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Please do some research on companies like Fetch Rewards. They store and sell your name, address, purchase history, billing method and God knows what else. And you're encouraging your viewers to give this company access to their EMAILS
@@TheKheumiller you know he was being sponsored so he had to say it? I mean just me I would take any sponsors I can get my hands on if it doesn’t seem sketchy. I would never guess it would do that, you can’t blame him because he is making money from sponsors.
I don't know why but I never thought in 1,000 years that I would see a prosperous food RU-vidr make a recipe video about "Pastina" - The food my mother used to cure all of my illnesses. To me, it is the most humble of Italian pasta dishes and I never thought of it as "food" as much as "something you can stomach when you don't have an appetite" because it's simple and delicious. Thank you for showing everyone this Italian home "remedy"!
What's interesting is that pretty much every culture rely on "porridge with light broth" of various thickness when dealing with feeding the sick. For example, Chinese and Japanese utilize plain congee (differ in thickness - think JP utilize 1:7 ratio instead of 1:14). HongKongers adapted macaroni in broth, etc.
I'm a 75 year old Italian and my mom would make Pastina for me when I was sick. She'd boil it in water till done, drain and add warm milk and honey...almost worth getting sick for.
@@carlcat did your mom lest the milk absorb at all, or was it served as more of a pastina soup? I'd love to try this. Sounds like it'd be great to come home and make to warm up in winter
that sounds amazing! hey im sorry but do you have a recipe for this? my family’s nose allergies have been acting up and i’d love to make some for everyone!
@@toprak3479 The state of Florida is known as "The home of the newly wed, and nearly dead". Such analogies aren't terrible. They're pretty commonplace.
Like what a lot of other people are saying, I did not imagine I would ever see pastina on a cooking channel. Cool, absolutely. Differs somewhat form how my mother would make it, and how I now make it. I make more more of a soup, with plenty of broth, making it creamy with butter, Parm, and Laughing Cow cheese. That's my not so secret ingredient. But, I still end up with the same consistency if I have leftovers lol. The pasta absorbs all the broth in the fridge.
Yeah I’m right there with you. Really really nostalgic seeing this made on this channel. But like you, my grandma would always make it as a soup like thing whenever I or my siblings were sick and couldn’t go to school. Always felt like a magical cure-all
The amount of times I used to eat this growing up sick at my grandmas house. What a walk down memory lane. I actually still make it, I like to put some calabrian chilis in it and then a teaspoon of the packing oil drizzled on top.
Yes, that’s how my mother and grandmother did it-much more broth so it stayed like a soup. I used to love to drink the broth first, then eat the pastina. Only had it when I was sick, but it’s so good I would have been happy to eat it anytime. The last time I ate it was probably over 40 years ago! I’ll have to make some soon, and I’m not waiting until I get sick! Thanks Adam for reminding me of an old favorite!
I doubt you'll see this but it's worth a try. Dude. For real, you saved tonight's dinner. I live with 2 friends and today is my day to cook for the house. Money has be very tight and I have not been able to buy much in groceries. I decided to use this video as an idea for what I can use to tonight's dinner. I could defiantly make some improvements with what I made but I am glad I could make dinner with zero issues.
Wow all I did was read the title of this video and my eyes welled up with tears. Total Ratatouille moment. Pastina was a staple of my Boston-Italian childhood but haven't heard it mentioned in years- or really ever outside of my family
i am going to try to make this too. i think i will like it, because i've always liked "foods that you eat when you are sick" such as rice porridge like you mentioned earlier. i agree that all cultures have their own home comfort foods :)
Who else grew up on this? Miss my Italian grandparents. I would run through the garden eating flowers and then come in to a bowl of pastina or some other pasta dish.
This was a staple at my Nonna's house for us finicky little kids. It brings back so many memories, and makes me miss my grandparents so much as well. Food is such a cool way to remember our loved ones.
Reminds me a lot of the τραχανάς (trahanas) we eat in Greece. Same basic shape and cooked in more or less the same way (often with tomato sauce and feta mixed in and an egg on top), but instead of just pasta trahanas is made by mixing fresh pasta dough with yogurt and then drying and preserving. It gves any dish that uses it this wonderful tang. It's a fantastic ingredient that sadly does not get as much love as it should in modern Greek cooking.
OH MY GOODNESS! ADAM! I have not had this since I was a kid sick at home with the flu in the 90s. My Grandma made it for me whenever I was sick with anything and it brings so much joy to my heart to see it here on this channel that I love. Wow. Just wow! This was a really nice video that hit all the feels. Thank you so much for this!!!
My nonna used to make pastina for me all the time, not just when I was sick! Although it wasn't as refined as your recipe. It was usually just small pasta (and there's a lot of different kinds) boiled in broth with maybe some cheese and that's it. And I loved it! On the other hand a lot of people I know here in Italy wouldn't touch pastina with a ten foot pole. "Oh, it's hospital food! It's sick/poor/old people food!" I think pastina gets a bad wrap and if your video can make it shine like it deserves it makes me real happy!
I've rarely seen people make pastina like it's a risotto, but it's very interesting. Honestly, you're making me want to try this out, see how well it comes out.
@@Broockle do it like tortellini, with more broth/water. I love it much more watery, and you can add those wonderful melty cheese triangles usually intended for children (like formaggino Tigre, but I think every country has those in one way or another) PS never (NEVER!) strain it, they would get very sticky
@@antonioscendrategattico2302 oo like soup ye tru. @Beniamino, I make tortelinni the pasta way usually by straining. Sometimes I then still treat them like jiaozi/gyoza and fry them with msg lol.
I've been sitting at home with COVID... and watching your vids. The funny coincidence is... I was sitting here this morning wishing my mom was here to make me a bowl of Pastina this morning. She would make it like your fist iteration but without the egg. Happy memories with that. Thanks.
Pastina always gives me nostalgic feelings. My mom would make it with butter for me and my brother whenever we had an upset stomach late at night. always hit the spot.
You know, it isn't very often that I actually learn anything from food tubers, but this is the first time I'm hearing about this sort of dish. It must be super common in Italian homes but I don't come from one of those.
Grew up Sicilian and while every family will make this a bit differently, you brought me back to my childhood. Almost looked forward to being sick as a kid to have pastina with butter and cheese
My nonna used to make this for me when my parents went to work. When I was a toddler I apparently just grabbed fistfuls of it and got it all over, so there are pictures of little me with pastina stars in my eyelashes. Thank you for reminding me to find those with my mom :)
Omg! My Italian Grandmother made this for us,yes, when we were sick, she made us pastina , with a little butter and grated cheese stirred in! Pure comfort!
In Hungary we literally have this, it's called Tarhonya. We use it in the same context as rice. My family's tarhonya is usually not this wet though, it's definitely more on the dry side.
This video brings back memories of us kids being sick at home and taking a few days off of school. Mom would serve us Pastina boiled in water with butter melted in and a glass of ginger ale and we did indeed pretend it was 'caviar and champagne' lol. Such decadence. To this day I still catch myself sometimes sticking my pinky out when drinking from my cup, and I'm 38 years old now lol.
Interesting! I never heard of pastina as a savory dish. As a kid I would have it has a sweet breakfast meal where you cook it, drain, add milk (cold milk but the pasta is still hot so it evens out to being warm) and syrup then eat.
I've always enjoyed it cooked with salt and water, a single chicken bulion cube added during the cooking process, and then serving it with some nice cool milk to balance out the temperature (so it is still warm) and flavor. It is absolutely the perfect balance of savory and sweet comfort for me!
I might have been happier when I was still curious about the meaning of the ending graphic. But now my brain recites 'Vinegar Leg Is On The Right'. Every time. Every time, Dr. Pavlov Ragusea. I can't tell anymore whether I'm drooling because of the recipe.
My mom's side is Italian, and I used to have this every time I was sick growing up. I never even considered that it was a specific cultural thing passed down.
