Pistachio Gelato

First of all I need to say that it’s been a quest for me to find a decent pistachio ice-cream or gelato, even a shake here in Utah. Maybe I’m going to all the wrong places but I have yet to find one. Closest to something tasty I had was a shake from Iceberg, but it is so obviously made from jello mix that it’s full of jelloish green little gummy nasty things. I also looked for a recipe I could work with for awhile because some called for things I just couldn’t get here, like Sicillian pistachio paste or pesto. I think if I could get that here, it is safe to say I would be able to find pistachio gelato also. I decided on a recipe from epicurious.com. I doubled the amounts and made some changes but other wise copied and pasted ingridients and directions.

This is why I had so many leftover egg-whites and needed to do something with them. And then Divinity taffy came to be. :o)

I also love taking pictures of sugar as I have discovered…

Here is the recipe:

Pistachio Gelato
GELATO AL PISTACCHIO

1 and 1/2 cup unsalted shelled pistachios (I couldn’t find unsalted and used regular salted ones, gelato tastes just as delicious)
1 and 1/2 sugar
4 cups whole milk
2 teaspoon almond extract
10 large egg yolks
4 drops green food coloring

Chopped unsalted pistachios

Preparation:

Finely grind 3/4 cup pistachios and 1/4 cup sugar in processor. Combine pistachio mixture, milk and almond extract in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil. Whisk yolks and 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk milk mixture into yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens slightly and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 8 minutes (do not boil). Remove from heat. Whisk in food coloring. Refrigerate custard until cold, about 3 hours.

The change I made is that I put the cooked pistachio mix through the sifter because I didn’t want my gelato to have so much chopped nuts in it. I think my processor sucks and this would not be a problem with a better quality one. Even with this the consistency of the gelato is not as smooth as I would have hopped so. The flavor sooo makes up for it though!

Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to covered container and freeze. (Can be prepared 1 week ahead. Keep frozen.) Scoop into glasses or bowls. Garnish with chopped pistachios.

This is how grinned pistachios with sugar look like.

And this is the egg yolks. They looked so fluffy and yummy I could have eaten them like that. Except for the salmonella….

And the finished gelato, Ta-Daaa: