Stellini Soup

Stellini soup is delicious and hearty. It is a healthy, feel-good Winter recipe with stelline pasta, vegetables, and nutrients. It’s the comfort food we like to make when we curl up on the couch on a cold day.

Stelline

Stelline pasta, also known as “stellini” or “little stars,” is a type of small, star-shaped pasta. It’s a popular choice in Italian cuisine, particularly for soups and broths.

While Stelline pasta is gorgeous to add to the soup and is so comforting, it’s important not to add too much to your soup. The stelline will absorb a lot of the liquid of your soup if you’re not careful - they look small but will expand once they cook in the soup.

We recommend around a cup of stelline to your soup. Also, if you’re not planning on eating all the soup in one sitting, add a small amount of pasta to each serving as you heat your soup before serving. The stelline only needs around 5 minutes to cook through, so you can add the right amount before serving.

Stock

In this recipe, we’re using our homemade chicken stock. However, the store-bought stock is completely fine; add hot water to your stock cubes as directed on the packet. We love making and using our own stock as it’s packed with flavor, and we also know precisely what’s in it in terms of salt content, veggies, etc. You can use either chicken stock or vegetable stock. Since we’re adding chicken thighs to our soup, we opted for chicken stock.

Vegetables & chicken

We’re adding a variety of vegetables, such as carrots, onions, potatoes, and celery. This gives the soup a lot of flavor. We also like to keep the seasoning relatively simple with rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper.

In this recipe, we’re using chicken thighs. We prefer chicken thighs to breasts as they are so tender in soup. We de-bone the chicken before adding it to the soup, and you can also cut the chicken into pieces before adding it. However, leaving the thighs whole with the bones is also fine - remove the chicken with a slotted spoon once it’s finished cooking, remove the bones, and shred the chicken. Then, it can immediately be placed back into the soup.

Serving stellini soup

Since this is a comfort food for us, that usually comes with a little bit of indulgence, and we have quite a few ways to step up your soup;

• Crusty bread (like baguette or sourdough): Serve slices of warm, crusty bread such as a baguette or sourdough. They’re perfect for dipping into the soup and absorbing its flavors. You can toast the bread lightly for added crunch.
• Grilled cheese sandwich: Pair the soup with a classic grilled cheese sandwich. Use a combination of cheeses like cheddar and Gruyere for a rich, melty filling. Grill the sandwich until golden brown for a delightful texture contrast with the soup.
• Roasted vegetables: Serve roasted vegetables like Brussels sprouts, asparagus, or carrots. Season them with herbs and a sprinkle of olive oil before roasting to bring out their natural sweetness and add a healthy, flavorful side to the meal.
• Garlic bread: Slather slices of bread with a mix of butter, minced garlic, and parsley, then bake until golden. This side is great for sopping up the savory broth.
• Cheese platter: Create a cheese platter with various cheeses such as Brie, Gouda, and blue cheese. The different flavors of the cheeses can complement the rich and savory notes of the soup.
• Crostini: Prepare crostini by toasting thin slices of bread. Top them with herbs, a spread like tapenade, or a light brushing of olive oil. These small, flavorful bites are excellent for nibbling between spoonfuls of soup.
• Parmesan cheese: Grated cheese can be sprinkled on top of the soup. It adds a nutty, salty flavor that enhances the overall taste.