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. 

Pin It

St. Lawrence Grill Cakes

 

"Sheltered under the name of Jesus Christ, I do not fear these pains, for they do not last long." ~ St. Lawrence

Saint Lawrence 
Deacon & Martyr 
August 10 ~ New & Traditional Calendar

Surrounded by this ill-favored company, the prefect thus addressed the valiant Deacon: "Sacrifice to the gods, or else the whole night long shall be witness of your torments." "My night has no darkness," answered St. Laurence, "and all things are full of light to me." They struck him on the mouth with stones, but he smiled and said: "I give Thee thanks, O Christ."
Then an iron bed or gridiron with three bars was brought in and the Saint was stripped of his garments and extended upon it while burning coals were placed beneath it. As they were holding him down with iron forks,
St. Laurence said: "I offer myself as a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness." The executioners continually stirred up the fire and brought fresh coals, while they still held him down with their forks. Then the Saint said: "Learn, unhappy man, how great is the power of my God; for your burning coals give me refreshment, but they will be your eternal punishment. I call Thee, O Lord, to witness: when I was accused, I did not deny Thee; when I was questioned, I confessed Thee, O Christ; on the red-hot coals I gave Thee thanks." And with his countenance radiant with heavenly beauty, he continued: "Yea, I give Thee thanks, O Lord Jesus Christ, for that Thou hast deigned to strengthen me." He then raised his eyes to his judge, and said: "See, this side is well roasted; turn me on the other and eat." Then continuing his canticle of praise to God: "I give Thee thanks, O Lord, that I have merited to enter into Thy dwelling-place." As he was on the point of death, he remembered the Church. The thought of the eternal Rome gave him fresh strength, and he breathed forth this ecstatic prayer: "O Christ, only God, O Splendor, O Power of the Father, O Maker of Heaven and earth and builder of this city’s walls! Thou hast placed Rome’s scepter high over all; Thou hast willed to subject the world to it, in order to unite under one law the nations which differ in manners, customs, language, genius, and sacrifice. Behold the whole human race has submitted to its empire, and all discord and dissensions disappear in its unity. Remember Thy purpose: Thou didst will to bind the immense universe together into one Christian Kingdom. O Christ, for the sake of Thy Romans, make this city Christian; for to it Thou gavest the charge of leading all the rest to sacred unity. All its members in every place are united—a very type of Thy Kingdom; the conquered universe has bowed before it. Oh! may its royal head be bowed in turn! Send Thy Gabriel and bid him heal the blindness of the sons of Iulus that they may know the true God. I see a prince who is to come—an Emperor who is a servant of God. He will not suffer Rome to remain a slave; he will close the temples and fasten them with bolts forever."
Thus he prayed, and with these last words he breathed forth his soul. Some noble Romans who had been conquered to Christ by the Martyr’s admirable boldness, removed his body: the love of the Most High God had suddenly filled their hearts and dispelled their former errors. From that day the worship of the infamous gods grew cold; few people went now to the temples, but hastened to the altars of Christ. Thus St. Laurence, going unarmed to the battle, had wounded the enemy with his own sword.  ~ Abbot Gueranger, The Liturgical Year

~~~

St. Lawrence is considered one of the most famous martyrs and a powerful witness for Catholic Christians.  He is also the namesake for Dad and Dragonfly.

Baby G - 86 days old.

We celebrated last year’s feast day with these yummy cupcakes—grill cakes.

The cupcakes are semi-homemade.  We added 1 Tbsp of brown sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to a boxed vanilla cake mix.

We added black food coloring to the butter cream frosting for the grill and charcoal.  (I generally make a full batch of frosting and use it for the following (traditional) feast days, St. Philomena (8/11) and St. Clare (8/12).  For this step, you could use gel food coloring instead of the dyed frosting.
The following sweets were used for the barbeque.

Kebabs - Slice a  caramel cream and red, yellow, and green Jelly Bellies (or any other candy fruit slices).  Place sliced candies on a toothpick (skewer)
Pork chop - Mold caramel cream candy.  Using a toothpick, add black food coloring.
Hot dogs - Apply black frosting/food coloring with a toothpick to the Hot Tamales.

Inspiration for these cupcakes was found here.

~~~

"Who would not gladly burn one hour with St. Lawrence, to escape the fire of hell?" ~ St. Augustine

Pin It

A Quick Little Post for St. Lawrence

As part of my planning for our upcoming school year, I was, just this morning, putting together a list of our family's Patron Saints-- something I hadn't done before, and so was not aware of the actual dates of each Patron Saint's feast. One of them is St. Lawrence, who, had it not been a Sunday, would have had his Feast Day, today!

(St. Lawrence is my own dear husband's Patron Saint, so I'm actually glad to have "caught it" on time!)

Obviously, I am not prepared to do justice to this right now, but just in case you want to honor dear St. Lawrence in your travels today, you may want to know the following:

• St. Lawrence, who was martyred over an open flame (and is famous for quipping, "You can turn me over now, this side is done!") is the patron saint of cooks! Perhaps you might present your cares to him for his special intercession, as you're preparing meals for your family today.

• Because of the manner in which he was martyred, it is a tradition to eat a cold meal on St. Lawrence's feastday. Sandwiches, subs, cold soups or any chilled entrees in your repertoire would certainly be appropriate (if you're like me and are still puzzling over what to have for dinner!)

• Finally, I can't think of a better reason to go out for ice cream! :)
  

Dear St. Lawrence, pray for us! Pin It