This pandemic has forced many of us to look inward. Maybe we’re exploring a new sense of self because we can no longer identify ourselves with a job, or scrutinizing our social tendencies because society is largely off limits, or examining our contribution to the entrenched and broken systems of our current politics. Or maybe, we’re simply looking inward into the depths of our pantries for something to eat.   

Quarantine cooking is an exercise in flexibility, imagination, and, at times, desperation. Sometimes the store is out of necessities. Sometimes you just can’t muster the courage to brave the crowds or outside world. Sometimes moths fly out of your wallet. Never before have I probed my pantry through such a fierce lens of, “Is it time?”. Time to open this tin of tuna I’ve been hoarding from that trip to Croatia two years ago? Time to break into the saffron, the truffle salt, the heirloom olive oil? Time to figure out just what to do with five pounds of shelled pistachios? The answer, of course, is yes, yes, yes. If we’ve learned nothing else from the last five months, it’s that the only time is now.  

I’ve been sitting on a few pounds of pistachios since last Thanksgiving when I’d asked a friend to bring some for a dessert I was making; he showed up with a half used 10-pound bag pinched from a recent catering gig. Ah, the perks of knowing industry folk. For the last ten months, this dingy bag had carved out a little home in the back of my freezer; they’d faded into the scenery so thoroughly, I’d barely recognized they were even there until now. That’s the beauty of quarantine cooking - it makes you face your shadows.     

If you’ve been keeping up with me lately, you know that I’m pregnant. I mention this only because of the fact that in pregnancy, you’re hungry. Like, a little hungry, but all the time. But also you can’t eat a lot, because your baby’s favorite game (as far as I can tell) is to push on the contents of your full stomach so much so that it sends a searing acidic jolt up your esophagus. It’s a game I keep losing - the first of many, I’m sure. Having a kitchen stocked with nutrient dense snacks is thus essential for pregnant indulgences. Fortunately for me and my forgotten bag of pistachios, there are fewer things more nutrient packed than nuts. 

Pistachios, in particular, are remarkably nutritious. They contain loads of antioxidants, and are an excellent source of vitamin B6, zinc, folate, iron and protein, all necessary nutrients in pregnancy. They also support the liver and kidneys, and can help ease constipation (another good thing for pregnancy). Ayurvedic medicine considers them an important tonic for the whole body. Everyone should be so lucky to have five pounds at their disposal.  

I decided to go the easy route and turn these into nut butter. They lacked a bit of luster from a near-year of freezer life, so I dressed them up with some extra ingredients with a nod towards their place of origin, the Middle East. With honey, rose petals, cardamom, and coconut oil, this stuff barely gets onto a banana or piece of toast. This goes straight from spoon to mouth.

Cardamom-Rose Pistachio Butter

With honey, cardamom and rose petals, this pistachio butter is like indulging in the best parts of baklava, but without all that fussy phyllo dough. A couple things to note - If your nuts aren’t toasted, simply do it yourself by roasting them at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, tossing them halfway through. If you want a bright green butter rather than a muted brown, blanch the nuts, rub the shells off between paper towels, cool and dry them and then blend up the batch. It’s a bit of work for cosmetic purposes, but the color is quite pretty.

Yield: 16 ounces
Prep Time: 12-15 minutes

3 cups dry-roasted unsalted shelled pistachios
2 tablespoons raw honey
2 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon dried rose petals (optional) 
1/2 teaspoon sea salt 

Put pistachios in a food processor or high powered blender, and process on high for about 10 minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary. The more you blend the nuts, the creamier the consistency will be. This is certainly an exercise in patience (and overheating food processors), so take your time. Add the honey, coconut oil, cardamom, rose petals and salt, and process for an additional 2 minutes, until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. (The butter will harden in the fridge a bit due to the coconut oil, but will soften up when it gets on warm toast.)