Pine nuts in the oven
Toasting pine nuts seems like an easy task, but things can quickly go wrong. Have you just put them in the pan? Then it seems as though they aren’t taking on any colour. Next, you forget about them for five seconds and the underside is pitch-black, while the top is still white. How can you prevent this? Toast them in the oven.
Whether you’re making pesto, sprinkling pine nuts over your salad or dip, or adding them to cookie dough: always toast your pine nuts. An untoasted nut is tasteless and bland; when you toast it, that same nut develops a nutty and toasted (hehe) flavour. Toasting them in the oven gives you the most even browning. The fact remains, though, that sometimes there’s only a minute between undercooked and burnt, so keep a close eye on them in the oven too.
Method
Preheat the oven to 190ºC. Spread the pine nuts over a baking tray lined with baking paper and toast them for 5–10 minutes until golden brown. Toss them every 2 minutes. As soon as the pine nuts have reached the right colour, immediately remove them from the tray and place them on a plate. This prevents them from continuing to cook.
Also read:
- Pimp your butter with these sweet combinations
- How to: pair wine and food
- You can learn how to marinate
