Nikki Duffy
LATIN NAME
Pistacia vera
MORE RECIPES
Few foods can claim a colour so utterly distinctive as this little nut. Pistachios’ greenness comes from chlorophyll, which is most evident when the nuts have been grown in cool conditions and/or harvested early. The colour can sometimes dull with cooking, but it’s not easy to resist the appeal of a well-roasted and salted pistachio – a simple and lovely snack.
Native to the Middle East, most pistachios still come from Iran, but the US is also a major producer. The nuts grow on high trees in grape-like clusters, inside a thin, fleshy husk. They are unusual in that they crack themselves, forcing the miniature twin boats of their shells slightly open as they mature. In Iran, they say the nut at this stage is khandan (laughing). That doesn’t mean they’re easy to get out, however: it still takes a strong fingernail to actually prise the shell apart and release the soft little nuts. The work – and the sweet reward – is what makes eating roasted pistachios such an absorbing, vaguely addictive ritual.
Wonderful partners to spices and dried fruits in savoury dishes, pistachios are perfect in a pilaf. But this nut really comes into its own in sweet dishes – its tender texture and sweet flavour invite sugar and spices, citrus and honey.
Pistachio ice cream – pale green, sweetly nutty and delectable – is well worth making yourself because it’s hard to buy a good one. A pistachio praline is lovely too: drop the nuts into searing hot, lightly salted caramel, leave to cool on a tray, then bash into coarse shards. And, of course, pistachios are at home in baklava, encased in splinteringly thin, crisp filo pastry and almost drowned in a honeyed syrup.
PISTACHIO, ORANGE AND HONEY FILO TARTLETS
Dense and sweet, these nutty tartlets are excellent with a strong coffee. Makes 12
3 sheets of ready-made filo pastry (about 30 x 27cm)
40g unsalted butter, melted
125g shelled pistachio nuts
30g caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 small orange
100g ricotta
1 egg yolk
A pinch of salt
1 tbsp clear honey
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Have ready a 12-hole muffin tin.
Place the filo sheets one on top of the other. Cut through them lengthways, down the middle, to make two long strips, then cut across the middle going in the other direction, to give 4 squares (with 3 layers each). Cut each square into four – so you end up with 48 small squares of pastry.
Brush a filo square with a little melted butter and then lay it into a hole in one of the muffin tins. Repeat the process with another 3 squares in the same hole, placing each at a slight angle to the last, brushing each piece with butter as you go. Repeat to line all of the muffin moulds. Bake the pastry cases for 5–10 minutes, until crisp and golden.
Meanwhile, put three-quarters of the pistachios (about 95g) into a food processor with the sugar and orange zest and pulse until finely chopped. Add the ricotta, egg yolk and salt and pulse again.
Spoon the mixture into the filo tart cases. Crush or roughly chop the remaining nuts and sprinkle them over the tartlets. Bake for 8 minutes or until the mixture is just firm.
Allow the tartlets to cool for 15–20 minutes, then trickle a little honey over each one before serving.
