Pistachios.

Plus, my recipe for an adaptable Spring Tabbouleh.

Welcome to ingredient, where once a month I take a deep dive into some of my favourite seasonal and store cupboard ingredients. This month I’m focusing on pistachios: the vibrant green nut from the cashew family which is a firm favourite regardless of if you’re going sweet or savoury.

Additionally, at the bottom of this post you’ll find my recipe for an adaptable Spring Tabbouleh you can turn into a lunch with the addition of crumbled feta or grilled halloumi, or serve as is as a side dish as part of a larger spread. I’ve got an easy weeknight recipe in the works too (which some of you might have spied in my Instagram stories!) perfect for the warmer months that shows the not-so-humble pistachio some love, and for my third recipe I’m torn towards a pasta recipe I’m testing, or leaning into something sweeter instead. I’ll keep you posted!

To receive these recipes, plus access all of the recipes from past newsletters as well as my Kitchen Cupboards interviews, you can upgrade your subscription here. And, if you fancy exploring the archives for more inspiration, last May we were celebrating the refreshing herbal notes of fresh mint:

Fresh Mint.

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Surprisingly, nuts are not a big part of my kitchen. The collection I have to hand oscillates wildly because they’re something I buy for a particular recipe - either that I or a client have chosen - and then they sit there waiting for me to make something like a couscous where I’ll just throw them in with a random combination of dried fruit and herbs from the fridge to use them all up.

The two exceptions to this rule are raw cashews, because I fry them up as part of the garnish for Sri Lankan Yellow Rice (an essential dish in our house) and pistachios. I’m never without pistachios, the one nut in the culinary cannon I could not live without.

With their vibrantly green, purple skinned (almost pink if you’re viewing fresh, peak season ones in Turkish markets) exuberance peeking coquettishly from their plain, yellow tan exterior there is so much to love about the pistachio, both in it’s plain raw form and as something salted and toasted, ready to be opened convivially at the table or sitting up at the bar with a drink or two in hand, discarded shells already littering the table.

It’s quite fitting then that the only two nuts I always keep stocked come from the same family. In The Flavour Thesaurus: More Flavours Niki Segnit writes that:

Pistachio is a member of the Anacardiaceae, or cashew family. Tropical in origin, it can withstand cooler climates as long as conditions are dry and sunny. It grows successfully in Turkey, Sicily and California. The pistachio nut is the seed of a drupe. Its clusters of little pinkish-golden fruit contain vivid-green nuts that have a flavour of wet wood and sap, with mild spice and herb notes. Their taste is sweet, and there’s a hint of sourness and some bitterness in the skin. Salt elevates it to perfection. The glorious flavour of pistachio survives the grinding process to an extent that the flavour of its relative, the cashew, does not.

Pistachios have the visual impact no other nut can quite manage whilst also having the flavour credentials to back their alluring appearance up. Nikki’s section on pistachios also goes on to highlight the brilliant versatility of this glorious nut: pairing it with allspice, almond, cheese, chocolate, dates, honey, kale, lemon, maple syrup, orange, peppercorns, plums, pomegranates, sesame, vanilla and yogurt. And anyone who has even dabbled in the desserts of the Middle East know that orange blossom water, or rosewater and pistachio are classic pairings for a reason.

On the savoury side of things, I like working with pistachios as they’re the most forgiving of nuts for when you can’t be bothered to toast them. I actually don’t toast the pistachios in a lot of my recipes as I feel you get two very different - and very helpful - characters of pistachio if you look at the before and after. Before roasting or toasting pistachios are soft (and soften further in dressings), young-tasting in a way that’s similar to a pine nut, and retains a little creaminess. Toasted, a depth is added I’d liken to the difference between green tea and hojicha (toasted green tea) with added crunch. But, they do take on a little yellow colour with roasting, which is why I’ve noticed many desserts that rely on pistachios' colour as well as flavour do without this step.

Once you’ve chosen how to treat them, the options for a pistachio’s irresistible colour and flavour are endless: they’ll add colour and texture to a salsa verde, extra verdancy and depth to pestos (these roasted courgettes with pistachio sauce are something I’ve got bookmarked for summer), colour and crunch to grain bowls, and serve as a beautiful garnish for salad plates and to scattered over finished dishes of either the Mediterranean or Levantine persuasion.

Pistachio and Fior de Latte Gelato from Camilla Gelateria Yogurteria in San Miniato, Tuscany last September.

