30 Minute Meals
Creamy Pastina Soup with Sausage
Prep
10 minutes
Cook
25 minutes
Yield
4
This cosy Pastina Soup mixes zesty lemon, savory sausage, and a silky parmesan–egg finish for the ultimate comfort bowl. It’s bright, hearty, and ready in no time!
There’s just something magical about a pot of pastina bubbling away on the stove, especially when you level it up with lemon, parm, and savory sausage. This dish is so comforting and has the perfect little zing. It’s creamy, bright, and ridiculously satisfying; you’re going to want to make it on repeat this winter.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Creamy Pastina Soup with Sausage
- Comforting: This Pastina Soup is the ultimate comfort food but is not boring with its flavor. It has silky eggs, melty parm, and sunny lemon make every spoonful cozy but lively.
- One Pot: You know I’ll always look for a dish that requires minimal dishes. This dish is just that. Make it with a few quick steps, and one pot.
- Customizable: You can make this soup your own by swapping the kind of sausage, adding (or removing) the lemon, and tweaking it to your taste.
🍲 Ingredients
Lemon: Lemon brightens the whole pot soup with its fresh, zesty kick. It’s loaded with vitamin C, which can help support your immune system (perfect for this time of year) and is great when you’re craving something cozy and nourishing. Plus, that hint of lemon cuts through the richness and keeps the soup feeling light.
Parmesan Cheese: Freshly grated parm gives the broth its silky, velvety texture and that savory flavor. It’s a good source of protein and calcium, and because it’s aged, it’s often easier to digest than other cheeses. A little goes a long way, but honestly… is there ever a time that you don’t want more parm?
👩🍳 How to Make Pastina Soup
- To a large pot over medium heat add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (use 2 tablespoons if using chicken sausage). When the oil is hot, add the sausage meat (removed from the casing) and cook, breaking up into pieces, until cooked through.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the sausage from the pot to a bowl – set aside. Remove excess oil from the pot, leaving about 2 tbsp oil.
- Add the diced onion and cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Then add the minced garlic, lemon zest, chili flakes and kosher salt and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the cooked sausage back to the pot along with the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, add the pastina and then lower the heat to keep at a simmer. Cook according to package directions, about 5-7 minutes typically (adjust depending on the type of pastina you buy).
- While the pastina is cooking, in a medium bowl whisk the freshly grated parmesan cheese, lemon juice and 2 eggs until mostly smooth.
- When the pasta is cooked, remove the pot from the heat. Scoop out ½ cup of the soup broth (if you get some pastina in there that’s ok!). Slowly pour the broth into the parmesan-egg mixture, whisking constantly to combine.
- Add the egg mixture back into the pot of soup, constantly stirring until combined. Finish by stirring in 2 tablespoons of butter until melted.Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, a big pinch if desired! Serve in bowls topped with fresh dill and lots of fresh ground pepper.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Toast the aromatics: Let the garlic, lemon zest, and chili flakes warm up in the oil just long enough to get fragrant. By doing this, you’ll build way more flavor without adding extra steps.
- Temper slowly: When adding the hot broth to the egg–parm mixture, go slow and whisk like you mean it. This keeps things silky instead of scrambled.
- Watch the pastina closely: These tiny noodles cook fast, so keep an eye on the pot to avoid mushy noodles.
- Season at the end: The parm and sausage add salt, so give the soup a taste before adding more.
- Don’t skip the dill: It may seem like a garnish, but that fresh pop makes the whole bowl taste brighter and more balanced.
- Leftovers: The pastina will keep soaking up broth as it sits, so be ready to splash in a bit more stock when reheating.
🗒 Variations
Soup can be pretty forgiving, here are some easy swaps:
- Add Veggies: Toss in spinach, kale, peas, or finely diced carrots for a boost of colour and nutrients. They cook quickly and play nice with the lemony broth.
- Swap the Sausage: Try spicy Italian sausage for extra heat, turkey sausage for something lighter, or go meatless with white beans for protein and creaminess.
- Pasta Shape: Any tiny pasta works. Stars, alphabets, acini di pepe, or orzo.
- Herbs: Instead of dill, try basil, parsley, or chives depending on what you’ve got kicking around.
🍽️ Best served with
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container (once cooled) for up to 4 days. The pastina will absorb the liquid over time so when you reheat you may want to add some additional broth.
🤔 Common Questions
Pastina soup is a cozy Italian dish made with tiny pasta simmered in a simple, soothing broth, often finished with lemon, cheese, or eggs. It’s nicknamed “Italian penicillin” because it’s the traditional comfort food Italians reach for when they’re sick, much like chicken noodle soup
Uou can make it vegetarian or even fully vegan with a few easy swaps. Use veggie broth, skip the sausage (or use a plant-based one), and for a vegan version replace the eggs and parmesan with a squeeze of lemon, a bit of miso or nutritional yeast, and a touch of olive oil.
To keep your pastina from turning into mush, cook it just until al dente and pull the pot off the heat right away (they cook fast). For leftovers, store the pasta and broth separately if you can, or just add a splash of extra broth when reheating to loosen things back up.
Creamy Pastina Soup with Sausage
Ingredients
- 1-2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 sausages, sausage meat removed from the casing (we like using Italian sausages or chicken sausages)
- 1 small white or yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- ¼ tsp chili flakes
- 1 tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 3/4 cup pastina pasta
- ½ freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 – 1 1/2 lemons, juiced (3-4 tbsp lemon juice)
- 2 tbsp butter
- fresh dill and ground pepper to garnish
Instructions
- To a large pot over medium heat add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (use 2 tablespoons if using chicken sausage). When the oil is hot, add the sausage meat (removed from the casing) and cook, breaking up into pieces, until cooked through.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the sausage from the pot to a bowl – set aside. Remove excess oil from the pot, leaving about 2 tbsp oil.
- Add the diced onion and cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Then add the minced garlic, lemon zest, chili flakes and kosher salt and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the cooked sausage back to the pot along with the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, add the pastina and then lower the heat to keep at a simmer. Cook according to package directions, about 5-7 minutes typically (adjust depending on the type of pastina you buy).
- While the pastina is cooking, in a medium bowl whisk the freshly grated parmesan cheese, lemon juice and 2 eggs until mostly smooth.
- When the pasta is cooked, remove the pot from the heat. Scoop out ½ cup of the soup broth (if you get some pastina in there that’s ok!). Slowly pour the broth into the parmesan-egg mixture, whisking constantly to combine.
- Add the egg mixture back into the pot of soup, constantly stirring until combined. Finish by stirring in 2 tablespoons of butter until melted. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, a big pinch if desired! Serve in bowls topped with fresh dill and lots of fresh ground pepper.
Notes
- You can use any kind of pastina pasta but our favourite is ‘Stelline’ which look like tiny stars.
- This recipe is delicious with your favourite sausage of choice.
- If you love the flavours in this recipe, try our Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (Avgolemono Soup)
