Learn Italian: Abbiamo letto queste pagine recentemente.

Letto is the irregular past participle of the verb leggere (to read). While regular "-ere" verbs usually end in "-uto" in the past, many high-frequency verbs have irregular forms that you simply need to memorize.

The English translation says "We read". Why does the Italian use two words (abbiamo letto)?

Abbiamo letto literally translates to "we have read". However, conversational Italian uses this tense (the passato prossimo) for completed actions in the past, so it translates to both "we have read" and the simple past "we read".

Why does the word for "these" end in "-e" (queste)?

The word for "this" or "these" must match the gender and number of the noun it points to. Because pagine (pages) is a feminine plural noun, you must use the feminine plural form queste.

Is the -mente in recentemente similar to "-ly" in English?

Yes, exactly! In Italian, adding -mente to an adjective is the standard way to create an adverb, just like adding "-ly" to "recent" creates "recently" in English.