pistachio nut butter

a perfect pistachio purée.

There's more out there then just peanut butter? Uhm, YES. This is a most delicious option for your toast! Get excited.  Those with arachibutyrophobia, BEWARE: this is much stickier than peanut butter.

Making your own nut butter is so, so, so simple.  Pick a nut, throw it in an electrical device and BAM, a toast topper!  I picked pistachios... mmm.  I found that pistachios taste excellent alongside, crushed on top and all up in fresh figs.  So when I was working through my surplus of fresh figs a couple weeks ago, I found myself munching many precious pistachios as well.  I just couldn't get enough of them.  Roasted, salted, crumbled on and in yogurt, granola, figs.  It just wasn't enough.  I wanted them on my TOAST.  So I decided the best way to achieve that was to SPREAD THEM.  I had tried making my own almond butter before...which failed.  BUT this time I learned the trick to making homemade nut butter...these perfect pistachios taught me patience.

pistachio nut butter:

- 1 cup of pistachios, roasted or raw, salted or unsalted

*use as many pistachios as you want depending on how much pistachio butter you`d like to enjoy. You could add salt if you want, I didn`t add any because I used salted pistachios. Its all up to you! I also suggest you buy pistachios that have already been shelled or you`ll end up with sore fingers and a big mess to clean up.

Put pistachios in device of your choice.  Let the machine do its work.  Pulse if you want.  BE PATIENT.  Use a spatula to scrape it off the sides constantly.  It will get crumbly looking.  It will be dry looking.  Just WAIT.  It will get clumpy looking.  It will form into a blob.  JUST WAIT.  It will eventually turn to a smooth, shiny, creamy, oily, spreadable substance that looks like it should.  It took about 10 minutes.  Scoop it all out of your device into a cute container.  ENJOY.

I ended up dirtying three different chopping, blending, processing devices.  The chopper thingy that is in the picture, a blender AND a food processor.  This is what I found out: the blender was too big and the blades were too small, it would just throw the blob against the sides instantly and didn't do its job of blending the nuts. The food processor worked well to get the pistachios to the dry clumpy formation, and chopper was taking a long time to get it smooth and it kept getting stuck underneath the blades at first.  If you use a bigger amount of pistachios the food processor would be best, for smaller amounts I'd say definitely use the chopper.  Make sure you stop the device and scrape down the sides constantly to keep the pistachio substance flowing.

Yes.  This will make your breakfast look like a ogre.  Shiny, green, smooth, orge toast.  Spread some on your toast and drizzle some honey over it... and I mean drizzle! Do NOT smother or cover your pistachio butter with honey or you won't be able to get the full pistachio flavour.  The drizzle just adds a delicious complimentary sweetness!

a healthful hint:
Pistachios make a great snack! Having to shell them slows you down so you don't mindlessly eat too many. BUT don't fret if you do eat too many (which isn't difficult because of their deliciousness) because they are one of the lowest calorie and lowest fat nuts out there!  They still have a high fat content like all nuts, but these fats are mostly unsaturated and good for you!  Pistachios are green and purple coloured because of high lutein and anthocyanin content.  Lutein (the green) is good for you eyes and anthocyanin (the purple) is said to be anti-inflammatory, and preventative of cancer and neurological disease.  These nuts also contain the highest levels of potassium, γ-tocopherol, vitamin K, phytosterols, and xanthophyll carotenoids. Alongside all these vitamins and antioxidants, pistachios are packed with protein and fibre!