How to Make Chef John's Chicken Pastina
In this video, warm up with Chef John’s Chicken Pastina, a comforting, classic Italian soup perfect for cozy nights. This easy-to-make dish combines tender chicken, tiny pastina pasta, and flavorful chicken broth, so whether you’re battling a cold or just craving comfort food, this recipe will hit the spot.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Chicken Pastina.
00:08That's right, if you're a young kid in Italy and you don't feel good, there's a very good
00:12chance you're getting a bowl of this.
00:15Which makes sense, since few things are as comforting and delicious, and it just makes
00:19everything seem much better.
00:21And yes, it works exactly the same on adults.
00:25So with that, let's go ahead and get started by adding some bone-in skin on chicken thighs
00:29to a soup pot, since what I think we should do first is what we call in the business fortifying
00:35a broth.
00:36And to do that, we will add some carrot, celery, and onions to our chicken, along with a bay
00:40leaf and a couple cloves of garlic.
00:43And then what we'll do is pour in some ready-to-use chicken broth, as well as some cold fresh
00:47water.
00:48And then once everything's in, we'll bring this up to a simmer on high heat.
00:52And what happens if you simmer a ready-to-use chicken broth from the store with some actual
00:56fresh chicken in it?
00:58What you end up with tastes like a completely homemade broth, except maybe possibly even
01:03a little more flavorful.
01:05So what we'll do once this does come to a simmer is reduce our heat to about low, or
01:10whatever setting will maintain a nice gentle simmer.
01:13And we will simmer this for about an hour and a half, or until our chicken thighs are
01:16very tender, and we'd be able to pull the bone out with very little effort.
01:21And once that happens, we'll remove the chicken, and then strain the broth.
01:26And if everything goes according to plan, we should end up with about four cups of a
01:29very strong, very flavorful chicken broth.
01:33And if you're thinking, why not just use all water, and just add more of it, and just make
01:37a regular chicken broth?
01:39Well that would work, but most of the flavor would be pulled out of the chicken.
01:42And besides making the broth taste better, I want to be able to eat that meat later,
01:47whether it's cubed up in this soup, or for a chicken salad, or for some tacos.
01:51And by cooking it in some broth, it's going to stay way more flavorful.
01:55Okay, so basically this step is optional, but as I just explained by using this method,
02:00we get some delicious chicken meat to use later, and we've made store-bought stock taste
02:04like homemade.
02:06But in any event, no matter what broth you're using, we will bring four cups up to a simmer
02:10on medium-high heat, and we'll also season this with some salt, unless that's already
02:15been done.
02:16And that's it.
02:17Once our broth is simmering, we can reduce our heat to medium, and we can stir in whatever
02:21pastina we're going to use.
02:23And what I'm going to use is some stilina, which is star-shaped pasta, and a very classic
02:28choice.
02:29But as long as it's tiny, you can use any shape you want.
02:33I mean, you are after all the king or the queen of your chicken pastina.
02:38And what we'll do is go ahead and stir that in.
02:40And speaking of kings and queens, you know who didn't get to grow up eating this?
02:45Royalty.
02:46Oh yeah, sometimes a humble beginning can have its advantages.
02:50But anyway, once our pastina is in, we will cook this, stirring occasionally, for almost,
02:55but not quite the full time on the package.
02:57This one's said to cook for six minutes, but I'm going to start tasting and testing it
03:01about 30 seconds before that, since while we definitely don't want this undercooked,
03:06we certainly don't want it overcooked.
03:08And when we do turn off the heat to add the last few ingredients, it is going to continue
03:12to cook a little bit and soften up.
03:15So basically we want to stop and turn off the heat when it's about 95% there.
03:20And by the way, everybody has their own personal perfect ratio between the broth and the pasta.
03:24Okay, some people like it super brothy, whereas many versions you end up with almost no broth
03:29at all.
03:30And personally, I'm somewhere in the middle.
03:32And I think one cup of pastina to four cups of broth is ideal.
03:36But this is very simple to adjust to your tastes by simply adding more or less pastina.
03:42But either way, once that's cooked to our preferred doneness, we will turn off the heat
03:47and we will finish this with a very generous pinch of freshly ground black pepper, as well
03:51as a couple tablespoons of butter.
03:54And then last but not least, a very generous addition of freshly grated Parmesan.
03:58Oh yeah, the real stuff, Parmigiano Reggiano.
04:03And what we'll do is stir that in.
04:05And believe it or not, that's pretty much it.
04:08Alright, once our cheese is melted in, and that butter's disappeared, and also we've
04:12tasted it for seasoning, of course, which I didn't show, but probably should have, since
04:17that is key no matter what you're cooking, and a lot of people forget to do that.
04:22But anyway, once all that's happened, we'll grab a ladle and serve up into some hopefully
04:26hot bowls, since that's always a nice touch.
04:30And then usually this is garnished very simply with just another pinch of black pepper, plus
04:35a little more Parmesan, and probably a little drizzle of olive oil.
04:39But since we did a fortified broth, I had some flavorful chicken around, which I cubed
04:43up and browned in a pan to warm it up, and I'm going to dress this up with a couple spoons
04:48of that.
04:49Oh, and as you may have noticed, the texture of our pastine has actually thickened up just
04:53in the short time since we turned off the heat, which is why I tend to go a little bit
04:57towards the brothy side.
04:59And while I do think this is already beautiful, the colors are a little bit on the drab side,
05:04so I do like to garnish with a little bit of fresh hot chili pepper, just to brighten
05:08things up and add a little heat.
05:10And that's it.
05:11I finished up with one last grating of cheese, as well as a little drizzle of olive oil.
05:16And plain's fine, but I had some basil-infused olive oil from another recipe experiment I'm
05:21working on, so I spooned over some of that, and then garnished with a very small, incredibly
05:27adorable basil sprig, and my chicken pastina was ready to enjoy.
05:32So I grabbed a spoon and went in for the official taste, starting with a spoon of
05:36just the pastina and broth, and that, my friends, is like a big warm hug from an Italian grandma
05:42on a spoon.
05:43All right, there's many things we call comfort food, and then there are bowls of food like
05:48this, which quite literally will change your mood, and not just mood, your whole outlook
05:54on life.
05:55All right, if you've had a really bad day at work, don't mix up a drink.
05:59That only helps for a few minutes, and then you probably feel worse, whereas a big hot
06:03bowl of this not only has immediate positive effects, but also much more lasting effects.
06:10And pastina's so perfect for this time of year, when the days get shorter and everybody's
06:14a little bit melancholy.
06:16But having said that, this is so much more than just a mood elevator.
06:20All right, taste-wise and texturally, this is just an amazing thing to eat, and as long
06:25as you have some ready-to-use chicken broth around, you're only about 10 minutes away
06:29from enjoying something like this.
06:31And just because I dressed this up and tried to do a little more of a restaurant-style
06:35version, does not mean you have to.
06:37Okay, as I mentioned, this is usually just finished with olive oil, black pepper, and
06:41some cheese.
06:42But whether you serve that basic version, or toss on a few extra doodads like I did,
06:47this is something you should be making and eating on a regular basis, which is why I
06:51really do hope you give this a try soon.
06:55So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much
06:59more info, as usual.
07:01And, as always, enjoy!