3 Ways to Cook Pastina Pasta | Perfect for Kids, Guilty Pleasure for Adults

Pastina is a broad category of pasta shapes that all share one thing in common: they’re very tiny. These pasta shapes are traditionally used in Italy for babies and young children, because they’re easy to swallow and eat with a spoon. However, many grown-up Italians secretly love this “baby food” and consider it a delicious, guilty pleasure treat!

Below we’ve shared three different pastina recipes that are great for kids, but you’re sure to love them, too. They’re ridiculously simple, quick and easy to make, using very few ingredients but delivering big results.

Watch the Pasta Grammar Video

Pastina Shapes

There are a ton of different pastina shapes to choose from. Some of the most popular are stelline (“little stars”), acini di pepe (“peppercorns”), ditalini (“little thimbles”), and corallini (“little coral”). All will work great with any of these recipes.

 

Pastina al Latte Recipe

This dish is made with pastina cooked and served directly in milk, then seasoned with plenty of cheese. Italian mac and cheese!

Makes: 1 adult serving, 2 kids’ servings

Cook Time: 20 minutes

For this recipe, you will need:

• 1 ½ cups (355 milliliters) whole milk, or to taste
• Salt
• A pinch of grated nutmeg (optional)
• 3 ounces (85 grams) pastina pasta
• Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, to taste
• A drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

Heat the milk in a small pot over medium heat and season it with a few big pinches of salt. Optionally, add a pinch of grated nutmeg as well. Once the milk begins to simmer, add the pasta and stir.

Reduce the heat and keep the milk simmering but not boiling, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente to your taste. As the pasta nears completion, you can add more warm milk as needed if you would like a soupier result. Just be aware that the pasta will thicken substantially in the next step.

Turn off the heat and stir in plenty of grated Parmigiano (you can never have too much) and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately.

 

Pastina al Pomodoro Recipe

Every Italian kid’s first tomato pasta. By cooking the pastina like a risotto and adding vegetable broth to the tomato sauce, you’ll end up with what might be one of the best tomato pasta dishes you’ll ever try.

Makes: 2 adult servings, 4 kids’ servings

Cook Time: 30 minutes

For this recipe, you will need:

• About 6 cups (1.5 liters) vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) extra-virgin olive oil
• 14 ounces (400 grams) canned whole peeled tomatoes or tomato passata
• Salt
• 6 ounces (170 grams) pastina pasta
• Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, to taste

Heat the vegetable broth in a small pot. It doesn’t need to boil, but should be kept warm. Meanwhile, add the olive oil and tomatoes into a small pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, covered, crushing the whole tomatoes (if you use whole peeled tomatoes) as they soften. Season with salt to taste.

Add the pastina directly into the tomato sauce and stir. Ladle in enough vegetable broth to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook the pastina as if it is a risotto, simmering it and occasionally ladling in more broth as the sauce thickens, until the pasta is al dente to your taste. As the pasta nears completion, you can stop adding broth to let the sauce thicken to the consistency you prefer.

Turn off the heat and stir in plenty of Parmigiano cheese. Serve immediately, topped with a grating of extra Parmigiano.

 

Pastina con il Formaggino Recipe

Formaggino is a type of soft, spreadable cheese that comes in little pre-packaged wedges. If you can get your hands on some, it makes a delicious and cheesy pasta sauce when dissolved in pasta water!

Makes: 1 adult serving, 2 kids’ servings

Cook Time: 20 minutes

For this recipe, you will need:

• Salt
• 3 ounces (85 grams) pastina pasta
• 2 wedges of formaggino cheese

Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt it generously. Add the pastina pasta and cook until al dente to your taste.

Meanwhile, place the two wedges of formaggino cheese in the serving bowl (or one wedge in each bowl if preparing two kids’ servings). Spoon in some pasta water and stir, mashing the cheese until it dissolves. Keep adding more pasta water until the mixture is the consistency of whole milk.

When the pasta is cooked, reserve some of the pasta water and drain it through a fine mesh sieve. Add the pasta into the formaggino sauce. It should be quite soupy—if you wish to thin the sauce even further you can add some of the reserved pasta water. Serve immediately.

Buon appetito!