World Pasta Day: A Food with Many Forms
Long strings, little tubes, and tiny bows: what do they have in common? They can all be shapes of pasta!
Pasta comes in many shapes and sizes. Spaghetti is long and thin. Penne looks like short tubes. Farfalle looks like little bows.
How does pasta get its shape? One way starts with flour and water mixed into dough. The dough can be pressed through a tool with holes. The holes help form long strands or tubes.
Some pasta is rolled into thin sheets. The sheets can be cut into flat strips or other shapes. Some cooks fold pasta around a filling, such as cheese.
Pasta changes when it cooks. Dry pasta is hard. In a pot of boiling water, it takes in water and becomes soft enough to eat.
Different shapes can hold sauce in different ways. Sauce can slip inside a tube of penne. It can also cling to a twist of pasta. Flat noodles can carry sauce on their wide sides.
People eat pasta in many places around the world. They serve it with foods they like, such as tomatoes, cheese, beans, or vegetables. A pasta dish can be part of a family meal or a special gathering.
October 25 is World Pasta Day. The International Pasta Organisation marks the day to celebrate pasta. People can share a meal and enjoy the many forms this food can take.
- strands:
- Long, thin pieces of something.
- filling:
- Food placed inside another food.
- cling:
- To stick to something.
- gathering:
- A time when people come together.
- celebrate:
- To do something special for a happy day or event.
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- 2What does farfalle look like?
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About this explanatory article passage for Lower Elementary
“World Pasta Day: A Food with Many Forms” is a explanatory article reading passage about Pasta and food culture, written for Lower Elementary. It takes about 2 minutes to read (230 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.