Fettuccine is a type of Italian pasta made from flat, ribbon-shaped noodles, about a quarter-inch wide. The name comes from the Italian word for “little ribbons,” which perfectly describes how these smooth, silky noodles look when they're cooked and twirled on your fork.

Fettuccine is most famous in the dish fettuccine Alfredo, where the pasta is tossed with butter, cream, and Parmesan cheese to create a rich, coating sauce. The flat shape of fettuccine serves an important purpose: it helps thick, creamy sauces cling to every bite, unlike round spaghetti noodles, where sauce might slide right off.

Traditional Italian cooks make fettuccine by rolling out pasta dough thin and cutting it into long strips, though today most people buy it dried from the store. When you're choosing pasta for a recipe, the shape matters. Fettuccine works beautifully with heavy cream sauces or meat ragùs because its wide, flat surface catches and holds onto every bit of flavor.