DEBORAH CROMBIE: Most of us know pine nuts from their most common use in the U.S., which is for pesto. But I've become enamoured with the little things. I usually toast them, very gently, in a non-stick pan. As soon as they start to take on a golden hue, you should take them off the heat, then tip them into another dish to cool. Just the residual heat from the pan can cause them to scorch, as I've discovered to my dismay. Once cool, I usually put them in a storage container in the fridge to be used as needed. Oh, and although they're sold unrefrigerated, I keep the raw nuts in the fridge too for longer life.
Which brings us to the question, is a pine nut a nut or a seed? They are actually seeds, and are harvested from about twenty different species of pines around the world, and they've been used in cooking in Europe and Asia since Paleolithic times.
There are American varieties--here's cool photo of pines nuts being loaded for shipment in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1921.
However, most pine nuts sold today in the U.S. come from China, so maybe I should stockpile them in the fridge, or eat more ecologically and budget friendly American-grown pecans. Texas, you should know, is one of the largest pecan producers in the country, and it's also our state tree! We even have pecan trees in our back yard, but unfortunately they are the native type, not the cultivated variety, and they are bitter. The squirrels, however, love them.
But back to pine nuts, as long as I'm abandoning my ecological principles. I put the toasted nuts on salads, on pasta, and on pretty much anything that just needs a little bit of a lift. Today I had a sprinkle on a black bean veggie burger with avocado. Last night I had them sprinkled on tiny ricotta and spinach ravioli, with olive oil, parmesan, and a tiny bit of butter. Delish!
Pine nuts are used in flour, in cakes and cookies, and in sweets like baklava, as well. Having just seen a recipe for torta della nonna (or granny's cake) I'm tempted to take up baking. Shortcrust pastry and a custard filling, with pine nuts and powdered sugar on the top. They should make this on Great British Bake Off!
REDS and readers, are you pine nut fans? And do you have another rather odd food obsession?
Although those all sound delicious, I have no experience with pine nuts [other than if they are in a jar of pesto I've purchased] . . . .
ReplyDeleteI do love pine nuts and always have some in the freezer but rarely use them outside of pesto. You have given me ideas now!
ReplyDeleteI'm quite fond of nutritional yeast flakes. It's nutty and so good on popcorn, sprinkled on salad, and added to a bowl of cereal. And it's really good for you!
we used to eat that yeast back in hippy days Edith. Haven't tasted it in years!
DeleteI often add nutritional yeast to my salads and my soups. It adds taste and good nutrients
DeleteIf there are no dairy nor gluten in the nutritional yeast, then I would like to try it myself.
DeleteMmm, pine nuts! I also dry toast them on the stove, and add them to any kind of pasta, sometimes along with some rehydrated dried tomatoes I keep in the freezer. So tasty.
ReplyDeleteIs hot honey an odd food obsession, or a trend? And after having a couple varieties of delectable giant beans in Greece, I am craving them here. They look like fava beans, but they are melt-in-the-mouth soft, cooked in a rich tomato sauce. The Greeks serve almost every meal family style, with one person ordering. My son-in-law chose these if they were on the menu and they were always delicious.
Dens, I will remember your caution about toasting the pine nuts! We love pine nuts & do keep them in the refrigerator. We don’t make our own pesto but love adding the toasted ones to all sorts of dishes - scrambled eggs and omelets, salads, over pasta dishes, in stews….
ReplyDeleteChopped toasted pecans from TJs. I sprinkle them on my yogurt.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that I never bought pine nuts.
ReplyDeleteI love to add nuts and seeds to my salads and stir fries to add some protein and for taste.
I’m the greatest fan of the locally sourced and organic sunflower anything: sprouts sunflower seeds, roasted sunflower seeds and sunflower oil.
Interesting. I have a bag of pine nuts waiting for me to have a stroke of inspiration. They are probably well past fresh at this point. Alas.
ReplyDeleteI have had them in various dishes from pasta to desserts in restaurants and love the flavor. I have a memory of peeling off round, waxy little shells (similar to opening pumpkin seeds) and eating them at my grandmother's apartment in NYC when I was really small. Is that a real memory?
