Pistachio Paste - A Little Spoon

Get the Recipe: Pistachio Paste

Delicious Pastry filling made from your favorite nut

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Yield1 cup (240-250g)

Prep1 25

Cook15

Blend5

Total1 45

First, shell the pistachios by forcing the outside shell open and letting the raw pistachio nut fall out.
Separate out the green nuts from the brown ones until you have the amount of green nuts needed for the recipe. Shells are not included in the weight/volume of nuts needed.

Next, get a medium sized pot with water and place it on your stovetop. Turn the heat on high and bring the water to a rolling boil. While that heats, fill a bowl with half ice and water and set it aside. When the water is boiling it’s time to blanch the shelled pistachios. Gently add the nuts to the boiling water using a spider or fine mesh strainer and let them cook until you see the skins start to lift away from the nuts. This should take between 1-3 minutes. If you cook the nuts too long, they will turn into mush so make sure to watch the pot and take them out as soon as possible.
When the pistachios are ready to leave the water, scoop them out and immediately dunk them into the cold, ice water. Let them sit for 3-5 minutes in the ice water and then scoop them out and place them onto one half of an open kitchen towel.

Fold the other half of the towel over the pistachios and roll it back and forth, to remove and/or begin separating the loosened skins from the nuts. Uncover the pistachios and finish removing the skins until they are all fully peeled.

Next, preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Then, spread the pistachios out on a baking tray. Toast them in the oven for 15 minutes, moving them around at least once. When done, pour them onto a separate plate or tray to cool. Make sure they are still in a single layer and not in a pile or they will not cool fast enough.

After about 10 minutes of cooling, the pistachios will be ready to candy. Measure and pour the sugar and water into a small sauce pot and turn the stove to medium-high heat. Once the sugar has dissolved and temperature of the syrup reaches 245°F (121°C), turn off the heat and add in the blanched and peeled pistachios. Stir everything around with a spatula. The syrup will turn hard and sandy as it coats the nuts and cools.
Once the pistachios are coated and the sugar has fully crystallized, pour the pistachios back onto the baking sheet or plate and spread them out to cool once more.

When cooled again add the candied pistachios, salt, almond flour, and almond (or pistachio) extract to a blender or food processor. Turn on it on for about 2 minutes and let it grind the nut mixture down to a coarse meal. When you see it start to clump, add in the oil a ½ tbsp (7.5ml) at a time. The meal will slowly become a thick paste. Depending on how thinned you want the pistachio paste, you can add more neutral oil or even some amaretto, a little (½ tbsp - 7.5ml) at a time. Add any additional salt to taste.
Store at room temperature for 2 weeks or in the refrigerator for up to a month, if it makes it that long.

This recipe can be scaled up or down as long as the ingredient ratios stay the same. :)
Neutral oils to consider using include: safflower, grapeseed, and sunflower oils.
If you use raw, salted pistachios, halve the salt in the recipe to be safe and then add salt to taste during grinding.
If the paste is just not thinning out enough in your blender or food processor, you can also use an immersion blender.
If you use roasted, salted pistachios, skip the roasting step and also halve the salt in the recipe. Add salt to taste during grinding. (see FAQ for expanded info)
If you decide not to blanch and peel off the pistachio skins (only if you use pre-salted pistachios) completely leave out the salt in the recipe and then salt to taste later. (see FAQ for expanded info)
If you use pre-salted and roasted pistachios (leave out the salt in the recipe) and decide not to blanch and peel them, this recipe can be made in about 30 minutes. That time includes sorting out green pistachios, candying, and grinding. If you don't sort for the green nuts, it would be even less time. (see FAQ for expanded info)
If you use almond extract, it does add a sweet nuttiness to the paste that I think enhances the pistachio flavor. However, if you decide to add it, do not add more than the recipe calls for. The almond extract can quickly over power the pistachio and all that work for pistachio paste will be lost. It will still taste good, but it won’t be what you were working towards.