Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Tiny pieces of pasta, often cooked in soups or used as baby food.
Etymologies
- Italian, diminutive of pasta, pasta; see pasta.
Examples
“Acini di pepe, also called pastina, is Italian for peppercorns, and they look like tiny beads.”
“It will not work with conventional couscous, but pearl barley or pastina can be substituted and cooked according to the instructions on their packages.”
“Far superior to orza or rice or even pastina which should only be eaten when you are sick and mom keeps you home from school.”
“For this week's Presto Pasta Night, generously hosted each week by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast, I'll be using pastina”
“My nonna's chicken broth with pastina - that's my desert island dish.”
“So I've devised what you might call a mock risotto, in which acini di pepe (a pastina, or little pasta, named for its peppercorn shape) is cooked directly in the soup, absorbing all of its sweet, oniony flavor.”
“It wouldn't be French onion soup without the cheese, so I stir some grated Parmesan into the finished pastina and top it with a Parmesan crisp.”
“My grandmother always made “pastina soup” with it and because I can’t find Israeli couscous, I just use this instead.”
pearl couscous with olives and roasted tomatoes | smitten kitchen
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘pastina’.
-
Pasta! Pasta! Pasta!
Who knew unleavened dough and homey Italian know-how could taste so good?
...and look so great!ziti, vermicelli, tubetti, troffiette, tripolini, trennette, trenne, tortiglioni, tortelloni, tortellini, torchio, tonnarelli and 104 more...
-
A taste for small things
Diminutives
screamlet, pip, purrlet, mannikin, nipperkin, munchkin, dodkin, elfkin, bootikin, dudeen, boreen, jackeen and 40 more...
-
Open List: Forgotten Culinary Delights of Child...
pastina, sloppy Joes, Rice Krispie chicken, fake pizza, peanut butter on ..., butter on Saltines, peas and rice, chocolate crackles
reesetee Maybe your local stores don't carry it, but we still have it around here. Yum. :-) Mar 24, 2010
chained_bear Yes, I know that small pasta shapes are available, but I'm talking about the actual box that says "pastina" on it and contains small star-shaped pasta. You know, the kind I had as a child.
Guess I'll look for a box next time I'm in the old stomping grounds. Mar 23, 2010
bilby Pastine is a generic term for tiny pasta shapes. Well, here (in Italy) it is. The shapes themselves have specific names like stelline (star-shaped), tempestine (globs, IMHO), etc. They're certainly still available here :-) Mar 23, 2010
chained_bear I can't seem to find this anymore. Do they still make it? The little star-shaped things? This was a coming-home-from-kindergarten lunch that Mom used to make. Mar 23, 2010