The World of Pasta Is Much Larger Than You Think

A basic guide to Italian “primi”

Italian homemade “pasta al forno,” cooked with tomato sauce, cheese, ham, and meat, then baked in the oven to obtain a crunchy golden crust. Photo by the author.

If you’re learning Italian or spending some time in Italy, you may find yourself dealing with an Italian restaurant menu.

Believe it or not, some of the exercises I have my students carry out as a teacher of Italian consist not only in memorizing names of typical dishes, but also sorting them appropriately into food categories.

While they’re usually good with antipasti (starters, appetizers) and desserts, they get a bit caught up in the distinction between primi (plural form of primo, literally meaning “first”) and secondi (plural form of secondo, which translates to “second”).

Yes, in Italy we don’t just have a main course. We have two.

Primi are usually pasta dishes, while secondi are traditionally meat- or fish-based and accompanied by a contorno, a side dish, although, of course, today vegetarian and vegan alternative options exist.

However, the world of primi is much larger than spaghetti alone. Let’s have a look.

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