Pastina in Brodo, Christmas Edition (pasta in turkey broth) 

All Recipes
SERVES 4
  • 1 x small onion finely sliced
  • 1 x large carrot roughly diced (around 1 inch)
  • 1 x celery stick roughly diced (around 1 inch)
  • 200g chopped tin tomatoes
  • 200g leftover cooked turkey meat
  • 160g pastina pasta
  • 2 litres of cold water
  • Salt & Pepper

Growing up Pastina in Brodo was a regular dish in our household and each grandparent had their own version of how they made it. Nonna Strazzanti would add 1 small potato roughly cubed in hers to thicken up the brodo (broth) and at the very end she would add in one whisked whole egg and swirl it through the broth just before serving.

Our Nonno Forte would take a whole chicken, add in all the veg and let it simmer away for a good few hours so the broth took on all the flavours intensely. He would then remove the chicken and add in the pastina into the brodo and cook until perfectly al dente. We would then eat the pastina in brodo for our primo piatto and then the cooked chicken with salad and bread for our secondo piatto. Warm memories of our Sunday lunches together at home.

This recipe however, is what we would make days after Christmas when we had leftover turkey that needed to be used up but we wanted something a bit lighter and clean to eat. Some make turkey curry, we make Pastina in Brodo, our Christmas Edition.

Method

Take a large saucepan with a lid and place to one side. Prepare the vegetables by cleaning and chopping into roughly 1 inch cubes. We tend to keep the skin on the carrots and wash them really well to keep as many nutrients in as possible

Add the prepared onions, carrots, celery and tinned tomatoes into the saucepan and fill with approx 2 litres of water, a tsp of table salt and bring to a boil.

Tip* At this stage if you have any large turkey bones leftover, for example a wing then add this into the broth at this stage as it will enhance the flavour and depth of the broth.

Once the broth has come to a boil, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and add in the shredded cooked leftover turkey meat and cook for a further 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes of simmering, taste the broth for seasoning, if required add more salt. Take the pastina, or small pasta you may have. Nonno used to take the niggly leftover spaghetti we had lying around which wasn’t quite enough for a portion of pasta on its own and break that up into small pieces to save on any wastage and use that!

Tip* Remember the broth must be well seasoned with salt to cook the pasta properly. See our 5 top tips on how to cook pasta here.

Cook the pasta in the brodo for the cooking time stated on the pack. Once cooked, leave the brodo to rest for 10 minutes, before serving.

To serve, ladle the pastina in brodo into a large bowl, season with cracked black pepper, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and if you like it a grating of parmesan cheese.

Buon appetito!

Discover more recipes for your leftover turkey here. And why not try our Pistachio Panettone Bread & Butter Pudding recipe for your leftover panettone!

Share your experience & creations on your Instagram feed & stories: Tag us @strazzanti_co #strazzantiandfriends #eatlikeasicilian

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