We have a huge Italian community in Argentina and we have Vitina which is a brand of pastina and we also grew up having it when we were sick. I still love it so much!
I actually drain pastina. I know it's kind of weird, but I just mix it up with butter and salt (mostly when I'm not feeling well) and it is perfect. I have chronic migraines and at some point the headache becomes a catch 22 where if I don't eat I have a headache, but the headaches make me feel sick so I don't eat. I've found only two meals that can solve this issue without making me feel worse. One of these foods being pastina. Guess it doesn't matter how you eat it as long as it tastes good.
My grandmother used to make this for me. Chicken broth, parmesan, and butter. I was such a picky kid, she told me it was just plain pasta with nothing in it. I told my mother, who was stuck between the rock and the hard place of keeping up the lie or disappointing me xD
Jesus this video hit some of my nostalgia. my mom used to make this when I was really little and it was cold out. been years since I even thought about this
The Italian side of the family used to push "Dot Soup" for illness, the pasta is cooked in chicken stock, preferably homemade. To this day, I still crave this soup when I'm feeling ill
I actually make something really similar with orzo, if you brown the pasta before cooking it adds a really good flavor, though you have to be careful not to burn it
Oh man I used to do this as a kid, tiny pasta in chicken broth until it made a porridge like consistency and always thought I was insane for liking it! I feel so validated now!
My picky boyfriend will love this. With a bunch of veggies. I’m thinking some Spinach, shrooms, shallots, garlic, tomatos, and squash. Gonna definitely give this a try. Thanks!
I love seeing this! Our family makes it like a soup and the egg goes in like egg drop soup. Super easy feel good food! But leftover, it’s just like the porridge version and is fantastic.
I am Italian and i approve this video. When feverish, Pastina was the only thing i could eat without throwing up. It has been a long time, i think I will take inspiration from your veggie-pastina and try my own!
My greek family made it pretty much the same way. But more stock so it was more like a soup. We also had star shaped just like Adam mentioned. And we ate it with block of feta. Great video.
Mexican here! Never knew this type of pasta was used like this, I’ve only ever seen people use it in soup, kind of like noodle soup with chicken stock.
Definitely need to try this. But when you said “veggies you can buy just one of” and there was celery, I instantly said liar because I’ve never been to a store where the smallest amount of celery you could buy wasn’t like a whole freaking pound. That’s why I never buy it because I can maybe use 2 sticks before it all goes bad
I chop the celery and blanche, dry and freeze it loose on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, I bag and label it. It does not stay crunchy like fresh, but the flavor is good and works in cooked dishes. Never let food go bad. Always try freezing, or dehydrating to save food.
Here are my unsolicited tips for preserving celery: - assuming the celery you buy at the store has leaves that haven't already gone mushy, as soon as you get home take the celery out of the bag. Shake off excess moisture and then wrap up the celery in paper towel and put it bag in the bag. This will wick away moisture and prolong the life of the celery - instead of breaking off individual ribs of celery, take what you need off the top. Meaning, cut across all the ribs as much as you need. Since the cut part will always degrade fastest, replacing the cut part with a new fresh cut also extends the life. I honestly can keep a bag of celery viable in the fridge for over a week or more.
Also, I’ve seen containers of pre-chopped vegetables like celery, onion and carrot. It might be more than you need for the recipe, and definitely more expensive than buying by the bunch, but you could blanch and freeze the leftovers. Or buy the bunch and just use more in your cooking. Onion, celery and carrot are the fundamental building blocks of a whole host of recipes.
My mom used to make this for my brother and I all the time. My brother's always been picky and this was an easy way to get more protein into him by adding more egg. We called it bustine. Don't know why but we did.
Heard about this on the pod and am excited to make this. Despite what some rude commenters apparently said, I think your wife is charming, and I’m happy to see how y’all riff off of each other! 🙂
I honestly thought that was the best podcast yet. It seemed so much more earnest and interesting without a script and his wife is a delight. I hope they do more of them together.
