Pastina
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By Alyssa Rivers
on Nov 07, 2023, Updated Sep 01, 2024 |
Warm and nourishing Italian Pastina is comfort food at its best! This simple soup recipe is made with chicken broth, vegetables, and tiny pasta stars. It’s the perfect cozy meal to enjoy when the weather turns cold!
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Healthy: This soup is packed with fresh veggies. The vegetables are blended to create wonderful creaminess without the need for heavy cream.
- Comforting: The savory flavors from the onion and garlic simmering in the flavorful chicken broth make this soup taste so good when you’re sick!
- Easy to Make: This recipe calls for simple pantry staple ingredients and very little effort. It will definitely become a family staple in your home for sick days!
What is Pastina?
This recipe is also known as Italian Pastina or Italian Penicillin. It’s the Italian version of chicken noodle soup. It is commonly used during cold and flu season to stave off, and treat illness. It’s so cozy and comforting. It’s like a warm hug in a bowl. Your family will love this Pastina soup and will be running back for seconds!
Ingredients in Pastina
Just a few simple ingredients are needed for this Pastina recipe. Once you have a bite, this be will one of your new favorite recipes! Both kids and adults enjoy it. Check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact measurements.
- Chicken Broth: Wonderfully flavored base for the soup. Use store-bought or homemade.
- Water: The base for all of the ingredients.
- Carrots: Give the soup its orange color and adds a bit of sweetness.
- Celery: Adds texture and a subtle bitterness to balance the other flavors.
- Onions: These are the reason for the incredible depth of savory flavor.
- Garlic: Gives the soup a punch of flavor adding to the savory flavor.
- Salt: Start with 1 teaspoon of salt to bring out all of the flavors.
- Pasta: This recipe uses tiny Italian pasta. Most major brands carry boxed pasta at the grocery store. You can use tiny star-shaped pasta or very small spheres, or satellites.
Quick Tip
You can add all the pasta to the broth, but the texture is better if you add it in as you serve it. The longer it sits, the more the pasta will absorb the liquid and become starchy.
How to Make Pastina
I love simple and easy soup recipes, especially when they are healthy like this one! That’s a win-win! Here’s the simple process to make it:
- Simmer Ingredients: Add the chicken broth, water, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and salt to a large stockpot. Bring everything to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for about 45 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
- Cook the Pasta: While the vegetables are cooking, cook the pastina to al dente, drain and set aside.
- Blend Veggies: Once the vegetables are soft, remove them from the liquid and add them to a blender along with 1 cup of the liquid. Blend until smooth.
- Serve: Pour the puréed vegetables back into the liquid and stir. Serve the vegetable broth with the cooked pastina and enjoy!
Tips & Variations
There are a few things that you can do to change up this Pastina recipe to fit your needs! Here are a few ideas:
- Vegetarian: To make this recipe vegetarian-friendly, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
- Gluten-Free: As long as you use gluten-free pasta, this recipe is naturally gluten-free.
- Blender: You can use an immersion blender to make this but we recommend using a stand blender, if possible, to get extra creamy results! Just make sure to let the soup cool for a few minutes before putting it in the blender.
- Add Toppings: If you want to make this soup extra special, try adding some toppings like swirled heavy cream, chopped fresh parsley or other herbs, parmesan cheese, crispy crumbled bacon and some freshly cracked pepper!
Storing Leftovers
Pastina is perfect for storing and enjoying later. The perfect way to warm you up from the inside-out all winter long!
- Refrigerate: If you store broth separately from pasta, store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 14 days.
- Freezer: You can store the broth in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
- Reheat: To reheat Pastina, simply pour it into a medium-sized pot and heat it over medium heat until it’s warm throughout.
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To a large stock pot, add the chicken broth, water, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and salt. Bring everything to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for about 45 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
While the vegetables are cooking, cook the pastina to al dente, drain, and set aside.
Once the vegetables are soft, remove them from the liquid and add them to a blender along with 1 cup of the liquid. Blend until smooth.
Pour the puréed vegetables back into the liquid and stir. Serve the vegetable broth with the cooked pastina, and enjoy!
Calories: 224kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 8gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.03gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.04gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 749mgPotassium: 123mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 3831IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 21mgIron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.