Commercially produced dry pasta, or pasta secca, is made almost exclusively from durum semolina. Certain home made fresh pastas (pasta fresca), such as orecchiette, cavatelli, and malloreddus, also use durum wheat, while others, such as tagliatelle, use a combination of soft and hard wheats.

Husked but unground, or coarsely ground, it is used to produce the semolina in the couscous of North Africa and the Levant. It is also used for Levantine dishes such astabbula, kishk, kibba, bitfun and the bulghur for pilafs. In North African cuisine and Levantine cuisine, it forms the basis of many soups, gruels, stuffings, puddings andpastries. When ground as fine as flour, it is used for making bread. In the Middle East, it is used for flat round breads, and in Europe and elsewhere, it can be used forpizza, torte, etc. It is not, however, good for cakes, which are made from soft wheat to ensure softness.

Most of the durum grown today is amber durum, the grains of which are amber-colored and larger than those of other types of wheat. Durum has a yellow endosperm, which gives pasta its color. When durum is milled, the endosperm is ground into a granular product called semolina. Semolina made from durum is used for premiumpastas and breads. There is also a red durum, used mostly for livestock feed.