Pastina - Quickest Route Back to Nonna's Kitchen

Many of you who regularly read my poetry and non-fiction pieces will know that I have spoken about my late, great Nonna before. She was a tiny, but fierce, Italian woman that despite living in Scotland for many decades, held onto her broken English and Italian accent, almost defiantly.

What many of you will also know is that one of the things I loved about my dear little Nonna was that she was a stunning cook. She never cooked anything truly spectacular or cosmopolitan, because she came from a small Italian village, but (at least when she was younger and before her health declined) she cooked an array of pasta dishes and pizza from scratch.

It was an amazing treat for the senses, going to her house for lunch on a Sunday. It was more or less an open house for the family and she would regularly make lunch/dinner for around 15+ people, depending who was in the country and available. That included my mum's brothers and sisters and all of the cousins, when they eventually came along (I was, at least for a long time, the eldest cousin - as there was also another that had been given up for adoption before I was born).

Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to put together a poem for the Sensational Challenge, all about the different ways my senses were aroused when I visited her house. I may still do the poem.

So, a lot of her food was just great tasting, comfort food. And anytime I have a lasagne, pasta with a bolognese sauce or something I had at her house regularly like mortadella, salami, olives or espresso, I'm transported back there.

Which brings me on to one of my favourite dishes that she made regularly, not for a main meal but those times I visited throughout the week for a simple lunch. That meal we just simply referred to as pastina.

What is Pastina?

I am not going to go into a big history lesson but for anyone that doesn't know, pastina simply means "small pasta" and it's often little stars. That's the kind we had.

What Did Pastina by Nonna Consist of?

Here is the interesting thing...though pastina is called "small pasta" when Nonna or my mum would ask if we wanted pastina for lunch, she meant a specific dish. That was pastina with a light chicken broth (made using chicken stock cubes).

It turns out, this is a go-to dish for Italians when they felt ill or wanted a big bowl of warm comfort. Similar to having chicken soup.

Even my wife gets feelings of nostalgia when we eat pastina in chicken cube, because she remembers the times we would visit Nonna and we would have pastina in chicken stock, often followed by cold meats, with green beans and tomato in vinegar (another divine dish).

The Power of the Simplest of Dishes

I guess I love the fact that I don't need to make pasta, gnocchi, pizza or lasagne from scratch to be transported there. I just need to boil some water with a chicken stock cube and then add some small pasta (I've recently taken to using orzo, which is what is in the picture at the top of the page) and then I am there, sitting across from her. She's asking me if I want another bowl (whether I've just finished my first bowl, or my third - she was that kind of Nonna/Momma).

Nothing exceptional or elaborate - just small pasta, some chicken cube served in a bowl with some cheese grated over (Grana Padano or Parmesan is best) and I'm there.

Simple as that.

Thanks for reading!

Here are a couple of other pieces about my Nonna: