Pistachio Gelato

Initially, I was going to use Pistachio flavoring, which from looking at the store brands seemed to result in a neon green color. I began to wonder how Pistachio Gelato was made before extracts existed and decided to use real pistachio nuts. It is a little wasteful, but the flavor is worth it. My first taste of it triggered a memory of having pistachio gelato when I was a child. The taste was so great it was like my taste buds had been waiting for most of my life to taste it again. The color is not that exciting. It will be a light green, but if you love pistachio you will never settle for the taste of store brought again.

Ingredients

10 ounces unsalted shelled pistachios

32 ounces heavy cream

6 egg yolks

6 ounces of sugar

Grind the pistachios in a nut grinder. This increases the amount of surface area of the nuts so the cream absorbs more pistachio flavor.

Separate the egg yolks from the whites.

Pour the cream into a double boiler. Make sure the boiling water in the bottom pan does not touch the upper pan.

Add 6 ounces of the pistachios (Set the rest of the pistachios aside for later) and cook over medium heat. The heat helps to pull the pistachio flavor from the nuts. Do not let the cream boil.

While the cream and pistachios are heating up combine the sugar with the egg yolks in a large bowl and beat them together until they are creamy.

When the cream is hot (but not boiling) add about 1/4^th of the hot cream and Pistachio mixture at a time into the egg mixture, whisking vigorously. Be careful as the nuts may cause splatter as you mix them.

Clean the upper pot of the double boiler, dry and return above the boiling water of the lower pot. Pour the cream, egg, sugar and pistachio mixture into the double boiler and heat gently until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat.

Pour the cream mixture into a bowl that is set over another bowl filled with ice and water. Continuing to occasionally stir until cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight. This allows even more of the pistachio flavor to be absorbed into the cream.

The next morning, strain the cream and pistachio mixture through a sieve (fine-meshed) and use a large soft silicone spatula to squeeze out as much of the cream out of the pistachios as you can. Even though the pistachio nuts I used in the boiling cream still tasted ok, I used fresh ones because I thought there would not be enough flavor to rise above the cream, which tends to mute flavors.

Pour the liquid into your KitchenAid freezer insert and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Add the pistachios a little at a time a couple of minutes before the gelato is done (when it starts to thicken).

Remember even after the gelato is done, the gelato is not done until it has set in the freezer for 24 hours.

Copyright 2007 Dan Amato