Raw Pistachios
The pistachio tree grows freely in the mountains of the Middle Eastern regions and it has the ability to produce nuts that are edible. Mostly, people like to eat raw pistachios but these pistachios can also be roasted and eaten and in addition they can be used in many different kinds of dishes including baklava and ice creams. Sometimes, it pays to cook raw pistachios after first shelling them and then they should be salted and then roasted in an oven.
Roasting pistachios
If you would like to roast your raw pistachios, then you will need to acquire about four pounds of them in shelled form. These pistachios can yield about eight cups of pistachio nutmeat. It is quite easy to split the pistachio shell and this can easily be done by hand. All that is required is ensuring that the outer shell is peeled off and then the nutmeat can be set aside.
Shelling
Once the shelling has been completed, it is then time to take about eight cups of the shelled pistachios which should be added to a deep saucepan that is filled with boiling water. Allow this mixture to sit for about two minutes during which time the shelled pistachios will become sufficiently soft and moist to facilitate easier skin removal.
Peel the skin
After the skins have been peeled away, take the nutmeat and strain it and then let it cool down. Be sure to remove any remaining skin from the nutmeat. Once this is done, take about two ounces of salt and mix it in half a cup of water and stir this well and then pour it into a deep saucepan. Allow the mixture to heat up at high temperature and stir the shelled as well as skinned pistachios. You need to stir this till the water evaporates completely and when you notice that the nuts have a coating of salt you know that this task is done.
Mix with salt
Be sure to mix nuts with the salt and also make sure that the pistachios are properly and completely coated. Once this is done, take the pistachios and spread them across a baking pan (preferably a flat one) and make sure that these pistachios are distributed evenly across the pan. Next, set the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and then place the baking pan into the oven that has been properly preheated.
Allow the raw pistachios to remain in the oven for ninety minutes by which time they will have roasted completely. However, at the thirty minute interval and also at the sixty minute interval, you will need to stir the pistachios to help in cooking them evenly. Once ninety minutes have elapsed, you can take the baking pan out of the oven and then let the pistachios remain till they have cooled down and are ready for consumption.
This is a very simple way to roast your raw pistachios. If you want a particular flavor, then you will need to alter the time taken to roast the raw pistachios. For a light flavor, you can roast the raw pistachios for fifteen minutes while for a stronger flavor, simply increase the roasting time by fifteen minutes.