Summer is coming and... who doesn't love a scoop of creamy gelato? Especially if it is pistachio gelato! Pistachios are one of my favourite nuts to eat. Natural, toasted, salted, on desserts, on savoury dishes, you name it! You can prepare this recipe using natural pistachios or you can buy pistachio butter or pistachio paste. The paste and butter are a bit expensive but 200 grs of if will last at least 3 batches of gelato (family size!) =)
Recipe
How much time you need?
Preparation: 30 minutes
Resting: 8-24 hours
Churning: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
25g corn-starch
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon maple syrup
100g granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
60g pistachio butter, or 100grs shelled pistachios, finely chopped in a food processor
70g shelled pistachios, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped for crunchy bites
Method:
1. For the gelato base, in a small bowl whisk corn-starch with 4 tablespoons of milk and set aside. 2. Pour remaining milk in a medium saucepan along with cream, sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a light boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes. 3. Remove from heat and add in corn-starch, stirring vigorously. Return to medium heat and let it boil for approx. 1 minute more until slightly thickened. It should cover the back of a table spoon or spatula, see pictures in my recipe. Stir in pistachio butter (or the chopped pistachios) and stir well till completely dissolved.
4. Transfer to an ice bath and let cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally. Cover tightly, pressing a layer of plastic wrap down on the surface of the mixture, and refrigerate overnight, or at least 6-8 hours. This step is essential to cure the base and avoid having an icy gelato, resulting in a thicker and creamier gelato. 5. The next day, strain the ice cream base through a fine mesh sieve to remove all the bits of pistachio, pressing out as much of the cream as possible. If you have use pistachio butter instead, there is no need to pass the mixture through the sieve.
6. Transfer the gelato base to the ice cream churner and put the gelato pallet on. Once churned, stir in toasted pistachios and transfer to an ice-cream container. Freeze for two to three hours before serving.
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