Roasted Pistachio Ice Cream
I have never had pistachio ice cream. Or a pistachio muffin. Or any other neon green food claiming to be pistachio flavored. The first time I tried a pistachio was in 8th grade. I was on vacation with a friend and her family. I had braces on. Now I wasn’t a very good braces-wearer. I broken brackets off all the time.
My orthodontist was always on my case about it. I had learned how to eat almonds without breaking off brackets, so I figured I could handle a pistachio. I figured wrong. I only ate one pistachio, and I wasn’t overly impressed. Plus I got another lecture at my next orthodontist appointment, so all around pistachios just aren’t my thing…
Hubby on the other hand, loves all things pistachio. They’re one of his favorite nuts to snack on. He loves them so much that every for Christmas, his mom still gives him a 5 lb bag of pistachios. She’s been doing that since he was a boy.
So when I told him I was making some pistachio ice cream, he got really excited. See, I just recently ordered Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home, and after browsing through all the recipes (and flagging most of them), I decided on this roasted pistachio ice cream to be the first recipe to try. Not sure what the motivation was, but I’m glad I went with it.
One thing you’ll notice is that it’s not bright green. The pistachios turned a darker brown through the roasting process. I opted to add chunks of roasted pistachios in the ice cream as well to give it some texture.
Having never tasted pistachio ice cream, I can’t really comment on how it compares. What I can tell you is that this ice cream is like a salty peanut buttery ice cream (if your peanut butter was made with roasted pistachios). You guys know I love all things salty and sweet and this stuff definitely hits the mark. Based on the success of this recipe, I can gaurantee you’ll be seeing more of Jeni’s recipes on my blog this summer.
One Year Ago: Balsamic Basil Strawberry Shortcake
Two Years Ago: Golden Snitch Cake Pops and Butterbeer Recipe
Three Years Ago: French Silk Pie
Four Years Ago: Buttermilk Cupcakes with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Roasted Pistachio Ice Cream
Yield: ~1 Quart
Ingredients:
1 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, divided in half
2 cups whole milk - I used coconut milk
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 oz (3 Tbsp) cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream - I used coconut milk
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp almond extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Spread pistacios onto a small baking sheet and toast in oven for 10-12 minutes, until fragrant and starting to turn brown. Remove from oven.
Roughly chop 1/2 cup roasted pistachios and reserve for mixing in later. Place the other 1/2 cup in a food processor and process until you get a smooth paste.
In a small bowl, make a slurry with 2 Tbsp of milk and the cornstarch. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese, pistachio paste, and salt.
Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-qt saucepan. Bring to boil over med-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in slurry.
Bring mixture back to a boil over med-high heat and cook until slightly thickened (~1 minute). Remove from heat.
Whisk the hot milk mixture in to the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight, until completely cool.
Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Add the almond extract after adding the ice cream to the ice cream maker.
Layer the ice cream with chopped pistachios in a storage container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.
Recipe from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
What an awesome way to feature goat cheese in a dessert! I never thought of turning it into a chocolate mousse – sounds like I need to try this soon. 🙂
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 8:51 am
You definitely should. I know goat cheese isn’t for everyone, but we really enjoyed the subtle flavor in the mousse.
Jen, I love everything about this tart – from the chocolate crust to the mousse and the pretty strawberries on top. Yum! Enjoy your birthday month 🙂
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 8:52 am
Thanks for humoring me on the whole birthday month thing 🙂
Ohhh lalalalala, I totally dig this dessert even more because it has goat cheese and strawberries…some of my fave foods!! Happy Birthday month…you better party and eat like it’s your birthday!!
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 1:52 pm
Oh I’m definitely going to party like it’s my birthday! All month long 🙂
oh yes to the goat cheese in this tart! fabulous. happy birthday month 🙂 you might need to make this a few more times to celebrate?!
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:09 pm
Oh I have been baking plenty of deliciousness this month to celebrate 🙂 You know how hard it is to repeat recipes…
Love the idea of incorporating goat cheese in a dessert- I have never seen it down with chocolate before. I will definitely be trying this soon as I have some goat cheese in my fridge waiting to be used 🙂
beantownbaker — June 11th, 2013 @ 7:20 am
Oh yea, goat cheese and chocolate go really well together.
Oh my, the use of goat cheese in this is phenomenal! I would love to try it!
beantownbaker — June 11th, 2013 @ 8:46 am
Definitely do! And you could top it with any fruit you like. I think raspberries would be good too.
Chocolate must work great with goat cheese since they’re both utterly delicious!! This recipe looks magnificent omg I think I would be able to eat the whole tart by myself *-*
Goat cheese is one of my favorite ingredients to use in desserts, and your tart looks soooo delicious! Thanks for sharing =) Definitely a must try this summer.
Oh wow this is gorgeous! I love this recipe, I bet it tastes heavenly!
I just finished making my second one for this week…we love it…it is so smooth and rich and well D E L I C I O U S!!!…my grandson requested the second one but truth be told I was gonna make it anyway…the bittersweet chocolate and the cocoa in the crust are what make it….if anyone out there hasn’t tried it do so you will be in love….
beantownbaker — June 25th, 2013 @ 5:38 pm
So glad you’ve enjoyed it! I definitely need to make this again. I have already made it with raspberries but want to try blackberries next.
you wont believe it but I made this AGAIN yesterday…I did a play on bananas foster on the top…it was a hit with my company…and good recipes for sweets for the 4th?..lol….
beantownbaker — July 3rd, 2013 @ 5:02 pm
Wow – bananas foster on top. I would never have thought of that! I am making this tart and this strawberry shortcake for the 4th.
So sinful and delicious looking 🙂
Holy yumminess. I never thought of putting goat cheese in. My mouth is watering at the thought. Strawberries are my absolute favorite berry of all time. I will have to for sure try this recipe, Got it saved to my personal file. thank you.
I love chocolate mousse and I love goat cheese, so clearly I need to make this!
Also, there is strawberry picking (not sure it is organic though if that matters) up here near Oxford. I can get you the info for next year if driving up here is not a problem (I imagine it depends on what side of Cinci you live 🙂 ).
beantownbaker — August 4th, 2013 @ 6:44 pm
I definitely don’t mind driving for freshly picked strawberries!!
I love absolutely EVERYTHING about this recipe! It’s hard to beat mixing tangy goat cheese with chocolate and berries. What a unique recipe!
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:11 pm
It tastes as good as it sounds! I hope you try it.
WOW! What a wonderful recipe! Definitely one of my new favorites! Happy birthday month!
Does this go in the fridge covered or uncovered and how long does it last? Thanks!