Homemade, Naturally Green Pistachio Paste

My love of pistachio has always run very deep. As a child, my sense of it was completely skewed and limited to artificial pistachio flavored pudding and cakes, which is basically almond flavor with green food coloring. But over the years, I was awakened to the natural beauty of real pistachios – their stunning, vibrant color and delicate yet complex flavor profile.

Last year, on a family vacation to Italy, my eyes were opened even wider to the many amazing interpretations of this jade jewel. I sipped pistachio liquor, swooned over velvety pistachio cream and indulged in pistachio-crusted cakes and pastries galore. Since then, I am always looking for new ways to incorporate this glorious green beauty into both sweet and savory dishes.

Pistachio paste is the base ingredient from which you can create pudding, ice cream, cakes and frostings, pistachio ganache, pistachio pancakes and waffles, macarons, milkshakes and LOTS more! When you have it on hand, you will find reasons to use it – even for simple, every day moments like adding it to your yogurt parfait or smearing it on apple slices.

In a Nutshell…

There are several categories of pureed pistachio products, which can be confusing. Here’s the scoop:

PISTACHIO PASTE:

• This can be used as the foundational pistachio flavor in your recipes or it can simply be enjoyed on its own. Some pistachio paste recipes are unsweetened. My recipe below adds some sugar to lightly sweeten it with an added pinch of salt for balance. I think it enhances the flavor of the nut, but not so much that you can’t use it as a base for another dessert. To make it brilliant green, you need to blanch the nuts and peel the skins off before putting them in a food processor.

PISTACHIO BUTTER:

• Think peanut butter with lots more complexity. It is made by roasting pistachio nuts in a 325 degree oven for about 5-8 minutes and then processing them in a food processor for about 5 minutes. You can add optionally add a little salt, but it is typically not sweetened….just processed nuts. As this is a more rustic product, I usually buy pre-shelled nuts and I don’t blanch and peel the skins off. So the end product looks like a slightly greenish peanut butter. I like to use pistachio butter on toast with cherry jam and sprinkle salted pistachios on top.

PISTACHIO CREAM:

• This is the most dessert-like of the three. It reminds me of Nutella in that it is quite sweet and has a velvety smooth texture, thanks in part to added white chocolate. However, I find the flavor to be much more complex than Nutella. I have used this as a cake filling, to flavor frosting or to drizzle on ice cream. It is also a scrumptious and beautiful addition to a dessert charcuterie board for dipping fruit or biscuits. I have a couple favorite brands – one of them is Pistacchiosa, which is made in Italy, but you can easily purchase it online and local specialty markets often carry it. It is so delicious! Whenever I see it, I grab a jar and keep it on my pantry for when the mood strikes.

How to Make Pistachio Paste

Making pistachio paste is a little more labor intensive than pistachio butter – especially if you want it to be a brilliant spring-green color. If left on, the skins on the nuts will darken the paste to a browner color and slightly alter its flavor. Removing the skins is not difficult, but does require a little time and patience.

For pistachio paste, I recommend using roasted and unsalted pistachios in the shells.

When I started experimenting with this recipe, I purchased Trader Joe’s pre-shelled raw pistachio nutmeats, thinking it would save me a lot of time shelling. However, over time, I have realized that these pistachios are quite small, seem to be naturally darker in color and, in my opinion, much more challenging to remove all of the skins easily. I do enjoy using this product for the more rustic pistachio butter, since the skins don’t need to be removed and I can make it very quickly with a food processor.

However, to achieve a bright green pistachio paste, I have found unshelled roasted, unsalted pistachios to be vastly superior. While shelling is certainly an extra step, it yields larger and naturally greener nuts. In my experience, they also shed their skins far more readily and quickly (than the smaller, darker pre-shelled nuts) to reveal brilliant green fruits of your labor. Either way, first shell and/or gather your pistachios and then proceed to the steps below.

Step One: Blanch Nuts

Fill a pot with water and bring it a boil. While it is boiling, prepare an ice bath in the sink. Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat. Pour in your pistachios and let soak for 2 minutes. Using a large slotted spoon or colander, quickly remove the pistachios and place them in the ice bath (or into a colander resting in the ice bath) to stop them from cooking.

Step Two: Dry and Shed Skins

Once drained, pour blanched nuts on a clean dishtowel. Begin rubbing the pistachios in between the towel. The friction will assist in shedding the skins of the nuts. Inevitably, you’ll have to do some peeling as well, but the blanching step makes freeing the nuts from their skins MUCH easier.

The pistachio paste will last in the refrigerator for several weeks so it is definitely a wonderful reward for the effort.

Processing Pistachios

This is when the ROI starts to pay off! Place the skinned pistachios in a food processor for about 5 minutes. Add powdered sugar and process for another minute. I recommend adding about 2-3 TBSP of sugar initially and then tasting it to ensure you’ve achieved your desired sweetness level. I usually add about 5 TBSP and it’s not too sweet. Add pistachio oil and about 3 TBSP of water until desired consistency. I usually add about 5 TBSP of water in total. It should be thick like a paste but very smooth. I usually finish it off with a small pinch of salt and pulse the food processor one last time.

Once you have reached your ideal smoothness and sweetness level, put in a sealed container and store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Looking for an easy and quick dessert to make with your yummy pistachio paste? Try this decadent pistachio pudding recipe.

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