Homemade pistachio paste, pure, for ice creams and sweet creams and also perfect for savory dishes. The pure pistachio paste, not to be confused with the pistachio spread, is an essential preparation for making many desserts such as pistachio ice cream and savory dishes like Sicilian-style pistachio pasta. Many consider it a “pistachio butter”, similar to “peanut butter”, which can be pure or have additions. We already know that good-quality pistachios such as Bronte pistachios are very expensive on their own, and buying the paste would effectively double the cost; not to mention that the commercially available products are often not pure and contain sugars, colorings, and additives. Today I’ll explain how I make pistachio paste for ice creams, creams, sweets, and savory dishes at home. You’ll be surprised by how simple the recipe is — the only tip is to have a good blender, or better, a homogenizer.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: about 4.2 oz (about 1/2 cup)
- Cooking methods: No-cook
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients to make pistachio paste
- 3.5 oz (about 1 cup) Pistachio flour (or pistachio pieces)
- 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
Tools
- Blenders
Preparation
To make pistachio paste you can start interchangeably from unsalted shelled pistachios, pistachio pieces, or pistachio flour — choose whichever is most convenient for you.
Put the flour or whatever you’ve chosen into the jar of your blender and add two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Start blending with short pulses, then continuously; with the heat generated by the blades’ friction the pistachios will begin to release their oil. At first the mixture will clump together, then gradually become smoother and creamier. If the paste, as often happens, struggles to come together, add one more tablespoon of oil, but don’t go beyond that (you risk ending up with a product that is too runny). The paste will be ready when it reaches a smooth consistency like in the photo. You can then use it to make ice creams, mousses, semifreddos and much more. The texture of the paste depends on the blender you use; with a blender like the one I recommended above (or a similar model), the result will be perfect.
If you want to give the pistachio paste a more intense aroma, use slightly toasted pistachio pieces. Just put them in a pan and toast over low heat for a few minutes until you smell the typical aroma of toasted nuts — be careful not to burn them. Let them cool a little, then proceed as described above.
Notes
My small blender is almost like a homogenizer; it’s part of that wide category sold online together with a set of cups and countless spare parts. It cost me about €25 and I use it for many preparations. Any blender could work to prepare the paste; however, it’s worth noting that the larger the jar, the more flour (or nuts) you’ll need to add to allow the blades to do their job.
