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–+ servings
Pastina soup with parmesan in a bowl.

Pastina

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Author: Nico Pallotta

  • 1½ cups (10 ounces) (280 grams) pastina of your choice such as stelline, puntine, risoni, or other
  • 6 cups (1½ liters) vegetable broth
  • 1 small (1 small) onion
  • 1 (1) carrot
  • 1 rib (1 rib) celery
  • 1 small (1 small) potato peeled
  • 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) tomato paste
  • 2 (2) bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) salt or more to taste
  • 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese grated + black pepper to taste
  • 4 drizzles (4) extra virgin olive oil or 4 knobs of butter for serving

  • Chop 1 small onion, 1 carrot, 1 rib celery, and 1 small potato into small chunks and add them to a medium-sized pot with 6 cups vegetable broth.
    Stir in 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 2 bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon salt
    Cover with a lid and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.
    Vegetable broth with celery, carrot, onion and a small potato.
  • Discard the bay leaves, fish out the vegetables and put them in a blender with 1 cup of cold water.
    Blend until smooth and set aside.
    Blended vegetables for a creamy pastina.
  • Add 1½ cups (10 ounces) pastina to the broth and cook it as per package instructions, minus one minute.
    When cooked stir in the blended vegetables then taste and adjust for salt and consistency.
    Creamy pastina soup in a yellow cast iron pot.
  • When the pastina is fully cooked, serve immediately in a wide-rimmed pasta plate or soup bowl with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, and freshly cracked black pepper.
    Pastina served in a bowl with grated parmesan cheese and olive oil.
SUBSTITUTIONS
Pastina: pastina means tiny pasta in italian. You can use any tiny pasta shape such as stelline, filini, ricciutelli, quadretti, farfalline, corallini, ditalini, grattini, risoni, orzo, anellini, and puntine.
Vegetable broth: you can use veg broth or water + vegetable bouillon.
Potato: optional, to add extra creaminess to the dish.
Tomato paste: you can add 2 tablespoons of tomato passata or 1 ripe tomato chopped.
Parmesan: you can substitute pecorino romano for parmesan.
Extra virgin olive oil: you can substitute a knob of butter for olive oil.
STORAGE
Pastina should ideally be consumed immediately after preparation. To store leftovers you can:
  • Transfer leftover pastina from the cooking pot immediately to prevent overcooking
  • Allow to cool to room temperature
  • Store in an airtight container
  • Keep refrigerated for up to one day
  • Pastina is not suitable for freezing.
For reheating you can use the microwave or a small pot with a splash of water.
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