This word comes from the Italian, meaning semi-milled, and it's not ground to fine flour. Semolina is what is used for traditionally made pasta ? milled from hard wheat grain to a texture specified by the pasta maker, so that the finished product will be rough-textured to enable the sauce to cling sufficiently. Semolina, from softer wheat, has also played a part in British cuisine, where it has been used in puddings and cakes, and durum semolina gives a lovely texture to shortbread but is now, sadly, not widely available.