Creamy Cabbage Pastina

By Samantha Seneviratne

Updated May 7, 2026

  • Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Prop Stylist: Megan Hedgpeth.
Media 1 of 1
Ready In
20 min
Rating
5(252)
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I could eat pastina, the simple Italian dish made from tiny pasta stars, chicken broth, egg yolks and Parmesan, every day. (In fact, I’ve gone on weeklong pastina benders when I’ve been deep in work and unwilling to go to the grocery store.) It’s fortifying, comforting and tastes like a hug. My sometimes tricky-to-feed 8-year old loves it too. Is it soup? Is it pasta? Who cares! It’s a slurpable supper that takes mere minutes to make. The only downside is no veggies! But I’ve come up with an easy solution. While it’s not traditional, the addition of shredded cabbage adds flavor and nutrients without signaling “vegetable!” to the kiddos in your life. It becomes meltingly tender when simmered with the pasta and adds a mild sweetness that goes beautifully with the cheese and butter.

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Ingredients

Yield:2 servings

  • 2¼ cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

  • 2 packed cups (6 ounces) shredded cabbage (thinly sliced with a knife or store-bought preshredded)

  • 1 large egg

  • ½ cup grated Parmesan

  • ½ cup pastina pasta

  • 1 tablespoon butter

  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)

  • Salt and black pepper

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

    1. Step 1

      In a medium pot, bring the chicken broth to a simmer over medium-high. Add the cabbage and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and cheese.

    1. Step 2

      Add the pastina and cook, stirring often, until the pasta is just tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in butter. 

    1. Step 3

      Stir a few spoonfuls of the hot pasta mixture into the cheese mixture. Repeat this process 2 more times, then return everything to the pot. Stir in the lemon zest and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
252 user ratings
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Comments

B bade

Where does one obtain pastina nowadays ? Ronzoni stopped making it a while ago. What other brand has it ? I would love to know. I will be 80 in July, pastina was one of my first solid foods. My mother said I and every surface would be covered and stuck with it. Yum. Pastina and butter !!! Thanks

Julie Guilbert

Anyone use orzo instead of Pastina?

mz

after much outcry and hullabaloo, ronzoni brought pastina back. other brands, eg, barilla never stopped production. i'm 83, my father used to prepare pastina in milk. we'd have hot pastina topped with cold sour cream for breakfast. very fond memory.

Dana

While I admit that I did not initially disclose the presence of cabbage, my somewhat picky 9yo vegetarian kiddo enjoyed this enough that I was instructed to write a comment here about how much we loved it. Specifically, I was told to say, "Even my kid thought it was awesome!" I made a few changes: I used imitation (veg) chicken broth, and added a squeeze of lemon juice, an extra egg yolk, and a big spoonful of Greek yogurt (for extra protein).

Kathy

Good comfort food. I used spinach rather than cabbage, since I had it, and also used gemelli, rather than pastini, because again that's what I had. The lemon zest is a nice touch.

Sm

I used ditalini - it was fine

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