Happy World Pasta Day 2015!

Lesson Overview

Life is a combination of magic and pasta.

– Frederico Fellini

Today is World Pasta Day! Let’s take a moment to think about a big bowl of steaming spaghetti in rich tomato sauce, topped with some fresh parmesan cheese… mmmmmmmmmm…. YUM!

For this dish, we need to thank our Italian friends for introducing us to this delicious, comforting food. Thank you for bringing so much happiness to the world! Pasta truly is a dish loved by millions of people around the world.

Did you know that there are over 600 different shapes of pasta!! Here are just a few that you will often find on English menus (with the IPA pronunciation to help you):

Spaghetti /spəˈɡeti/
Fettuccine /ˌfetʊˈtʃiːni/
Tortellini /tɔː(r)təˈlini/
Linguini /lɪŋˈɡwiːni/
Ravioli /ˌræviˈəʊli/
Penne /ˈpeneɪ/

In English, we use the Italian names for these different types of pasta – but if you are desperate for the correct pronunciation, you’ll have to ask an Italian!

My favourite pasta dish is Spaghetti Carbonara – spaghetti with a creamy white sauce with bacon, parsley and parmesan cheese! YUM!