| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 20 min |
| Prep: | 10 min |
| Cook: | 10 min |
| Yield: | 6 small servings |
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound (8 ounces) pastina or other small-shaped pasta, such as farfallini
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 cup frozen petite peas, thawed
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
- Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water.
- In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally until soft, about 7 minutes. Add the carrots and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add the peas to the pan and cook for 2 minutes until the peas are warmed through and the carrots are tender. Stir in the cooked pasta. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cheeses. Stir until the mixture is incorporated and forms a sauce. Season with salt, to taste. Transfer to a large serving bowl and garnish with chopped basil.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 348 |
| Total Fat | 18 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 37 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 5 g |
| Protein | 10 g |
| Cholesterol | 42 mg |
| Sodium | 412 mg |
Reviews
One of my favorite pasta dishes. Looks deceptively simple but has great flavor. Used frozen peas and carrots to make it quicker. Will try in the future with some other veg for fun.
Sooo good! I used frozen peas and carrots.
Easy and yummy. My kids even enjoyed this and asked me to make it again. I will.
I have made this Recipe many times over the years. However, none of my grocery stores carry mascarpone cheese, so I have to use a substitute. I typically use an 8oz brick of cream cheese and whip it altogether with about a half cup heavy cream for the entire dish. I also, like many other users, use some additional spice / heat for this recipe. I use Tony Chachere’s or a similar cajun seasoning in place of the salt. I do use the low sodium broth, but typically end up adding more of the Cajun seasoning to get the salt level to where I like it.
Omg this recipe is sooo delicious . I added corn to my pasta and it came out super. I added extra cream cheese because I like my pasta creamy, I couldn’t find mascarpone cheese so I used grated parmesan cheese and it came out fabulous! This one is a keeper!
This recipe is very good and I changed the ingredients to accommodate my vegan diet. I will make it again.
Easy and delicious! I saw her make this on an episode for her daughter’s first birthday, and decided to give it a try. I added grilled chicken and a bit of cayenne. Next time I will try to tone down the cream cheese and add parmesan and perhaps a little garlic for a twist. We all loved it!
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pastina-with-peas-and-carrots-recipe.html#sni-reviews?oc=linkback
This is an extremely versatile recipe that can be adapted to what you have in the house.
I saw this episode today and remembered that I had some of the small bow tie pasta as well as cream cheese. We didn’t have any mascarpone cheese so I used a little goat cheese. So i made it without the vegetables to go with my recipe for meatballs. I realized that we had some frozen peas and carrots so I added those in. My sister and her boyfriend really liked the pasta.
I am going to make this again with fresh vegetables. I am considering throwing in a little bit of fried pancetta to add a little fun.
Thank you Giada.
I love the flavors, wish I could say my kids eat it, I continue to offer this soup to them in hope they like it as much as my husband and I do.
This was amazing. Very easy to make. The kids loved it. For the adults we added just a bit of cheyenne pepper for some spice. We have done this with a substitution of the peas and carrots with some sauteed baby arugala. It was delicious