Gelato al Pistacchio

(Unedited)

Please read the Gelato Introduction if you haven’t already, including the discussion on why it’s better to buy pure pistachio paste rather than attempting to grind your own paste. I just started making this recipe. I buy the pistachio paste from a seller in Bronte, Sicily, which is a region known for its pistachios. However, I’ve tried a couple very different recipes and am still not crazy about this gelato. This is the one gelato that I have yet to figure out how to make taste as good as I’d like. The consistency is fine, there’s just something lacking in the flavor department. I’ve discovered that pistachio ice cream in the USA often contains almond extract and a little salt. So, what we think of as pistachio flavor might be mostly almond. I’m not sure where I want to go from here. I’ll just say that I’m disappointed in the situation and that you might not want to make this one.

550g fresh WHOLE milk, preferably sourced locally

200g fresh heavy cream, preferably sourced locally

70g egg yolk

145g sugar

200g pure pistachio paste

1. Weigh ingredients separately.

2. Slowly heat the whole milk, heavy cream, and egg yolk. Stir continuously with a whisk.

3. Once the milk mixture gets warm, slowly stir in the sugar. Stir continuously with a whisk.

4. Continue heating the mixture on medium heat until it gets to 85C. Stir continuously with a whisk.

5. Remove the mixture from the heat and add the pistachio paste. Help it dissolve a little using a whisk, then use an immersion blender for about 3 minutes to get it all blended uniformly into the milk. At the end, you should be able to scrape all around the pot with a spatula and not encounter any bits of paste.

6. Transfer the pot into an ice-water bath in a larger bowl and stir continuously until the temperature gets back to close to room temperature. This is standard practice for pasteurization.

7. Optional: filter the mixture using a fine strainer to ensure there are no clumps of paste (unlikely).

8. Cover the mixture tightly with plastic wrap and store overnight in the refrigerator. This allows the flavor to mature. It may remain in the refrigerator for up to 72 hours.

9. When it’s time to churn the mixture, turn on the chill part of the gelato machine to get it a little cold for 3 minutes.

10. Turn on the churner and slowly pour the mixture into the built-in bowl of the gelato machine. Replace plastic top.

11. It should be ready to eat in 20 minutes with the Musso Lello 4080. Turn off the chiller 30 seconds before completing the churning process. If the gelato machine shows signs of struggling to turn, it’s past done. Other gelato machines may never get it hard enough to eat and may require that you put it in the freezer for some amount of time.

12. Serve gelato in small bowls that were pre-cooled in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

13. Store uneaten gelato in the freezer. To get it soft enough to eat later, you may need to put it into your refrigerator for up to 1.5 hours. But keep in mind that the consistency won’t be as good as it was right out of the machine. In any case, the best option is to make only as much as you need and store the remaining mixture in the refrigerator until the next day when you can make it again, but keep in mind that you will need to churn it for much less time.