Bucatini with Pistachio Cream Sauce
Friends are coming over for dinner and this delicious and delightful pasta was their request. Grab the ingredients and make it with us! It comes together very quickly and has a rich and nutty flavor. (And, yes, this picture isn’t bucatini. Use any pasta you have on hand!)
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 cup shelled pistachios
5 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
16 oz favorite spaghetti or bucatini
For Garnish:
¼ cup shelled pistachios, chopped
Olive oil for drizzling
Parmesan cheese, grated
Directions:
Heat a large stockpot filled with water over high heat. While heating, prepare sauce.
In a small skillet, heat pistachios over high heat. Move around often, ensuring they don’t burn. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned. You should start to smell the nuttiness once they are ready to go. Remove pistachios from heat.
Combine pistachios, garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice in a food processor. Do not blend yet. Using the same skillet previously used for the nuts, heat butter over high heat. Butter should quickly melt. Let it brown slightly but don’t let it burn. Once melted and slightly browned, add butter to food processor with ingredients already included.
Blend until well combined and no large pieces of nuts remain. While blending, stream in a few tablespoons of olive oil and help with consistency.
Add noodles to well salted boiling water. Mix occasionally so they don’t stick.
Remove pistachio mixture from food processor. Return to your skillet and add pistachio mixture with heavy cream over medium heat. Whisk consistently until creamy and thick. Be careful to not cook too long or mixture will become quite thick. Once you notice a sauce-like consistency, turn off heat.
If sauce becomes too thick, whisk in a few tablespoons of pasta water.
Use tongs to remove cooked pasta from water and add to saucepan with sauce. Use tongs to gently coat and combine.
Plate noodles and gently twirl with tongs. Top with chopped pistachios, drizzled olive oil and grated Parmesan cheese.