Stelline...suggestions welcome

Duck59

Duck59

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I've just acquired some stelline (pasta) partially on the grounds that it was going ridiculously cheaply. I've never used it before and from my limited knowledge, it is commonly used to make soups.

Since I'm here though, there's no harm in seeking any suggestions or recipes. Preferably vegetarian, but feel free to deposit ideas in the space below.
 
I had to look this up. It turns out to be some very pretty star shaped and delicately tiny pasta shapes. My thoughts are to use it as you might cous-cous as a side dish - cooked until al dente in boiling water which, given their size will take about 8 minutes or less.

For example:
Drain then mix with finely chopped preserved lemons, finely chopped dates, pine nuts, chopped parsley and olive oil.
 
It's great in soups, my favourite (because it's the easiest) is to add it to escarole soup.

Chop up a head of washed escarole, add to a deep skillet or wide stock pot of minced onions and garlic that has been sweating in olive oil. Turn the leaves into the mix until it wilts, add 5 or 6 cups of your best veggie or chicken stock, brimg to a boil, add stelline pasta, simmer for just a minute or two, then serve topped with shaved Grana Padano, Locatelli, or any sharp Italian hard cheese.
 
Duck59 said:
I've just acquired some stelline (pasta) partially on the grounds that it was going ridiculously cheaply.
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I often make decisions based on such criteria: sometimes, things are so cheap that you've got nothing to lose (assuming they're still safe to eat).

My first thought was to use it for a mac-and-cheese, though they are rather tiny for that. It'd be more like forkfuls of cheese, though that's not the worst thing in the world.
 
morning glory said:
Sadly and oddly its very difficult to find escarole in the UK...
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That's odd as it's as easy to grow as any similar lettuce type plant.

I guess you could sub romaine, or swiss chard, or maybe rocket (so long as it's not too bitter).
 
Well, I've given the stelline a go. Rather unadventurous, I concede, but I just used it with a pasta sauce. Because the pasta is so small, it rather had the appearance of putting the sauce onto a bed of rice, though obviously not with the same taste. This is probably not very standard, but it tasted perfectly good and this is the only thing that interests me.
 
Another bash at the stelline...this time, I tried a soup. It was fairly basic, with the pasta going in first. I chopped up some leeks and garlic to add to the mix and lobbed in some vegetable stock to thicken it a bit. The result was quite tasty and surprisingly filling.
 
Duck59 said:
Another bash at the stelline...this time, I tried a soup
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Had you thought of using stelline in a minestra? My memory isn't what it was - and I'm too lazy to check - but I thought that estrelle was the star-shaped pasta used widely in minestra. From your description of stelline, it sounds like it's a miniature version of estrelle…?

You could try making a minestra with stelline, carrots, celery, onions, parsley and a heel of parmesan, amongst other things. Might be a bit heavy at this time of year though.
 
Wandering Bob said:
Had you thought of using stelline in a minestra? My memory isn't what it was - and I'm too lazy to check - but I thought that estrelle was the star-shaped pasta used widely in minestra. From your description of stelline, it sounds like it's a miniature version of estrelle…?

You could try making a minestra with stelline, carrots, celery, onions, parsley and a heel of parmesan, amongst other things. Might be a bit heavy at this time of year though.
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I call those "parmesan bones". We just scored an 11 pound, 1/8 of a wheel that was mismarked as Grana Padano for $5.60 a pound.
 
CraigC said:
I call those "parmesan bones". We just scored an 11 pound, 1/8 of a wheel that was mismarked as Grana Padano for $5.60 a pound.
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What a good deal ! ….fantastic. And the heel (or bones) is such a key element of a good minestra.

That's a pretty good price for grana Padano too - if I could get a good quality grana for that price, I'd become a regular customer very quickly. I used to get through truckloads of it when I lived in Slovenia but trying to find it here is a waste of time
 
Stelline are very used in Italy in the broth, in fact it is very common to say "stelline in brodo", and is a type of pasta used above all as weaning for children, with the addition of a little creamy cheese to be dissolved inside.
I remember, however, that a few years ago in Val D'Aosta, they had prepared little tortini of stelline with Valle d'Aosta cheese (very strong flavour) and potatoes. Not bad.
 
Use it in place of bulgur in a tabouli salad. Add chopped cucumbers, Roma tomatoes, chopped onion, parsley and mint, and dress with olive oil and lemon juice.

Or, mix it with melted butter, parmesan cheese, and peas
 
Soup with the aforementioned pasta. It's (of course) entirely vegetarian with plenty of onion and garlic. There's a good lot of ginger in there which gives it a nice tang, as well as a few mushrooms and some chilli for added zip.

Picture 005.jpg
 
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