Nonna's Classic Pastina Recipe (2024)

Published by Meaghan on October 27, 2022 | last updated on October 26, 2022.

Nonna’s classic pastina recipe with egg is the Italian equivalent of a creamy chicken soup. It’s comforting, yummy, and easy to digest- perfect to get you back on your feet when you are sick!

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Growing up my Nonna made the best recipes.

And there’s was one thing she was guaranteed to make if any of us had so much as a sniffle: this easy pastina recipe.

It’s pretty much the equivalent of chicken noodle soup and many say it is a good cure for what ails you.

Pastina works so well to make you feel better fast that we call it Italian penicillin.

What does pastina mean?

In Italian, pastina means small pasta.

And that’s exactly what it is!

Ingredients

To make this you’ll need:

• Water– To cook the pastina
• Pastina– You can find it with the pasta in the grocery store or buy it online.
• Egg– Beaten
• Butter
• Parmesan cheese– Shredded, shaved, or grated will all work.
• Salt and pepper– To taste

How to Make

This is a very easy pastina recipe! If you can boil water, you can make this!

To do it, add the water to a pot, salt the water, and set over high heat.

When the water’s boiling, add the pastina to the pot and stir.

Cook, stirring often, until the pastina absorbs most of the water.

Then remove the pot from heat, and whisk in the beaten egg immediately so the egg incorporates into the pasta and doesn’t cook right away.

After you whisk the egg into the pastina, stir in the butter and cheese until the butter melts and everything is evenly incorporated.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve and enjoy!

How long does it take to boil pastina?

It depends on what brand you are using and how much you are cooking.

For this recipe it takes until the pastina absorbs most of the water, which takes about 4 minutes.

What type of pasta is pastina?

Pastina literally means little pasta in Italian.

It’s a small, normally round pasta (though there are some varieties where the pastina is shaped like stars).

Storing Leftovers

I don’t recommend storing leftovers.

The pastina continues to absorb the liquid the longer it sits so it’s best made fresh.

Seriously, within 10-15 minutes it will resemble cous cous rather than rich, creamy, saucy pasta.

Tips and Tricks

• You can sub extra virgin olive oil for the butter, if preferred.
• The pastina will continue to absorb liquid the longer it sits so don’t make it ahead of time!
• It easily doubles or triples if you are feeding a larger crowd.
• This isn’t a dish that can cook, or sit, unattended. When it says whisk or stir, make sure to do so!

Other Easy Italian Recipes

Nonna’s pastina recipe with egg is Italian medicine that tastes delicious!

Make it the next time you are under the weather and feel better fast!

Looking for other easy Italian recipes? Try these:

• Italian Abruzzi Pasta
• Nonna’s Italian Style Chicken Noodle Soup
• Creamy Slow Cooker Italian Chicken
• Nonna’s Italian Macaroni Pie
• Spicy Italian Sausage Alfredo Tortellini

If you’ve tried thisPASTINA RECIPE WITH EGG, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me onPINTEREST,FACEBOOK, andINSTAGRAMto see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!

This post may contain affiliate links.As an amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. See my full Disclosure Policy for details.