Pastina with Egg and Cheese, Otherwise Known As Comfort Food
This simple recipe for pastina with egg and cheese, otherwise known as comfort food, will make everything feel a little better! Especially when eaten out of a Peter Rabbit bowl.
Jump to:
- ❤️ Why I love this recipe
- 🤔 What is pastina?
- 🧀 Ingredients you need
- Ingredient notes and substitutions 📝
- 💡 Ingredient substitution ideas
- 👩🏻🍳 How to make this recipe
- 🤔 Recipe FAQs
- 💕 Other comfort food recipes we love
- 🧐 We want to know what you think!
- Pastina with Egg and Cheese, Otherwise Known As Comfort Food
❤️ Why I love this recipe
I love the general category of comfort food.
As in poached eggs on buttered toast. Cream of Wheat. Scrambled eggs with little dollops of ricotta cheese.
Sometimes a warm bowl of comfort food 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 that fall into this category, and I was delighted to remember this one in this book I just finished reading.
The book 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.
And that is what this recipe is based on. Tiny pasta swirled with a little butter, cheese and an egg. It’s comfort food perfection that is ready in 15 minutes.
🤔 What is pastina?
Pastina is the tiniest pasta there is – it is little tiny dots of pasta that cook up quickly, and because of its tiny size it tends to be a little softer than most pasta.
Perfect with butter…and even better with the other ingredients in this recipe!
🧀 Ingredients you need
The basic components are pretty simple: water, 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.
Ingredient notes and substitutions 📝
- Pastina: And if you can’t find pastina, go for the tiniest pasta you can find. Little stars or even orzo.
- Egg: Any size egg will do.
- Butter: I like salted butter for this recipe, but unsalted will work too!
- Parmesan Cheese: Freshly grated if you can!
💡 Ingredient substitution ideas
Missing something or want to swap in something different? Check out the links below to find more ingredient substitution ideas. 👇🏻
👩🏻🍳 How to make this recipe
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
STEP 1: Bring one cup of water to boil in small saucepan.
STEP 2: Add pastina and salt and cook until most of the water is absorbed, 3-4 minutes or whatever the instructions on your box suggest.
STEP 3: Turn off heat and stir in egg, letting it cook in the hot pasta.
STEP 4: Add a little butter, a little grated Parmesan cheese and a little salt and pepper. Eat slowly out of your favorite bowl with your favorite spoon.
🤔 Recipe FAQs
Pastina can be a tricky thing to track down! First check your grocery store in the pasta aisle. If you can’t find it there, you can order a good-sized supply of pastina here. And all my friends and loved ones know that I go through it so fast that whenever they see it, they pick me up a box…or six!
You can use whatever kind of cheese makes you feel the most comforted! Just make sure it is a melty kind (like American or finely shredded cheddar) that will mix up into your pastina.
Pop your question in the comments section below and I will get back to you pronto!
I ladled mine into my Peter Rabbit bowl, settled into my favorite chair, and immediately felt much better.
So if you are looking for a good book to read give I Loved, I Lost, I Ate Spaghetti a try…and the next time you need a little pick-me-up, cook up some of this pastina. Preferably served in a Peter Rabbit bowl.
💕 Other comfort food recipes we love
🧐 We want to know what you think!
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section right below the recipe card.
Pastina with Egg and Cheese, Otherwise Known As Comfort Food
This simple recipe for pastina with egg and cheese, otherwise known as comfort food, will make everything feel a little better!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup pastina
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Bring one cup of water to boil in small saucepan.
- Add pastina and salt and cook until most of the water is absorbed, 3-4 minutes or whatever the instructions on your box suggest.
- Turn off heat and stir in egg, letting it cook in the hot pasta.
- Add butter, cheese and pepper. Eat slowly out of your favorite bowl with your favorite spoon.
- Feel much better.
Notes
Pastina: These teeny dots of pasta are always my favorite choice for this comfort food recipe, but if you can’t find pastina, any small pasta (stars, orzo, etc) will do in a pinch.
