Easy Homemade Vegetable Broth with Pastina Soup Recipe
This is a simple soup that uses minimal ingredients that can all be found at your local grocery store.
Equipment
- large pot
- blender
Ingredients
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ butternut squash, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
- 1 white onion, cut into quarters
- 1 zucchini, roughly chopped
- 3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tomato, cut into quarters
- 1 bunch parsley
- ½ cup pastina, or more depending on amount of broth
- olive oil
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Optional
- 2 inch Parmesan rind
- parmesan cheese to serve
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water. I used a 5-quart stockpot.
- Add all your vegetables and herbs into the pot. Add a generous pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil into the water.
- Turn the flame onto medium heat. Let broth come to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
- After about 10 minutes, add the parmesan rind. Continue to cook for an additional 45 minutes.
- Once vegetables are tender, strain broth and set aside. Remove the rind and the bay leaf.
- Place the vegetables into a blender and blend on low speed until smooth. You can also use a hand-held blender.
- Put veggie mixture back into the broth and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Scoop out the amount of broth you want to use that day into a separate pot.
- Add a handful of dry pastina directly into the broth. Let it cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. If you like your pasta more al dente (see how to cook pasta here), feel free to reduce the time until your desired texture is reached.
- If you’re using greens like spinach, Swiss chard, or mustard greens, add them and cook just until wilted.
- Remove broth from heat. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with olive oil and parmesan cheese.