Vegetable Soup with Pastina

For this week's Presto Pasta Night, generously hosted each week by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast, I'll be using pastina





Pastina is a tiny pasta used for soups, more commonly found in a star shape.

Keeping with its traditional use I've made a very simple but nourishing soup using beef stock, onions, carrots, red capsicums, peas and zucchini flowers



Vegetable Soup with Pastina

Pastina
1 red onion, finely sliced
2 carrots, diced
1 red capsicum, diced
peas
zucchini flowers, stamen removed and roughly chopped
beef or vegetable stock or even water

Sauté the onion, carrot and capsicum in a little olive oil and butter - cook slowly to allow the flavours to develop and the vegetables to soften and only slightly colour.

Add the hot stock and allow to simmer until the vegetables are almost done. Add the peas and pastine and simmer until both are tender. Remove from the heat and stir through the zucchini flowers.




Pour into bowls and serve at once.

Because this is a fresh pasta it cooks really quickly. It also will expand on sitting - so when reheating you'll need to add more liquid.