Chicken Pastina Soup
Comforting Italian chicken soup + a cookbook with simple family recipes
It’s been a wet week here in LA. We’ve been thoroughly drenched, but today the sun is shining. We’ve come out other side of the atmospheric river to lush green surroundings, a light dusting of snow on distant mountains and a new leak in our living room ceiling.
It was a perfect week for chicken pastina soup, which is an ultra-comforting Italian version of good old chicken soup with noodles.
Pastina means "little pasta" and is an adorable category of pasta made up of tiny shapes. Here in the U.S. we are most likely to find stars, alphabet letters or ditalini at grocery stores.
I’ve only recently learned about pastina soup and I cannot claim an Italian Nonna who made it for me as a child, so my recipe is not the most authentic one out there. However, it is delicious and it is very comforting and it is absolutely perfect for rainy days.
Some pastina soup recipes cook the pasta separately, but I like to cook the tiny pasta stars in the broth. The pasta starch gives the soup a creamy, porridge-like consistency. You can thin it out with more broth, or leave it thick and creamy.
My entire detailed recipe for chicken pastina soup can be found here. Below are the main steps you’ll follow.
Brown carrot, celery, onion and chicken.
Add broth. Bring to a gentle simmer for 15 minutes with a lid. Keep the broth at a gentle simmer so the meat cooks slowly and is tender.
Take out the chicken, set it aside and then shred the meat when cooled.
While the chicken rests, cook the pasta in the broth until tender (about 8 minutes).
Add the chicken back to the pot. You can whisk in egg and parmesan cheese for an ultra-rich broth.
Serve immediately - the longer it sits, the thicker it gets!
Dinner Last Week
I’m always curious about what other families are eating. Aren’t you? Here’s what my crew ate last week.
Monday: Weekly taco night was met with groans of “tacos again?” from the kids, who are officially tired of eating them. Avocado season is still in full-swing so we’ve been making guacamole every week with avocados from our tree. You might not believe it, but you actually can get tired of eating guacamole.
Tuesday: I tried a recipe for skillet lasagna, which was good but not great. I think we would’ve been just as happy with plain noodles and red sauce.
Wednesday: I published a recipe for baked beans with ground beef on Kitchen Skip, so that’s what we had for dinner, with coleslaw. I had also planned to make biscuits from yogurt (instead of buttermilk) but didn’t have time.
Thursday: We ate chicken pastina, recipe is above!
Friday: I made a run to Costco because we were out of my three favorite Costco products: Peet’s Coffee, olive oil and lox. On a whim I picked up chicken Pad Thai from Snapdragon foods and served it for dinner with roasted broccoli and broiled tofu. The Pad Thai is decent and a very quick meal that only needs to be warmed up.
Cookbooks
I re-discovered Keepers by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion at the library last week. It was published way back in 2013, which made me realize that the author’s kids, who were featured in some of the photos, are now full-grown adults. Time flies!
When I first used this cookbook my kids were tiny too. I remember liking the cookbook’s recipe for turkey burgers with a molten melted cheese middle and the orange-soy sauce marinade for fish. This cookbook has simple, unfussy recipes and most have very short ingredient lists.
We are not football fans, so Sunday’s Super Bowl is not on our schedule, but I have to admit that all of the recipes I’m seeing for game day appetizers are making me kind of wish someone would invite me to a Super Bowl party.
If you need appetizer recipes, check-out the newsletter below from The Slice. I’ve got my eye on the Spinach and Artichoke Goat Cheese Dip and Crispy Korean BBQ Wings.
Have a great weekend, whether or not it involves football!
Jenny
