I love the general category of comfort food. You know what I mean: buttered toast. Cream of Wheat. Chicken noodle soup. I could go on and on. Sometimes it is the only thing that will do when you are feeling blue, or tired, or overwhelmed by the busy-ness of it all. Or maybe you just want to be 5 years old again, for a few minutes. Anyway, I have my little repertoire of meals (usually for just me!) that fall into this category, and I was delighted to run across a new one the other day in this book I just finished reading.
It is called I LOVED, I LOST, I ATE SPAGHETTI, by Guilia Melucci. For all of you who read EAT, PRAY, LOVE it is basically the same type of book, only this time the EAT and the LOVE parts are combined. And scattered throughout this book are Guila’s various recipes for this that and the other thing, mainly Italian dishes. I bookmarked five or six that I am going to try at some point, but this one I knew I wanted to make right away. It has been that kind of week!
The basic components are pretty simple: pastina, egg, butter, cheese, salt and pepper. It cooks up in about 5 minutes start to finish, and turns into a creamy, slightly cheesy concoction that needs to be eaten with a spoon. I ladled mine into my Peter Rabbit bowl, settled into my favorite chair outside, and immediately felt much better. So if you are looking for a good book to read give this a try:
I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI
And the next time you need a little pick-me-up, cook up some of this. Preferably served in a Peter Rabbit bowl.
Ingredients
Directions
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OMG…I am going to make this TOMORROW!
Well I didn’t make this today as I said I would (b/c of lack of Pastina) but I seriously had a DREAM about this last night. I was frantically searching for Pastina. That means I definitely need to make this soon.
Let me know how you like it! The second time I made it, I cut the pastina (and water) in half to let the egg play a bigger part in all of it — it was a little different but still SO great! By the way, I just love your blog. Your photography is spectacular, and someday I need to ask you how you get your pictures to display so nice and big on your blog…
I love pastina! I make a similar dish I just pulled out of my own wearied neurons one night, with pastina, low-fat Kraft, a dash of milk, and salt/pepper. Oh so delicious, it’s surely an Italian salve for frazzled brain cells. BTW, I hav a Peter Rabbit bowl, too. Oh, and a Raggedy Ann one, as well.
Raggedy Ann! Love her.
I loved this recipe! It was amazing! Except, I was really hungry so I doubled all the ingredients for a bigger serving! Thank you for posting this! My aunt makes this for me all the time when I’m sick but she never tells me the recipe! HA
just like my grandma made for me … gonna make this right now!!!
- elizabeth
I doubled the recipe, so I could share it with my toddler. We used little star shaped pastina, which really tickled the girls fancy.
I used chicken broth instead of water. We didn’t have parm cheese, so I threw a handful of mozza in instead.
Oh my god this was SO GOOD! I’m addicted.
My mom used to make this when I was sick! I’m actually going to make this for myself right now. LOVE.
My Grandma used to make this for me all the time. I cook it for myself and it brings me right back to my childhood in her kitchen. Hands down one of my all time favorite meals!
My grandma used to make this and it was the greatest thing ever ! she would make it a little soupier so add more water. Otherwise great recipe. could never get her to give me the recipe my italian family doesn’t believ in real measurements – only pinches, and smidgeons, etc…
My auntie used to make this for me and I never knew what it was called till a few weeks ago and can’t wait to try it