Sopa Estrella - Soup with Star Shaped Pasta

There are several small star shaped pastas in the variety referred to as stelline (Italian for "little stars"). It is sometimes simply packaged as pastina which is a the generic variety of of tiny pieces of pasta available in a variety of shapes. Pastina is the smallest type of pasta produced.  These pasta are common for broth based or thin soups.

August has several feast days where this tiny star shaped pasta, stelline, could be used as a symbolic reminder of a saint in a recipe.

St. Dominic (August 8) - On Monday we celebrated the feast of St. Dominic de Guzman. St. Dominic, the Spanish priest and the founder of the Dominican Order received the rosary from Our Lady and the child Jesus. It is said when St. Dominic was a baby his godmother saw a star on his forehead during the baptism, so a common attribute is a star either on the forehead or above his head.

St. Lawrence (August 10) - Wednesday is the feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr. Due to the timing of his feast in mid-August at the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, that annual asteroid showing is often called the "tears of St. Lawrence." So a "shower" of stars in some dish would remember this tie to St. Lawrence.

Assumption (August 15) - Our Lady is known by many star titles - - Star of the Sea (Stella Maris) and Morning Star (Stella Matutina) being the most prominent. Other titles or images include Star of the New Evangelization, Madonna della Stella, Star of Jacob, Fixed Star.  The star image could be tied to any Marian feast day, but there is a very strong connection to this feast and the Star of the Sea title. In many places traditions associated with the sea are part of this celebration - like the blessing of fleets, blessing of the bounty of the sea, and wedding of the sea.

Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12) - In the image on St. Juan Diego's tilma we see Our Lady clothed in a mantle of blue with 46 stars.

Epiphany (January 6) - And of course we associate a star with the visit of the wise men who followed the Star of Bethlehem to the infant Jesus.

Our Lady of Pontmain (January 17) - Our Lady of Hope appeared to several children at Pontmain, France. They described her as surrounded by stars. "Oh, there are so many stars the Blessed Virgin will soon be gilt all over.”  Images of her under this title show he clothed in a blue mantle gilded with golden stars.

St. Thomas Aquinas (January 28) and St. Nicholas of Tolentino (September 10) both are shown with a sun/starburst on their chest in many depictions.

St. John Nepomucene (May 16), Bohemian priest and martyr for the seal of the confessional, is often shown with five stars over his head (because, on the night of his murder, five stars were seen over the spot where he was drowned).

This week for the feast of St. Dominic I modified a typical Spanish tomato broth sopa, using stelline pasta instead of the typical fideo to celebrate the Spanish Dominic de Guzman.

Sopa Estrella

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup stelline pasta, uncooked
3 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

Saute garlic in olive oil. Add chicken broth and tomato sauce. Bring to boil. Add dry pasta and simmer until pasta is tender. Add more liquid if desired for thinner consistency. Add salt and pepper. 

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Mantle of Stars for Our Lady

In the grocery store this week I saw a Limited Edition Pop Tart flavor which was blue frosted with white star sprinkles. It reminded me of the mantle of stars present in several images of Our Lady.

Some of the images where we see the Blessed Mother beautifully cloaked in a mantle of stars are shown here.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Altagracia

Our Lady of Pontmain (OL of Hope)

So if you are looking for a quick and easy treat for a Marian feast day this could be an option. But act fast as this is a limited edition Pop Tart flavor. I don't know how long it is available as I assume they were from the 4th of July this summer and have only seen it in one store here (Albertson's). 

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Our Lady of La Salette - Mini Blueberry Galettes

Mid-September brings one of the Marian feasts of an apparition in France. The Blessed Virgin appeared to two young shepherds, Maximin Giraud and Melanie Calvat, on the mountain of La Salette, France on September 19, 1846.  After thorough investigation the Church approved the message and secret of La Salette as written by Melanie. The account was published in Lecce in 1879. Mary's message in La Salette was similar to that of Fatima, "If my people do not wish to submit themselves, I am forced to let go of the hand of my Son. It is so heavy and weighs me down so much I can no longer keep hold of it." Our lady cried and expressed her sadness at those who do not keep Sunday holy and who take the name of the Lord in vain.

I saw the idea for mini blueberry galettes on The Pioneer Woman’s blog. They seemed a perfect dessert for French Marian apparition feast days – galettes because they have a French connection and blueberries because the color is associated with Our Lady.

Galette is a French culinary term referring to a variety of flat, round cakes, made with a flaky pastry dough. It is a broad term and can include a wide variety of different desserts, but most often galette refers to a free form tart that is made with a flaky pasty crust. The tarts are not molded in tart pans. Instead, filling is placed directly on top of a circle of rolled pastry and the edges are folded up and around the filling and baked until crisp. 

Galette Pastry Dough

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup ice water

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in half of the butter with pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Cut in the remaining butter until the largest pieces are the size of peas. Drizzle the water over the dough and mix until moistened. Knead together 2 or 3 times. Flatten dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Mini Blueberry Galettes

1 cup blueberries
1/8 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch Of salt
1 egg
1 Tbsp Water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Stir together blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, 1 tsp lemon zest, juice quarter of the lemon, vanilla, and salt in a bowl.

Roll out dough. Using a 5-inch round pastry cutter cut rounds of pastry. Rerolling and cutting until dough is used. Makes 6 mini galettes. Place rounds on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Evenly distribute the blueberry mixture between the six discs.

Gently fold over the edges of each crust, folding the dough in on itself to create a small rim of crust.

Make an egg wash by beating together the egg and water. Brush edges of each pie with the egg wash. Sprinkle the crust with sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes until golden and filling is bubbly. Remove from the oven and allow pies to sit on the pan for 5 minutes. Remove and cool.  Serve warm or at room temp.

~There are several apparitions of Our Lady in France, so these mini treats could be used several times around the year. 

Our Lady of Pontmain (OL of Hope) - January 17

Our Lady of Lourdes - February 11

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (Rue du Bac) - November 27

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