Fettucine is a type of dried Italian pasta (pasta asciutta) served throughout Italy. It has a long and flat shape and is typically cut into ribbons. The most famous dish made in Italy with this type of pasta is perhaps Fettucine Alfredo. Fettucine is also served with a tomato-based red sauce in some localities of Italy. Cardi (known as cardoons), are one vegetable side dish often served with fettucine in the Teramo Province of Italy.
Pasta ingredients span a wide range. Most pastas are made from a combination of simple flour and water mixtures. Pre-packaged speciality pasta often includes spices and cheeses, while others include added coloring from spinach, tomatoes, and food dye.
Under Italian law, dry pasta (pasta secca) can only be made from durum wheat or semolina flour. Durum flour has a yellow tinge in color. Italian pasta is traditionally cooked al dente (Italian: “to the tooth”, meaning not too soft). Abroad, dry pasta is frequently made from other types of flour (such as farina), but this yields a softer product, which cannot be cooked al dente.
Particular varieties of pasta may also use other grains and milling methods to make the flour. Some pasta varieties are made from buckwheat flour. Various types of fresh pasta include eggs (pasta all’uovo). Gnocchi are often listed among pasta dishes, although they are quite different in ingredients (mainly milled potatoes).
Pasta alla chitarra, similar to fettucine, is served in the area in and around Teramo, especially in the village of Valle San Giovanni. Visitors to Casale in Abruzzo often serve fettucine during their luncheon or dinner meals.