Pastina

An elderly Italian woman I used to know taught me how to make this dish after I passed out at her house from low blood sugar and when I felt a little better on the couch, she brought me a bowl of pastina.  When I asked her what it was, she said, "Just eat it.  My mama used to make it for me when I was not feeling well.  It's an Italian remedy broth, a comfort food." 

I wasn't sure, but I ate it and it was good.  It's very simple to make because it's mostly water and pasta.  It does make you feel better when you don't feel well. 

To make 2 servings, you will need:

3 c. water
1 c. pastina, acini de pepe works best
1 T. olive oil
1 T. butter
salt to taste
1 small bunch fresh, flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 eggs, scrambled in a bowl

In a small sauce pan, bring the water to a boil with the butter, oil, salt and parsley.  The parsley will color the water greenish.  Drop the pasta into rapidly boiling water (slowly so it doesn't over boil), and stir.  When the pasta is just about al dente, drizzle the egg into the boiling mixture slowly, stirring to make egg rags in the broth.

Boil softly for another 2 or 3 minutes to make sure the egg is done.  Remove from heat and let stand a few minutes.  Serve in large bowls when someone feels under the weather, or needs a little comforting.  I'm hooked on it now and don't even make chicken soup for those days anymore.

Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

If you have leftover mashed potatoes and you know you won't be reheating them for dinner, you can make a nice weekend breakfast treat pretty easily.

In a medium bowl, toss in your leftover mashed, maybe about 2 c. or so, add an egg and some grated onion with a little bit of chives if you have them. Toss in a couple of T. of flower and mix well. Let the mixture sit for fifteen minutes or so to let the gluten do its job and get rid of that floury taste.

Then heat a skillet to medium-high and toss in a little canola (very little) and some butter for good flavor. Take a spoon and drop nicely sized balls of potato mixture into the pan, leaving enough room for them to cook and be flipped like pancakes. When one side is brown, flip to the other side and gently flatten with your spatula. If you've preheated your oven to around 200 degrees, you can stack them up nicely and keep them hot while you make eggs and bacon or whatever else you want to serve with them.

It's a nice way to use up leftovers and it's good comfort food! As you can see, they were a hit.