This pistachio paste is super easy to make with one ingredient only. It is an amazingly colourful and tasty paste that can be use to flavour your favourite creams, desserts, cakes and pastries!
Prepare a large bowl with icy water (either some very cold water straight from the fridge or tap water with a few ice cubes in it).
Pour some water into a small saucepan, turn on medium heat and bring to a boil. Add the shelled pistachios and allow to cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pistachio into the bowl with icy water (see note 1). Leave the pistachios in the cold water for a few minutes to fully stop the cooking.
Working in small batches, place the pistachios inside a clean kitchen towel and vigorously rub them few seconds to detach the skin from the pistachios. Sort through the pistachio, discarding the peel and keeping the skinned pistachio only (see note 2).Note: If using pre-peeled pistachios, you can skip this step.
2. Blending into a paste
Place the peeled pistachios in the bowl of your food processor. Start blending on medium to high speed. After a couple of minutes, you should get a coarse powder with large chunks of pistachios.
Continue to blend until the coarse powder starts to turn into a thick paste. The exact time can highly vary based on the strength of your food processor (see note 3). Stop to scrape the bowl when required to make sure the nuts are blending evenly.
If the pistachios aren't turning into a paste and remain quite gritty after 5 to 10 minutes of blending, you can add a little bit of water to help turn them into a paste. Only add a little bit of water at a time, about 1 tablespoon, and stop adding some as soon as the texture of the pistachio paste starts changing.
Depending on the consistency and texture you are looking for, stop once you get a thick paste or continue to blend until it turns into a smooth paste (the more water you add, the smoother it will get but the duller the colour of the paste and less strong of a flavour).
Transfer it into a clean jar or airtight container and keep it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks for optimal flavour. Pistachio paste can also be frozen.
Notes
Alternatively, simply strain the pistachio through a thin mesh sieve then transfer into the bowl of icing water.
You can skip the peeling process if preferred but keeping the skin will result in a pistachio paste that has a brown colour instead of a bright green one. You might need to change the kitchen towel to a fresh one if the first one is getting a bit dirty.
If the food processor starts to overheat, stop for a few minutes to allow to cool down.