Pastina in Brodo
Tiny star-shaped pasta cooked in hot stock until soft, finished with butter and parmesan.
Photograph credit: Stelline in brodo by judywitts · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Where This Goes Wrong
Stir often so the pasta does not stick.
If the stock is salty, taste before adding any extra salt.
Add hot water if the pastina thickens in the bowl.
Beat in an egg off the heat for a richer bowl.
Cooking Pastina in Brodo
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Bring the stock to the boil in a small pan.
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Add the pastina and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until soft.
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Take the pan off the heat and stir in the butter and parmesan until melted.
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Season with the pepper and serve straight away, adding a splash of hot water if it has thickened.
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Why It Works
Cook it in stock. That single choice is what makes pastina taste like something and not a bowl of plain pasta. The tiny shapes soak up the liquid as they soften, and the starch thickens the broth to a gentle porridge.
Pastina means "little pasta", and any very small shape works: stars, little rings or even broken-up spaghetti. They cook in about 5 minutes, so the dish goes from pan to bowl before you have time to wonder what else to make.
Stir while it cooks. Small pasta settles and sticks, and the starch it releases is what makes the soup creamy. Take it off the heat while it is still loose. Pastina keeps absorbing liquid in the bowl, and it thickens fast.
Butter and parmesan go in at the end and melt into the hot pasta. It is the soup people reach for when they are tired or unwell. Keep a packet of tiny pasta in the cupboard and it is ready in minutes.
Storage and Reheating
Best eaten straight away, as the pasta keeps soaking up liquid. If you must keep it, loosen it with hot water when reheating.
Changing the Recipe
- Vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock makes this meat-free without changing the method, if that is what you need.
Serving Pastina in Brodo
- Toast
- Steamed greens
- A soft-boiled egg
Pastina in Brodo Nutrition
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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