Feb
23

Those pistachios

by Sofia   -   in Cooking

Sometimes it happens to me that I see a picture of a dish in a magazine, on Pinterest, maybe even on someone´s Instagram and feel so inspired I don´t even need to look for the recipe but come up with my own. I saw this greek pita bread that was filled with some meat, but what intrigued me was the combination of dill, mint and pistachios visible in the photo so I had to make something out of that image. So I made lamb patties out of organic minced lamb meat, onion, garlic, chopped fresh mint, parsley & dill. I finely chopped some tomatoes and cucumbers seasoned with lemon juice for fresh extra additions. I made a tzatziki out of garlic, cucumber, lemon juice and thick greek yoghurt. If you don´t use dairy then I would suggest turning the cucumbers & tomatoes in to a chopped salad with parsley, olive oil & lemon juice ( & more garlic if you ask me) for a fresh addition to your pita. And then I made the miracle ingredient you have to try! I´m naming it a pesto for the lack of a better word but it´s not really a pesto…

Pistachio & herb pesto

a handful of unsalted pistachio nuts chelled

 minced garlic ( 1-3 gloves depending on size and taste)

a small handful of chopped dill

a big handful of chopped mint

( if you like also parsley)

really good olive oil

salt and black pepper

The measurement are nor here or there, you can go with taste on this one. I also liked the whole thing to be a bit rough in texture but surely you can make this in a food processor and will end up with a pesto like consistency I presume ( then don´t bother chopping the garlic & herbs). But I made mine in a stone mortar that is one of my favourite kitchen tools. I love the easy but satisfying handiwork of first hitting the little pale green nuts in to smaller bits and then adding the rest of the ingredients and coming up with this deliciously fragrant paste.

We bought our pita´s ready made and just heated them up in the oven but making my own pita is on the list for me. I never tried before. There is a deli in Helsinki called Zaafran & Co and a friend of mine told me they have the best stone oven pita´s in the world. They were amazing! They sell them frozen so you can easily keep them in freezer and just take out the morning you´ll eat them and once defrosted just heat them in the oven for a few minutes.

Pistachios are Cotton Candy´s favourite nuts. They are fairly pricy compared to some other nuts, especially if you buy them shelled. But they are so delicious! I love them on desserts too. In the summer time when it´s strawberry season they are divine with whipped cream seasoned with a vanilla bean and served with chopped pistachios on top. Simple and irresistible. I love dishes where the ingredients do the talking and we just listen in awe.

Nämä yrteillä ja valkosipulilla maustetut luomu karitsan jauhelihasta tehdyt pienet pihvit jotka tarjoillaan Kreikkalaiseen tyyliin pita leivän välissä olisivat erinomainen ruoka myös pääsiäisen aikaan. Lisukkeena maistuu pieneksi kuutioitu tomaatti ja kurkku sitruunamehulla maustettuna, kotitekoinen tzatziki sekä taivaallinen yrteistä, valkosipulista ja pistaasipähkinöistä tehty, hieman pestomainen kastike. Tilli ja minttu ovat loistava ja hieman erilainen yhditelmä. Suosittelen kokeilemaan!

Bon appetit!

Lattemamma