Easy Vegetable Broth Pastina Soup. Homemade vegetable or chicken broth with pastina is the ultimate Italian comfort food. This recipe is so nostalgic and something that you can find every Italian making in their own special way. It is so incredibly healthy, nutrient dense, and good for the soul. If you don’t know what “pastina” is, it’s a any tiny pasta shape that you can find in your grocery store. It can be in the shape of a star, little shells, ditalini, or anything else that’s small. This recipe is perfect for any picky eater as I have made sure to hide all the veggies by blending them into the broth. Traditionally we like to dust freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano on top, but if you are dairy-free you can absolutely adjust. This broth can be made into a beef broth by adding beef, chicken broth by adding chicken, or simply enjoying like this. I like to alternate between beef, chicken, and veggie depending on my mood. With the busy school year this recipe is perfect in a thermos, and I know the kids won’t be able to get enough. This is one Italian tradition and a tradition in my family that you need to try. Let me know in the comments how you like to make your pastina with “brodo” (which means broth in Italian) at home.
Easy Vegetable Broth Pastina Soup
Ingredients
- 2.5 litres of water you can also use organic unsalted veggie broth or use ½ water and ½ broth
- one whole peeled onion
- 2 ribs of celery I cut mine in half
- 3 carrots peeled
- 4 peeled whole garlic cloves
- salt to taste start with ½ a tablespoon and taste and adjust
- boiled pastina of choice I boil mine separately in boiling salted water
- fresh parmigiano for dusting
Instructions
- Fill a big pot with water or ½ water and ½ organic unsalted vegetable broth. Add in all the whole peeled and washed vegetables and let it come to a boil. Feel free to add any other veggies like zucchini as you won't taste it once it's blended. Add salt and make sure to add more as you taste and adjust at the end.
- Once the broth is boiling, be sure to reduce the heat to medium-low and semi cover it with a lid. Let it go for 45 minutes or until the veggies are all super soft and it has reduced.
- You can now take out the whole veggies with a slotted spoon and throw them in the blender with two ladles of the clear broth. Blend until everything is nice and smooth, add it back into the pot and stir.
- In the meantime, boil any pastina of choice in a small pot of salted water separately. Once the pastina is cooked, you can add it to the bottom of a bowl, pour in the broth on top and dust with some parm. Enjoy.
Notes
How can I send this to my kids for school: I would add boiling hot water into a thermos and close it so that it pre-heats. In the meantime, I would warm up my broth on the stove and boil the pastina separately. This should only take you 10 minutes maximum. Dump out the hot water out of the thermos and add it the pastina with the broth. Leave some room at the top so that it doesn’t create a vacuum seal for them as the thermos will be harder to open. Be sure to dust the soup with fresh parm as well if they like it. Can I cook the pastina in the broth directly: Yes, you can if you eat it right away because the pastina will absorb all that liquid and make everything super starchy. I like to always make my pastina separately if I will be enjoying it for a few days. You can also use orzo or any small shaped pasta of choice.
36 Responses
Just made this tonight, exactly to the recipe and it’s perfect!!!! Thank you!
Hi Natalie, thank you so much for the comment it means the world to me
Are you kidding me? This is LEGIT nonna sickie soup. I FLOVE. Thank you so much! I haven’t thought of pastina since I was a beanie kiddo. I know what I’ll be making this winter season. Many, many kind thanks! 😀
Hi Sadie thank you for leaving such a nice comment
Hi silly question can i use a yellow onion in place of white!! White onion is out of season sadly!! Kristal
Hi beautiful, you can absolutely use yellow or white ❤️
Best veggie soup ever!!! I added basil, turnip, parsnip& red pepper. Love it !!!
Omgggg love your take on it
Soup was amazing! I added shredded chicken and my family loved it!
Thank you so much for the review it really means the world to me
Isolating with Covid so I made this today and loved it. Thank you. I’m so glad saw this video on social media. …it will be one of my go to soups. Looking at your other soups/recipes.
I hope you’re feeling better Mary ❤️
love it! i want to experiment making the broth in my instantpot, any tips?
I grew up eating Pastina but my version was not very nutritious and typically just broth from a bullion cube. I love this twist and the color is beautiful!
Do you just take the whole onion out and throw it away? Or do you cut and toss any of that in the blender?
how much pasting did you use? Thank you
Hi Dave,
I usually boil the pastina separately and it really depends on you and how much you want. You can start with 1/4 cup of pastina.
pastina, sorry, auto correct made it “pasting”
How much Pastina?
Looks yummy. What brand of pastina do you use here?
I have to check again love but any brand will work.
Mine turned out kind of a brownish orange and doesn’t taste great on its own. I can use it as a vegetable stock but where did I go wrong?
Hi Suzanne what kind of stock did you use? The colour will depend on the ingredients you used.
Step 3 after blending, the add back to pot….would that be add back to an empty pot or add back into the remaining water/broth that is in the pot? Also same question from a previous inquiry that I don’t see a response to…..Does the whole onion get put into the blender? Thank in advance for your response.
Hi beautiful, so yes ALL of the whole veggies get blended with some of the broth until smooth and you pour it back into the clear broth. So we take out the whole veggies and any big pieces and add them to a blender with a few ladles of the broth (not all of it) BLEND AND ADD back in 🙂
Loved this though mine came out a creamy orange perhaps because my 3 carrots were huge. It was excellent. Will definitely serve again
woohoooo! Glad it was and I am sure the colour was beautiful
Recovering from abdominal surgery and came across this today. Perfect. Easy to make, nutritious, delicious. Tomorrow I can add the pasta. Perfect timing for me! Thank you.
Hope you feel better asap Annie!
You are one smart cookie with this Veggie Pastina recipe. I enjoy making your recipes soooo darn much. And all those tips you give…very instructive…Merci from Montréal, Québec, Canada…
Sylvie, Merci Beaucoup. Happy you loved it 🙂
Thank you for this wonderful recipe – it’s tasteful, time-saving, rich. Love it.
I made this at the beginning of the year when I was sick, and then frozen a batch and fed it to my sick boyfriend tonight. We both loved it! I add more garlic, a pinch of cayenne, and a shake of turmeric. I also used bone broth to add more nutrients. After everything was blended and incorporated I finished it off with a bag of spinach and some rotisserie chicken. Pastina is almost impossible to find so I used the brand: De Cecco “Acini di Pepe no. 78” and thought it worked perfectly. Thank you for this recipe I’ve added it to my rotation!
Hi Karina, omg thank you kindly for the sweet review and I hope your bf feels better asap! Kisses
I added a little bit of dill and lemon slices ! Soo delicious I took out the lemons when I took out the veggies it gave the broth such a fresh taste and the hint of dill was such a nice touch !
I absolutely love lemon! Such a beautiful addition to this soup.