Parmesan Chicken Pastina Soup
The coziest Italian Pastina Soup! This easy chicken and stars soup is so warm and soothing. We start with a homemade parmesan broth; add a few vegetables and star-shaped pasta, and you’ve got the best kind of feel-better soup!
Servings: 4
Calories: 417kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon butter divided
- 4 cups hot water + 8 cups room temp
- 2 medium yellow onions chopped, divided
- 4 carrots 2 in large chunks, 2 small diced
- 4 celery stalks 2 large chunks, 2 small diced
- 8-10 (~.5 ounce) dried porcini or shiitake mushrooms rehydrate in hot water
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt plus more
- 1 parmesan rind cut into medium pieces
- 1 clove garlic pressed
- 1 cup stelline pasta or small shells, etc
- 2 cups cooked chicken shredded
- Kosher salt + white pepper
- Zest of 1 lemon + 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Parmesan + parsley for topping
Instructions
- PARMESAN BROTH: In a large soup pot, melt a tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add half the onions, chunks of carrots, and celery, and saute for 4 minutes. Add mushrooms, bay leaf, thyme, and cheese rinds. Let cook for another 4 minutes. When the cheese and vegetables start sticking to the bottom of the pot, start slowly pouring in the hot water as you stir and scrape to help deglaze the pan. When deglazed, add the remaining water and kosher salt. Bring to a simmer, stir and make sure nothing is stuck.
- SIMMER: Lower the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 50-60 minutes, stirring often to ensure the cheese isn’t sticking to the bottom. You should see steam billowing off the pot but no visible bubbling in the stock. Strain the broth, and set aside for now.
- SOUP: To the same soup pot, add the remaining tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of oil. Sauté the remaining onions, carrots, and celery with a pinch of salt for 7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add 8 cups of prepared stock and bring to a simmer. Add the shredded chicken and pasta and cook for 6-7 minutes or as indicated on the package, stirring often to keep the pasta from sticking.
- FINISH: When the pasta is done, turn off the stove, add the lemon zest and juice. Taste and adjust with salt as desired, you shouldn’t need too much more. Serve warm topped with parm and parsley on top.
Notes
- Quick tip: The pasta will soak a lot of the broth as it sits, so don’t discard the additional broth! Keep it to thin the soup as needed.
- Parmesan broth: you can easily make the broth a day or so in advance to speed up the process the day of. You can also replace the parmesan broth with 8 cups of chicken broth and simmer with two large rinds of parmesan in step 3, but the flavor is so much better with the from-scratch parm broth!
Nutrition
Calories: 417kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 14g | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g
