Toasted Almond Recipes

[surgtech1956]

DGF bought a 4# jar of almonds. I'm looking for some toasted/roasted almond recipes. We don't bake much. So any recipes or ideas for almonds, please.

[Thorn]

Ingredients
• 8oz dried pasta [7]
• 1/4 C unsalted roasted almonds

• 1/4 C unsalted roasted almonds
• 1/4 C (loosely packed) fresh basil [2] [3]
• 3 cloves fresh garlic, slivered [4]
• 1/4 C parmesan cheese [5]
• 3/8 t red pepper flakes [6]

• 1/4 C EVOO
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 C (short) grape or cherry tomatoes [8]

• 1/4 C shredded parmesan

Method
1. Whatever you do, don't use a food processor to make this pesto. This should be chunky and rustic. If you have a food chopper, use it. If not, you can make this like a cuttingboard pesto. If you've never made a cuttingboard pesto before, do a bit of web search [9], and possibly watch a video or two before trying this. It is easy, but there is a bit of technique involved.
2. Boil the water, and cook the pasta until al dente.
3. While the pasta boils, chop the first 1/4 C of almonds. The pieces should be about the same size as bulgar. Reserve this for the garnish.
4. Now make the petso. Start with the almonds. Put them on the cutting board, and coarsely chop. Top with the basil, and give it a few chops. Top with the garlic slices, and give it a few chops. Finally, add the parmesan and red pepper flakes. Now chop, mix, chop mix, until most of the almonds have been reduced to something resembling bulgar. Some of it will be larger, and some will be smaller. This is OK (in fact, it is desired!).
5. Transfer the almond mixture to a bowl. Stir in the EVOO and the salt. Set aside.
6. Cut the tomatoes. If using grape tomatoes, the quarter them. If using cherry tomatoes, then cut into eigths or smaller. Add to the pesto mixture, and gently stir.
7. When the pasta is ready, drain it, and return it to the pot. Add the pesto, and mix well, coating all of the pasta. Plate, and garnish with the remaining chopped almonds and additional parmesan cheese.

[2] You must use fresh basil. Dried basil simply will not work here.
[3] This is 1/2 of one of those little boxes that you can buy in the suppermarket. That is about the only way you can buy basil here in the off season. Next time, find out how many ounces this is, and note it here.
[4] You must use fresh garlic here. For nearly all of my cooking, I use pre-minced garlic in a jar. That just won't work for this recipe.
[5] To be truely traditional, this should be ricotta salata, not parmesan. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to find in this country.
[6] I use Penzey's Indian Style pepper flakes; 40,000 heat units.
[7] To be completely authentic, you should use busiata. This is almost impossible to find in this country. The local Italian deli carries a fusilli avellinesi from Maestri Pastai that is almost exactly the same as busiata, but half the length. Even so, it carries the pesto just as well.
If you can't get a hold of either of those types of pasta, then you can use any type that will hold the pesto well. Since busiata is a twisted pasta, any of the other twisted pastas (rotini, gemelli, etc.) should work well. Campanelle is my "go to" pasta, and also works nicely.
[8] Again, use fresh. Canned tomatoes absolutely will not work here. Also, you must use sweet tomatoes. The sweetness balances out the bite of the garlic. So a beefsteak won't work. Stick with the cherry or grape varieties.
[9] A good introduction to cutting-board pesto is http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001570.html.

[shootingstar]

Great idea to find pesto recipes with an almond base. Looks like a great recipe, Thorn.

If presented with a wonderful treat like that surgtech, I probably go out and buy some quality whole fresh figs and eat them with nice almonds on the side. Would deliberately choose a fresh, luxurious, room temperature or warmed fruit, so that it's worthwhile with whole, roasted almonds. I'm lazy.

[kmehrzad]

For almond brittle, heat almonds in a frying pan until hot (we use raw almonds but can be done with roasted almonds). Add 1/2 sugar to however many almonds you use. Stir sugar in with almonds until sugar is completely melted.

Place foil on a flat surface. After almonds are coated in the melted sugar, spoon them out onto the foil a little at a time. Let cool then put in container to store. It's quick and easy.

[OakLeaf]

Really anything that calls for pignoli will work with almonds as well. Not just pesto. Almost any vegetable will be amazing with the traditional pignoli [almond]/currant [raisin]/garlic olive oil sauté.

[Thorn]

It should be noted that the Trapenesi is a "pesto" only in the generic term of being chopped mix. It does not resemble a basil or herb-based pesto. The almonds rule this pesto and the basil is just an accompaniment.

This is a traditional pasta topping from Trapani, Sicily. We fell it love with the first variation we were served (every cook has their own) and the recipe here is the result of DH's experimentation to reproduce what we had.

[OakLeaf]

Oh! and Romesco sauce. mmmmmm

I've never made it myself so I don't have a favorite recipe - but Google yields any number of recipes. I've been doing well lately with NYTimes recipes, and here's theirs.

[KnottedYet]

I go through one of those jars every two weeks.

Mostly I just eat them.

Occaisionally I chop them and toss 'em onto a bowl of quinoa or plain yogurt with honey drizzled on top. They are also good tossed onto a big plate of steamed broccoli with parmesean.

[badger]

Dr. Oz says like any oils, it can spoil so raw nuts should be stored in the fridge. So make sure to put the jar in a cold basement or the fridge!

[PamNY]

Thorn, that sounds like a wonderful pesto. I may wait till summer to try it, though.

Thanks for posting.

[malkin]

Nuts are a nice addition to a batch of roast veggies--the kind of roast veggies (cauliflower, carrot and celery, etc) that are in biggish bite size pieces and in your proverbial oven safe casserole dish. Drizzle with oil and lemon and herbs that you like bake about 30 min at about 350.