Chicken Pastina Soup, sometimes referred to as Italian Penicillin, is made from a homemade broth made by simmering a whole chicken with celery, onion, parsley and carrots in salted water over a period of hours to break down collagen, while extracting flavor from the meat and bones to create a rich and flavorful broth. A small amount of the meat should be used for the soup, while the vast majority of the meat maybe set aside and used for another purpose that uses pulled chicken meat. I usually portion the meat into one pound portions, placing the pulled chicken in dated and labeled freezer bags.
Chicken Pastina Soup
Yield: 6
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 2 MinTotal time: 12 Min
Known, also as Italian penicillin, this soup is a nutritious meal or something to feed a cold or flu.
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, place chicken and cover with water. Add celery, carrots, onion, parsley, salt and pepper. Over medium heat, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer and cover. Continue simmer for one hour.
- Remove pot from heat and cool. Remove onion, celery, parsley and chicken from pot and set aside. Remove carrots, slice and return carrots to broth. Ensure all bones are removed.
- Chicken should be separated from bones and may be shredded and frozen for later use. Add 1 cup of shredded chicken to the broth. Return broth to medium heat, bring to a simmer, add pastina and cook for 6 minutes. If broth is completely absorbed by pasta, add 2 cups of water and one additional tablespoon of salt and additional pepper to taste.
- At any time soup lacks broth, 1 cup of water and can be added with 1 additional teaspoon of salt.