Italian Pastina Soup is a hearty pasta soup that is flavored with parmesan cheese and thickened with eggs and a touch of butter. It's a comfort food to the max!
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Ingredients for Italian Pastina Soup:
- 4 cups broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup pastina pasta
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 beaten eggs
- Parmesan cheese
- Parsley (optional)
How to make Italian Pastina Soup?
This soup starts with 4 cups of chicken stock or broth and 1 cup of water in a large pot. You can use homemade broth or just use a carton of store-bought. You'll bring that to a boil over high heat.
You'll then lower the heat to medium and add in the pastina pasta and cook it according to the time on the box (mine was 6 minutes to al dente). Pastina is generally any kind of tiny pasta so the shapes and cooking times may vary depending on what you buy. You can find a box labeled "pastina" at pretty much any grocery store. Also, is it weird to think pasta is cute? Because I think these little pasta stars are just the cutest thing ever!
While your pastina is cooking in the chicken broth, you can prep the egg and parmesan cheese mixture. You'll get a small bowl and beat 2 eggs then stir in the parmesan cheese until combined.
Before you can add the egg mixture to the pot of soup, you'll want to temper the eggs.
What is egg tempering?
Tempering just means you're bringing the eggs up to a warmer temperature so they don't scramble them when added to the pot. We want this soup to be creamy and smooth and not have any chunks of egg.
To do this, take a small spoonful of the hot broth (it's ok is there's pasta in it) and add it to the egg mixture while whisking with a fork or small whisk. Then add a little more broth and stir again. Once the egg/cheese mixture is warm, you can add it to the main pot and whisk it in.
Once you've whisked in the eggs and cheese, you can add in the salt, pepper, butter, and parsley and the soup is done! You can taste it to adjust the seasonings to your liking. Just be careful with the salt since parmesan cheese can be on the salty side.
How to store pastina soup:
This soup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in an airtight container. When you re-heat it, you may need to add a little bit of liquid to thin it out. You can add broth, cream, olive oil, or water to reconstitute.
How to serve pastina soup?
Dipping Easy Rosemary Focaccia Bread in this soup is always a great idea! This soup is perfect for bread dipping. It's also a great side dish for a salad night or even for making for sick family members since it's so hearty. You can add a drizzle of olive oil to it or even a scoop of ricotta to make it fancy!
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Italian Pastina Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken broth or stock
- 1 and ½ cups water
- 1 cup pastina pasta
- 2 large beaten eggs
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Bring the chicken broth and water to a boil. Once boiling, cook 1 cup of pastina pasta in the broth. (Cook the pastina according to the time on the box.)
- While the pastina is cooking, beat the eggs in a small bowl and then whisk in the parmesan cheese with the eggs.
- Once the pasta is cooked remove the pot from the heat.
- Before adding the egg mixture to the pasta you need to temper the eggs so they don't scramble in the heat. To do this: add a spoonful of the hot pasta/broth to the eggs and whisk. Repeat that 2 times until the eggs are warm then add the egg mixture to the pot with the pasta. Whisk everything until smooth.
- Add in the salt, pepper, butter and parsley and whisk again until everything is combined.
- Serve immediately with an extra sprinkle of cheese and parsley and a drizzle of olive oil if you're feeling fancy!
Sherri says
Coming from an Italian family, I grew up eating Pastina! I still love it so much. This is comfort food at its best!