add salt and semolina.
3. Knead the sticky dough. Put it in a bowl with olive oil (so that the dough does not stick to the walls), cover with a film and leave for 1 hour to fit.
4. The table is dusted with semolina (about 100 g). Divide the dough into two parts, form a loaf of it. Put on paper for baking for 40 minutes to come.
5. At this time, heat the oven to 220 degrees. Down put the baking tray with water.
6. Send the molded loaves to the oven for 30 minutes. Ciabatta is ready!

Can I cook porridge from semolina?

In Russia, semolina is produced by the trade mark "Mistral". It is a semolina of hard wheat varieties. It is rich in proteins, vitamins, macro and microelements of semolina. Recipes in which it is used are quite diverse.

People who lead a healthy lifestyle, prepare from such cereals semolina porridge. The benefits of such a dish will be much greater. Manka turns out much tastier, and when cooking does not form lumps. In addition, a special taste distinguishes porridge, prepared from cereals with the name of semolina. What it is? This croup is very fine grinding of hard varieties, which gives milk cream a cream color and a sweetish taste.

To prepare sempina semolina it is necessary:

• Fill the prepared cereal with boiling milk in a ratio of 1: 7;
• Cook it, like usual semolina porridge, on a slow fire for 3-5 minutes, until it thickens, not forgetting to stir constantly;
• To taste add salt, sugar, jam, honey or butter.

Bon Appetit! Mannoj porridge from semolina can be served to the table. It is not only delicious, but also a healthy dish.