So our summer of experimenting with ice cream flavours is continuing despite the fact that the days are getting shorter and and colder. There's nothing like denial to get you through the winter, and ice cream is an integral part of this denial! It would be fair to say that the other discovery of the summer has been pistachios. Now, I've long enjoyed a pistachio too, not least on family holidays in France, but it is only recently I've learnt to appreciate and use pistachios in my cooking. Anyway, aside from adding a lovely crunch to salads and a wonderful flavour to biscotti, pistachios are delightful in ice-cream form.
The basis for this recipe is our the custard from our mocha ice-cream (which you can find here). But first, the pistachios! Start with 100g pistachios, shells on and preferably unsalted. Shell the pistachios and remove as much of the skins as possible exposing the lovely green-ness. Roast the pistachios at 180C for 5-10 minutes. When the pistachios are cool enough to handle, remove any remaining skin that couldn't be shaken off before roasting, then whiz them in a food processor until finely ground. Add the ground pistachios together with the zest of one orange to 250ml Lactofree milk in a sauce pan. Gently bring the milk to the boil and then remove from the heat. Mix 3 egg yolks with 75g caster sugar in a large bowl. Add the milk to the yolks and sugar and then return the combined mixture to the heat but do not boil. Stir continuously for 5 minutes while the custard thickens. Put the custard in the fridge to cool. Once the custard is cool stir in 250ml Lactofree cream and then follow your ice cream maker's instructions to make the ice cream.