I really hope that they follow up on the funding research. I would love to see a trend of crowd funded research presented presented the in a easily digestible way.
There was a reddit post a week or so ago about "earthquake pasta" that someone had a dream about. Putting spaghetti in a blender before cooking. Turns out that's a real thing!
Loved the video, and I can confirm that whenever my sister or I were sick, our mom would make us pastina with chicken & carrots and that's basically the only time we ever ate it. It's engrained itself in my mind as something that ONLY gets eaten when you're sick.
Gotta love how Adam closes his eyes for a moment and seizes up a bit the second he tastes that pastina - it's like he got sent straight back to the past to his younger days
I used to have a great babysitter by the name of Mrs. Jane. She'd make me a soup that I absolutely loved, and for years I've wondered what the dish was called. I'd always assumed it was a lentil based soup from Argentina (Mrs. Jane was Argentinian). However, after watching this video, I'm almost certain that this is the same dish with more stock! I thought I'd never get to experience that soup again- especially since Mrs. Jane passed away while I was still a child. This video has brought back many fond memories of her. Thank you for this video, Adam.
In Italy we usually cook pastina in broth - like in a soup - rather than making a porrigy risotto thing. One better and easy version are grattini or stracciattella. It's pastina but with egg pasta. You make fresh pasta dough and you basically put it in a food processor and blend it until small pasta bits are obtained. They are then boiled in broth like pastina and they taste soooo good, I promise!
@@JorgTheElder because it's not rocket science, it's baby food. Usually when it gets like this, it's because you forgot it on the stove for a while lol. But if you don't believe me, read the other comments
This takes me back to my childhood. Never had it when I was sick but it was a great comfort food with just butter and salt. I would say this is one of the first foods I made in my childhood. Seeing it right now makes me want to go to the store and get a couple of boxes so I can make some more in the future.
In Portugal we have a chicken 🐔 soup - canja - made mostly in a similar fashion, same pasta, but with more water, shredded chicken meat, egg yolk or all egg cooked, chicken guisard and liver and heart. Served hot with big fresh mint leaves. Best medicine ever ❤️🇵🇹
Here in Brazil, like in Italy, as you mentioned, it's tradition to eat this whenever you're sick. We call it "canja" and it basically consists of pastina along with chicken, some veggies and some not so strong spices. Preferably, let your grandmother cook it for extra flavor
Used to eat this all the time for lunch when I was a kid. Days off from school were spent at Grandma & Grandpa's house down the street and my grandma would always make a very simple pastina and a skinned hot dog for me for lunch. Her version was super simple. I'm pretty sure it was just the pasta with a little salt and water, with a bit more butter added at the end to make up for not having other mix-ins. I never got the recipe or technique from her before she passed because I wasn't old enough to cook a lot, unfortunately. A few years ago though, I managed to figure out how she did it (or close enough). I expand on it a little but it's in the right ballpark. It's a great comfort food that reminds me of those days.
Big fan of the porridge style foods for being sick. My mom would make me a chicken lemon mint rice porridge. Still one of my favorite comfort foods, and it's hecka easy too.
i used to eat this all of the time growing up!!! i haven’t had it in forever…. i hadn’t seen a single person on the internet talk about it before this!!!! awesome video
My Sicilians grandmother would make this when we're sick! Only she boiled the pasta until soft then added milk & butter at the end. It's like an Italian version of cinnamon toast.
My nephew grew up calling this "Grandma's Porridge" and probably never realized until his teen years that it wasn't the same thing Goldilocks and the Three Bears ate. An everyday food in this house!
hi i am from Algeria, love your channel we have this kind of pasta too, it is called "berkoukes". it can be prepared with meat and veggies sometimes as a soupe but i like it when it is prepared simply with carrots and chickpea. we used to buy it from a lady who prepare the pasta traditionally by hand and it used to be a tradition in every home now it isavailable at every supermarket.
