03/22/21 | 30 Minutes or Less, Recipes & Tips, Side Dish

Pastina is an old family classic that will become a favorite in your household too! It’s an Italian classic comfort food that makes a perfect side dish, lunch for the kiddos, or even a lighter full meal! 

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Pastina is a small tiny pasta it is also called acini de pepe as well. It is not the same as orzo or couscous. Sometimes it can be difficult to find but it should be in the pasta section near all the other pasta!

Pastina literally means pasta in Italian. It can also be called acini de pepe which translates to “berries of the pepper” and can refer to “tiny pearls” which is what pastina looks like.

Acini de pepe is similar to pastina.

As with most Italian recipes, the ingredients are simple – pasta, some cheese, lemon, and an egg. The pasta is sometimes labeled as Pastina or it can be labeled as Acini de Pepe {which actually means grains of pepper or something}, I’ve seen it both ways! It’s just tiny round balls of pasta, you’ve probably seen it in recipes like Frog Eye Salad.

My mom, aunt or grandmother would make this for me and my cousins whenever we were sick. Sometimes it would be how I made it, most often they made it with american cheese, and sometimes it would be more brothy like a soup.

Stir occasionally.

You won’t be draining the liquid out of the pot, so make sure to keep an eye on the pot so that the liquid doesn’t evaporate.

Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Personally, I like to add in a lot of lemon juice.

These are essentially the same thing and can be interchanged in recipes without fail. Pastina is Italian for “tiny pasta” and can be thought of as a category for smaller pastas like acini de pepe, orzo, and those tiny pasta pieces you find in ABC soup (as examples).

You will often find pastina pasta in the grocery store’s pasta section in a small box labeled Acini De Pepe. A small box of it is about 12 ounces.

While we will be adding a raw egg into the mixture, the residual heat of the dish and the acidity of the lemon juice will cook the egg. Make sure to work swiftly and efficiently to make sure that the instructions are followed and the egg is safely cooked for consmption.

Egg whites help to work as a binder in baking recipes but in this pasta dish it helps to add to the creamy and thick texture of the dish. Giving it a subtle and rich flavor while leaving behind a velvety smooth texture that works great with the melted cheese.

If you can find this tiny noodle a good (and easy) sub to try is Orzo pasta. While it’s not the same shape, it is still a small pasta that should cook relatively the same. Just keep an eye on the liquid in the pot as it cooks because it may need a bit more than the smaller pasta balls.

Orzo is pasta just like acini de pepe but it is shaped like an oval instead of a small ball.

You can substitute acini de pepe with pastina or orzo. Orzo won’t be the same but it will still be delicious.

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