Pasta is mainly made from wheat flour. Now here is the challenge when you don't live in Italy and you want to make fresh homemade pasta.

There are different varieties of wheat flour available in the world. Each country classifies flour in a different way and uses different names and blends, making it confusing when you want to replicate a recipe from one part of the world to another. 

Here's the plan. We will explain the different wheat flours we have in Italy and how they are classified and used. This will help you choose which ones are available in your country and are most suitable for each recipe. You can't just randomly use any flour because each has specific characteristics that will give different results.

For instance, we don't have all-purpose flour in Italy. We do, however, know that it's a half-and-half combination of hard-wheat and soft-wheat flours. Understanding this information along with the different characteristics of each type of flour helps us choose the best substitute for all-purpose flour.

Wheat Flours Available in Italy

Italy grows and produces 2 main wheat varieties:

1. Hard wheat
2. Soft wheat

Now let's go over each one ...