Pastina

True story: first time I made this pastina for Louise, she got a bit emotional 🥲.

After the first spoonful, she said: “this is a grandma’s hug in a bowl!”.

Pastina is full of childhood memories for me; tomato flavor, cute, tiny pasta, and a light sprinkle of parmesan.

I am sure that you will love this pasta as much as we do. Buon appetito ❤️.

Pastina (also known as penicilin soup and minestrina) is one of those perfect winter–waming dishes.

It’s an easy pasta recipe with a tomato-vegetable broth that can be more or less soupy based on your preference.

We like our pastina quite creamy and with a rich tomato flavor, similar to pasta e ceci, barley soup and vegetable soup.

Pastina begins with a vegetable broth of celery, carrot, and onion, similar to soffritto (the flavor base of most Italian soups and dishes).

My Nonna’s version of pastina is with a spoonful of tomato paste and a potato for a truly comforting and extra creamy texture.

Serve this one-pot meal as a light dinner with toasted bread, roasted vegetables, or a side of sautéed greens.

Pastina means small pasta in Italian. If you don’t have star-shaped pasta, no problem! You can use of any small pasta from your pantry (try ditalini, puntine, risoni, or orzo).

The flexiblity of ingredients and clean-up-your-fridge properties of this Italian recipe makes it a winner for a weeknight dinner.

(Oh, and did I mention did it is also a budget-friendly meal?😋).

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Pasta

“Pastina” means small pasta in Italian. We made this with “stelline”, a tiny star shaped pasta.

You can substitute stelline with filini, ricciutelli, quadretti, farfalline, corallini, ditalini, grattini, risoni, orzo, anellini, and puntine.

Broth

We use a vegetable bouillon that we enrich with an onion, carrot, and celery for extra flavor. We also add a bay leaf for aroma.

Once boiled, we blend the veggies to make pastina really creamy and more flavorful.

Potato

Potato is my grandma’s trick to turn pastina into one of the most delicious comfort foods. It makes everything creamy.

Tomato paste

We add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste to the broth for depth of flavor and color.

You can substitute a leftover parmesan rind for tomato paste. Parmesan rind also adds plenty of umami.

Parmesan and olive oil

Pastina is served in a bowl with a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. That’s it. Simple, fulfilling, and delicious.

Let’s start with the vegetable broth. To a medium size pot, add 6 cups of vegetable broth (or 6 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of vegetable bouillon).

Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, a teaspoon of salt, and 2 bay leaves.

Then add a rib of celery, an onion, a carrot, and a peeled potato, all cut into similarly-sized dice.

Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.

Tip: cut the vegetables into smallish pieces so that they cook faster. Can you skip the veggies? Sure, but that’s not how Italian pastina is made. Fresh veggies are always there.

When the veggies are tender, transfer them to a blender with a cup of cold tap water.

Blend until smooth and set aside.

Add the small pasta of your choice (1.5 cups/10 ounces/280 grams) to the vegetable broth (we use stelline) and cook it as per package instructions.

When the pasta is cooked, stir in the blended vegetables, taste and adjust for salt and consistency.

Tip: you guys, pastina cooks very fast so set a timer. Also, it keeps cooking in the broth after you turn the heat off, so I recommend undercooking by one minute so that it doesn’t turn mushy when you serve it.

Serve in a wide-rimmed pasta plate or soup bowl with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, grated parmesan, and freshly cracked black pepper.

How to serve pastina

As a primo piatto

Traditionally, in Italy, pastina is served as a primo piatto, followed by a small main course like a small piece of grilled chicken, fish, or veggies.

In this case, no bread is needed, serve the soup as is with freshly grated parmesan cheese and black pepper.

As a main meal

Once a week, Louise and I love a light broth-based dinner with pasta, legumes, and leftover vegetables.

We eat pastina as a main dish with a slice of artisan bread, focaccia, or schiacciata. You wanna sop up those tomato sauce leftovers 😛.

For a palate–cleanser, we like to eat a side salad after finishing our meal.

When seasonal, we make fennel salad or pear salad for a refreshing finish to the dinner.

Breads

Focaccia

Breads

Schiacciata

Salads

Pear Salad

Salads

Fennel and Orange Salad

Variations

Pastina with legumes

To make pastina even more fulfilling you can add your favorite legumes.

It’s delicious with frozen peas, canned or cooked chickpeas, white beans, brown lentils, or black lentils.

You can add the legumes after you removed the vegetables for blending. You might need to add an extra cup of water to this variation.

Do Italians eat pastina?

Pastina is a popular dish in Italy that stems from the traditions of la cucina povera (poor peasant kitchen).

For many Italians, pastina is an excellent healthy comfort food for many occasions, ideal as a light and tasty dinner.

It’s a multi-generational dish served by grandmas to their grandchildren.

Those grandchildren have the flavor of pastina impressed in their memory and as they grow old keep craving those textures and comforting flavors.

For many it’s a way to remember their grandparents.

Plus pastina is simply delicious, and appreciated for its warming properties during cold winter days.

What is so special about pastina?

Pastina is an easy, tasty and affordable Italian recipe. It’s particularly kids-friendly because of the creamy tomato flavors and cute, small pasta.

Growing up in Italy, pastina represented a beloved comfort food, always cooked by my Nonna Lidia.

Pastina reminds me of my childhood, and competes with tortellini in brodo, lasagna, and meatballs for the most delicious of meals from my Grandma’s recipe archives.

Pastina is at its best shortly after it’s made because the pasta overcooks easily.

If you have any leftover, remove it from the pot you cooked it in so that it doesn’t keep cooking.

Let it cool down at room temperature and keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a day.

Reheat in the microwave or in a small pot with a splash of water.

The recipe is not suitable for freezing.

Similar recipes

ONE–POT PASTA RECIPES: zucchini pasta, lentil pasta, pasta e fagioli, pasta e ceci, fregola pasta, tortellini soup.

NONNA’S RECIPES: minestrone, lentil soup, pasta pomodoro, bruschetta, gnocchi alla sorrentina, eggplant parmigiana, vegetable lasagna, schiacciata.

One-pot Meals

Lentil Pasta

30-Min Meals

Tortellini Soup

Mains

Eggplant Parmigiana

Pasta

Vegetable Lasagna