Taken in a sweet context, I want to take a moment to say that the best flavours of ice cream are green: in it’s most simple guise obviously mint chocolate chip rules supreme, but when ice cream is upgraded to the sultry creaminess and thicker, sometimes almost chewy texture of gelato? Name one flavour of gelato that’s better than pistachio. Granted, a scoop of Fior di Latte served alongside some pistachio to balance out the sweetness and richness is sometimes most welcome, but I’ll wait. You can’t name a better flavour, can you?

Here is everything we ate in Tuscany.

Obviously the nutty, rich flavour of the pistachios are key here, but pistachio’s natural creaminess I think is what also makes it the best nut based flavour out there: you only have to attack a jar of baked-goods-intended Sicilian pistachio cream blended with milk powder to realise this (I like this thick one for filling things like sandwich cookies, and this thinner one for folding into buttercream for the best frosting ever, and which

Alexandra Dudley

uses in this incredible looks and sounding Pistachio Tirimasu) - a jar is never cheap, but is always worth it.

Baked into cakes a splash of almond extract is good for bringing out it’s natural flavour, and ground into a flour it adds a lovely colour as well as flavour to cakes. In pastries, obviously pistachios add flavour but I think they also are at their best for visual appeal too: the papery skins rubbed off and brushed with glaze, or else ground into a vibrant green powder. Would a tray of baklava be quite the same without the pistachio? (And whilst we’re on the topic of baklava it seems like the perfect moment to link to

Julia Watson

’s brilliant potted history of pistachios!) Also, you’ll get the recipe eventually (I perfected it in one kitchen and it’s oven and then it’s come out not quite 100% every time since) but I also make a peach and pistachio tart using a pistachio frangipane which I’d call one of the best dessert-based ideas I’ve ever had, except that I stole the idea from

deb perelman

, and it seems that

Nicola Lamb

has done it in a stunning rhubarb tart in her new book Sift too.

nicolaalamb

A post shared by @nicolaalamb

For my first recipe this pistachio month, we’re leaning into a Middle Eastern dish, but with slightly more European flavours with my violently green Spring Tabbouleh. The copious herbs, cucumber and bulgar wheat elements are still there, but colour and crunch are added using the trifecta of toasted pistachios, shredded sugar snaps and shaved asparagus before the whole thing is doused in lemony dressing. As I mentioned in my introduction, it makes for a delicious grain bowl or side salad by itself, but can also be upgraded to meal status with crumbled feta or griddled halloumi.

Spring Tabbouleh

Serves: 2-4 (as a main meal or a side dish), Preparation time: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 20 minutes

Crunch is key to the vibrancy of this Spring Tabbouleh, so try to mix it all together just before serving so that all of the elements can retain their intended textures. If you do have any leftovers, you might want to add a spritz more lemon before enjoying them to brighten things up a bit.

• 1/4 cup bulgur wheat (55g) + 1/2 cup boiling water (120ml)

• sea salt

• 80g shelled pistachios

• 4 large asparagus spears

• 50g sugar snap peas

• 2 Persian cucumbers

• very large handful fresh mint leaves

• very large handful flat leaf parsley leaves

• juice of 1 1/2 good sized lemons

• zest of 1/2 good sized lemon

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1/4 tsp maple syrup

1. Add the bulgur wheat and the water with a good pinch of salt to a small, lidded saucepan. Set it over a high heat and once it’s boiling clap on the lid, reduce the heat to medium low and allow to cook for 15-20 minutes, not checking it until the 15 minute mark. The bulgar should be just tender, fluffy when agitated with a fork, and all the liquid should be absorbed. Set aside to cool.

2. Meanwhile, toast the pistachios in a small frying pan set over a medium high heat. Set aside to cool, and once you can handle them, roughly chop.

3. To prep the vegetables, snap the tough ends off the asparagus before slicing the spears thinly on the diagonal. Slice the snap peas in the same way. Split the Persian cucumbers down the middle then slice the halves on the diagonal, and chop all the herbs well.

4. In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and zest, olive oil, maple syrup and a very generous pinch of salt. Then add the rest of the ingredients, and fold everything together so the salad is well mixed and coated with the dressing. Season to taste with more salt if it needs a bit more savoury depth, lemon juice if it is missing a bit of zing, and maple syrup if it’s too tart, then serve immediately.