Ribbons

Ribbons are sheets with discipline. Roll the dough thin, cut it to a width, and the width becomes a contract with the sauce. Narrow ribbons fold and tangle, trapping light sauces between layers. Wide ribbons offer landing area, which is why the heaviest ragus in Italian cooking ride the widest cuts. Most of the family is egg dough, tender and slightly porous, so fat clings instead of sliding. The ribbon is the form where pasta width has been argued about most seriously, including by notaries.

Compare the family

Shape	Section	Cook (min)	Surface
Fettuccine	flat ribbon	9-11	smooth
Mafaldine	flat ribbon with ruffled edges on both sides	8-11	smooth
Pappardelle	broad flat ribbon	4-9	smooth
Pizzoccheri	short flat buckwheat ribbon	8-10	textured
Scialatielli	short thick fresh ribbon	4-5	textured
Tagliatelle	flat ribbon	5-10	smooth
Tagliolini	narrow flat egg ribbon	1-2	smooth
Tajarin	very narrow flat egg ribbon	n/a	smooth