Judy I wonder if the seeds/nuts might have been pistachios? They aren't waxy though but have shells.
DeleteAnd here I thought pine nuts were crazy people from Maine.
ReplyDeleteWell you may be right Jerry! hahah
DeletePine nuts sound delicious. I've only had them in pesto, or maybe at a restaurant. My Texas grandma used to talk longingly about pecans, which weren't really available in the '60s in Oregon.
ReplyDeleteTofu is a food, which I love, though I know some people are not fond of. Only time I like pine nuts is in a very sweet dish like the baklava. Perhaps not these days since I started menopause. Tomatoes, potatoes and aubergines (eggplant) are also favorites.
ReplyDeleteI think there are some pine nuts in our pantry right now for making pesto from home grown basil, but I am not the one in this household who does any of those things so I can’t be sure. There are cubes of frozen pesto in our freezer.
ReplyDeleteFood obsessions: all kinds of cheese. Seems I just can’t resist it.
I love pine nuts, too! I remember the first time I encountered them -- it was in an Italian restaurant. It was one of those food experiences that feels like an explosion opening one's mind anew. I don't buy them often, but when I do it is either for a specific recipe or to use on salads, which I find a great treat.
ReplyDeleteMy mother grew up in Louisiana and all her family is still there. When I was younger, they used to ship us pecans each year, but somewhere over the years that died out. Too bad -- I also love pecans.
Interesting facts about pine nuts Debs. I love all kinds of nuts but I think p-nuts are my fav.
ReplyDeleteAs far as a food obsession I have to say bread especially a good French Baguette from a local bakery.
Now I want a fresh baguette!
DeleteI love all nuts but I have never had pine nuts. I should remedy that asap! I have just this past summer discovered that I have pine cones on the Eastern White Pines I planted a few years ago. Will they contain pine nuts? If so, they are probably very tiny. I've heard that mice like pine cones and I am guessing that is what they are after.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to know some of you are also nut nuts! I'm off to the farmer's market, where I'll be looking to see if any of the vendors have local pecans yet. It's harvest season! I'll be back here in a bit!
ReplyDeleteI love them too! I keep them in the freezer. I also love craisins for salad. Craisins, blue cheese, and pecans on salad With grilled chicken. Cannot do better than that. Xxxxxx but you have to be so careful toasting pine nuts, right? In a fraction of a second— poof, they’re burned.
ReplyDeleteTrying to determine if a seed is a nut or a nut a seed seems to me like trying to determine if a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. If it pleases your taste, does its biological category matter? Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteDebbie I love all things Pine Nuts ! My Mom taught me how to toast all nuts to enhance their flavor. Pecans were predominantly the choice in the Deep South as they were what we had and affordable during the Fall harvest just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was taught to candy pecans , to make pecan pies, to toast pecans and pine nuts with added flaked sea salt for an appetizer. Pecan topping for pumpkin casserole. I didn’t learn about pine nuts until I was in my twenties with a young son and I began to explore recipe’s from cooking shows which eventually led to making a new best friend who loved cooking and baking as much as I did. When I was in high school and home from college I worked for the local catering business. This led to my friend and I starting a catering business. We made baklava , we made salads with pine nuts, pastas with sprinkled pine nuts, quiche with pine nuts and shrimp with pasta and a béchamel sauce sprinkled with pine nuts !
ReplyDeleteThey seamlessly made these dishes stand out and every time at least one of the guest’s would say that they never knew how good pine nuts were or that they existed !
I do love pine nuts, and honestly, I figured most of them came from Italy, which as where I first encountered them. The more you know...
ReplyDeleteI also adore cultured pecans (remember, I'm also from Alabama!) but I will eat WAY too many of them, so I only have them in the house when I'm going to bake something.
One of my "toss a little bit in and everything tastes better" ingredients is anchovy paste. Yes! I grabbed it one time when I couldn't find fish sauce at my local store and I was cooking Chinese that night. It turned out to work really well as a substitute and I started experimenting with it when I wanted to add a little salt/umami to a dish. The funny thing is, I don't actually like anchovies - but the paste: yum!