Weird that I earlier this week I was thinking about how my mom used to make Pastina for me when I was sick and that I haven't had it in years. I've never seen it mentioned by anyone online before. I honestly thought it was something her family made up because she told me once that she would eat it when she was sick as a kid also. We are a mostly Italian-American family so it makes perfect sense! Whenever I was really sick my mom would make it with milk for me and I swear that stuff was like magic! Thanks for the nostalgia! Also, never considering making a whole meal out of it. I'll have to try it sometime!
Breakfast of champions. I grew up on it, as did my kids. Not unknown as a comfort dinner on a cold day. Acini de pepe works well; it's a staple in my pantry.
In albania we call it teron and we only add the pasta in boiling water salt and let it till the pasta fuses with the water and we mostly cook it for little kids
We Mexicans have sopa de fideo made with a tomato broth :) can be made with any pasta shape really. I have seen a melon seed shaped small pasta I might have tried it once. Stores sell smaller packets (6-8 oz) designed for making a small/medium pot of this soup. I can devour the entire thing throughout a cold day 😋 Made with actual tomato is so much better than the Knorr instant packet version that is pure salt and flavoring powder, although I do still add tomato bouillon cubes/powder anyway cause I'm used to that flavor. I like to add canned diced tomato to mine sometimes. Also a good way to get rid of a little leftover pasta sauce if you don't mind the difference in flavor whatever is added into the pasta sauce imparts (basil or whatever). Sometimes my mother will fry some onion before adding the pasta and then the water. She used to blend up other veggies to hide in there too when I was a kid. Similarly to the pastina you can have it thicker or soupy and it is quite nice when you're sick, you can make the broth lighter not as intense tomato flavor if your tummy is sensitive. Maybe pair with a quesadilla. A language note: some people also refer to what people might call "Spanish rice" or "Mexican rice" as "sopa" or "sopita". Keep that in mind when someone invites you to their abuelita's house :) it might not necessarily be the sopa de fideo but instead rice. Some people's rice sopa is wetter than others, sometimes even a little mushy (not my favorite...). I would call that arroz batido (like they beat it, over-stirred) and not what I expect especially in a restaurant it is unappealing. Just my opinion :) it's less of a problem for me if it's arroz con leche which is sweet.
im glad there's a term for this that's not 'congee but with pasta'. I use quick cook couscous, just to offend the maximum number of people, but its absolutely my go to on a lazy day. If you wanna piss even more people off, you can make it in a big mug in the microwave. Chop veg, add with stock or stock powder and water and seasoning, microwave until veg is done, add in pasta, stick back in for a minute or two, cover, and let rest. Dinner. Not going to call that version pastina though, don't want to upset people.
Great recipe! Looks delish. As an Italian man I still love this dish, always have it with chicken stock (homemade or store bought). I always add olive oil and parmesan and sometimes a couple of slices of processed cheese at the end. It's more of a soup in the way I usually have it (more broth/stock). It's super comfy for cold days ✨
My Nonna used to make this for me every single time I stayed home sick from school. She'd use less water so that it's pretty much just the pasta and instead of mixing in the egg, she'd just plop one on top. An absolute comfort food
I make something like this, but with Angel hair pasta broken into one or two inch pieces, finished with a good amount of lemon juice and a good grind of pepper. Great with lots of broccoli.
My nana always used to make pastina as a soup rather than a porridge. Not that I think she represents authentic Italian cooking, of course! She'd never add butter - she hated milk products. Although your recipe looks really appealing.
In Hungary, we have have something similar, a pasta called "tarhonya", it is cooked somewhat like this with some tomato paste for color, eaten mostly with stewed meats.
Love that second one. One small idea that you can choose to ignore: since you often do recipes several ways, I'd love if one of them was often/always vegan. Sorted used to do that sometimes, and as a vegan watching a normal cooking channel, I love it. I do appreciate that you said "do this to make it vegan" though. That's all I can really ask for I guess haha. I enjoy the content either way.
I have recently noticed this pasta in the grocery store and wondered. Neat to see both a preparation style and also the number of peope who have many fond memories of it.
