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Pastina Soup Recipe

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4.2 from 2 reviews

This comforting Pastina Soup is a simple, cozy dish made by simmering vegetables and chicken broth, pureeing the vegetables for a creamy texture, and cooking tiny pasta like pastina until tender. Enhanced with parmesan rind for rich umami flavor and garnished with fresh parsley and grated parmesan, this quick and easy soup is perfect for a light meal or soothing comfort food.

Ingredients

Soup Base

  • 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 medium yellow onion, sliced into large pieces
  • 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into large pieces
  • 2 celery ribs, sliced into large pieces
  • 1 parmesan rind (about 2 inches long)
  • Kosher salt, to taste

Pasta

  • 1 1/2 cups pastina (or any tiny pasta variety like alphabet, orzo, or acini di pepe)

Garnish

  • 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley leaves
  • Grated parmesan cheese, for serving

Instructions

  1. Simmer the broth: In a large pot with a lid, combine the chicken broth, sliced onion, carrots, celery, parmesan rind, and a pinch of kosher salt. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and let it simmer gently until the vegetables are very tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.
  2. Puree the vegetables: Remove the parmesan rind and discard it. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked vegetables to a food processor. Add a couple ladles of the hot broth to the food processor and blend until the vegetables become completely smooth. Scrape the pureed vegetables back into the pot with the remaining broth.
  3. Boil the pasta: Turn the heat back to high and bring the soup to a boil again. Stir in the pastina and cook until the pasta is tender, approximately 3 minutes. Once cooked, remove the soup from the heat.
  4. Serve: Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning with more kosher salt if needed. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and garnish each bowl with a sprinkle of finely chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese. Serve hot for a warm and hearty meal.

Notes

  • You can substitute the pastina with similarly small pasta shapes like orzo, alphabet pasta, or acini di pepe.
  • For a vegetarian version, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and omit the parmesan rind or use a vegetarian hard cheese rind.
  • To store leftovers, refrigerate the soup without pasta separately; add fresh pasta when reheating to prevent it from becoming mushy.
  • Adjust the consistency by adding more broth if the soup is too thick after pureeing.

Find it online: https://dishcooks.com/pastina-soup-recipe/