Egg: You will be able to see it, but the egg really will cook in the hot pasta – stir it around until you see it forming little bits of scrambled egg.
Tried it. Love it. Perfect comfort food when you are feeling less than 100%
Cyndy! I’m so glad you loved it – and hope you are 100% very soon. xo
Amazing! Just like nana use to make.
Love to make this on a rainy day and sit by the window.
Nana use to add just a little milk to it.
Deborah, thank you for this! I’m going to add a little milk to mine the next time I make it. :)
I love this recipe. I add a little milk, fresh parsley. Delish !!!! I’ve been eating this since I have been a child. Still has the same result, comfort and satisfaction.
Jennifer! Thank you so much – and we all need all the comfort these days, right? :)
Mom used to add some milk to it to increase the creaminess. Locatelli Romano cheese was the best with it!
That is a great idea Carl – I’m going to try that next time!
Looked good but no one should have to spend double the time pausing this video to see how the dish is made. Watching this overly jump cut cooking video felt more like I was in the throws of having a seizure than watching a video. I understand time constraints being imposed – however this under a minute nightmare turned out to be just that. A nightmare, good content otherwise – but wow what a difference a few extra seconds could make…
Laura, I’m very sorry you felt this way. I hope you enjoyed the pastina recipe despite your troubles with the video. It’s my favorite comfort food.
I needed a recipe to make lunch for school and i did not have any pastina ready made that i could heat up in the fridge so i looked online.
i recently became sick so this is good, and I hope it turns out like how my great grandmother, grandmother and mother make it!
Thank you for the recipe, Kate!
I hope you feel better very soon, and that this little recipe helps – things that our mothers and grandmothers made are always extra comforting! :)
I have never had anything like this, and it is delicious! Definitely comfort food – yum! A note to others that the tiny pasta I found actually takes about 8 min to cook, so check the box before just following the instructions here. I ended up with a delicious bowl of yum with a lot of bite to it! I also found I personally liked just a touch more flavor and added a little soup base to water the second time I made made it. Thanks for an awesome recipe!
Molly, that is such a good point – I’m going to adjust the recipe to mention that folks should look at the cooking instructions for whatever pastina they have – thank you! :)
Delicious. So comforting since I’m suffering with a upper respiratory problem.
Hi Jean! Thank you so much, and feel better soon! :)
Me too! I hope you feel better!!
Omg. This is sooooo good. Brings me back to my childhood. I’m glad I finally have the recipe. Thank you. Will be making this often. Such a nice dish for this snowy evening.
Isn’t it the best cold weather comfort food ever? :)
Omg. This is sooooo good. Brings me back to my childhood. I’m glad I finally have the recipe. Thank you. Will be making this often. Such a nice dish for this snowy evening.
Pastina is the very best for an “iffy” belly. I cook it 25 minutes so it is fully expanded, strain, add butter, some salt and shredded cheddar cheese …that’s it..so easy for your digestive system. Your belly will thank you..
It is definitely my go-to recipe when I’m not feeling 100%. :)
Still haven’t made this but really need to. I use a vegan/vegetarian ‘chicken’ stock to cook a lot of rice and pasta dishes. It’s also kosher. Manufacturer is Osem.
I like creamed tuna on toast for a comfort meal. Make a roux, add milk, tuna and frozen peas. Season with salt and pepper. Heat together and serve on your favourite toast.
I love your creamed tuna idea – will have to try that!
My go-to pastina recipe. Thanks!
Craig! Isn’t is just the best comfort food ever? :)
delicious! Will be making again!
Thanks Josie! It’s my all time favorite comfort food dish!
Wow! I’ve never had pastina in any form but I love Italian cuisine. I made this with chicken broth and omitted the salt. Did everything else as written. This is so good!! Thank you for sharing! :)
Thanks Hannah! We make it on repeat in my kitchen, especially as the weather gets chilly! :)
This is one of the few thing my mother made when I was a child and to this day it’s one of my favorite thing to eat
Hi Kim! Yes, isn’t it the best? I always keep pastina on hand because you never know when you are going to need some comfort food. :)