Pistachio Cream Sauce
Pistachio Cream Sauce
Equipment
- Frying Pan/Skillet
- Stovetop
- Measuring Equipment (Teaspoon/Tablespoon/Cup)
- Food Processor/Blender/Mortar
Ingredients
Pistachio Paste
- 90 Grams Shelled Unsalted Pistachio Nuts (3.2oz)
- 14 Grams Unsalted Butter (1 Tablespoon)
- 60 Grams Unsalted Butter, Melted (3 Tablespoons)
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Cream Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ½ White or Yellow Onion, Diced
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic, Minced
- 1 Cup Heavy Cream
- 50 Grams Parmesan Cheese, Grated
- 2 Teaspoons Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
Instructions
Pistachio Paste
- Shell your pistachio nuts. If they are pre-salted, wash them under cold water to get rid of the salt. Dry them with a paper towel or cloth.
- In a skillet, melt one tablespoon of butter. Be careful not to burn the butter, as this will produce off tastes. Add the pistachio nuts and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes on medium heat.
- Add the sauté pistachio nuts to a food processor and get them finely chopped.
- While the food processor is cutting the nuts, use the skillet to melt the additional butter on low heat. Again, be careful not to burn the butter.
- Once it had been fully melted, add it to the food processor with a tablespoon of olive oil and lemon juice. Blend again until all the ingredients are well mixed. The pistachio paste should be smooth, with some tiny lumps of nuts. Set aside.
Cream Sauce
- It a skillet or pot, add the other tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Cook the onions on medium heat for about 10 minutes,until they turn translucent.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for another 2minutes.
- Add the heavy cream, cheese, salt, black pepper, and red pepper. Make sure ever thing gets mixed well together.
- Lastly, add the pistachio paste. Stir well to combine and cook on a low heat for 5 minutes.
This Pistachio Cream Sauce Ain’t Alfredo
Ok, I’ve got nothing against Alfredo sauce. I actually love it, but I can’t help feeling how pedestrian it is. You can find at almost every supermarket. Any half-decent Italian restaurant will at least one Alfredo dish on the menu. It’s the go to cream sauce. I guess what I’m saying is that I’ve gotten bored with it. Pistachio Cream Sauce is all the things Alfredo isn’t.
When I was in Italy, I tried to broaden my horizons a bit by trying a lot of new foods. Sauces were high on my list, as well as pasta fillings. I was down in Sicily when I started discovering how amazing pistachios could be.
Skipping The Heavy Lifting
The above recipe details how to make the pistachio paste, however you can skip all that and buy the pistachio paste already processed. In fact, that’s how I first got into making this sauce. I bought a few jars when I was in Sicily.
For the best results, you want to get something that’s produced in Sicily. Really you should be looking for something that was produced in the Bronte area. Products will be labeled the trademark text “DOP Bronte.” Bronte is the top producer of pistachios in Italy. Ask any Italian, they will surly know and agree.
There are also two main varieties that you will find, cream and paste. Basically these monikers denote if it’s sweetened or unsweetened, respectfully. Just to be crystal clear, if you’re aiming to make this kind of sauce, you need to get paste, which is unsweetened.
Because the product is unsweetened, it’s not going to taste that good on its own. It’s not made for topping ice cream or being spread on bread. It’s oily and coarse. There is also a good a chance the oil will separate in the bottle after packaging, so you may need to give it a good stir with a spoon before using it.
The cream version, on the hand, will be less oily, smooth, and sweet. Great when spread over crackers, bread, muffins, on top of ice cream, etc.
The other thing is pistachio paste (and cream) doesn’t come cheap. You’re going to pay a heavy price for this product, so I’m warning you beforehand. Even in Italy quality pistachio products are expensive. I paid €20 for 190g jar of pistachio paste in Sicily, at the source of all things pistachio.
Getting Pistachio In The US
Unfortunately, there aren’t many good options in the US or in Japan. The best one I found is from the company Pariani. They are based in Italy, and claim that their “rare pistachios are grown on the fertile, mineral-rich slopes of Mt. Etna, near the village of Bronte.” The package doesn’t have “DOP Bronte” anywhere on it, so I assume they are not harvested from the actual Bronte area. Their wording is very slick, with the weasel word ‘near.’ That aside, I don’t think this will make too much of a difference.
After reading through a number of reviews on a few different sites, I noticed that some people said this product is not 100% pistachio, but rather a blend of nuts. After some research, I feel comfortable saying that this is not true, and will chalk this up to misunderstanding from the package label.
The product is labeled 100% pistachio in a number of places with a warning that there might be trace elements of other nuts and soy. This is most defiantly due to them manufacturing a number of different products at the same factory. On some packages, this warning is poorly worded, so I can understand where the confusion stems from.
Getting Pistachio In Japan
If you’re in Japan, I’m sorry to report that I can’t actually find any products that I can recommend. You could order it from Desert Cart, at double the price from Amazon, but that is spending a lot of money to avoid a tiny bit of work.
If you’re in the Tokyo area, you could try stopping into the Italian shop Dolce Vita (Google). They have a great stock of Italian food, but prices are at a premium.
The US-based Fiddyment Farms also has some good buzz around their pistachio paste.
They also ship internationally and Japan is on their shipping list.
Even More Pistachio
If this doesn’t satisfy you, you can try to find pure pistachio silk paste from a producer named Agrimontana. They are considered one of the best producers of pistachio paste, and certainly it’s priced accordingly. The ‘pure pistachio silk paste,’ doesn’t seem to be in stock right now, but I did find an alternate product. It looks almost as good. At $100 for a kilogram, it should.
Sadly, they don’t ship outside of the EU/UK area. I even went the extra mile and sent them an e-mail, just to be 100% certain. Of course, if you’re in the EU/UK, this is a good get for you.
If you want to know more about the ‘DOP Bronte’ label, you should check out this page from Italian Food Excellence (in English and Italian).
If you are interested in a pistachio cream (the kind cut with sugar) for spreading on breads, ice cream, etc.
Porco dio! That was a lot of work!
What To Use It On
This sauce will work with any kind of pasta shape you throw at it. It’s best to cook your pasta al dente and then toss it in the sauce for a minute. The hot sauce will soften up the macaroni a little, so having the pasta al dente will ensure it doesn’t end up a mushy mess.
As for the type of pasta, there really isn’t a wrong answer with this sauce. You could use spaghetti, if that’s what you like, but I think a pasta that has ridges, edges, and/or holes works much more efficiently at gripping the sauce and giving the dish the rich coating it needs. I really favor paring this sauce with tortellini or ravioli that is stuffed with cheese. It makes very a very heavy dish, so make sure to portion this out sparingly. The sauce is complimented with a white wine, like a pinot noir or chardonnay.
You can also pair this with chicken, bacon, ham, white fish, shrimp, broccoli, mushrooms or some combination there of.
What I Pair Pistachio Cream Sauce With
Here are two great recipes that go with most excellent Pistachio Cream Sauce.
A very beautiful song to go with a very beautiful sauce. Mina is the perfect competent to a romantic Italian meal.