Pistachio Semifreddo

Somehow the summer months have just slipped away, but thankfully we’re still having gorgeous warm weather here in southern California . It may seem like I’ve been out fooling around, but I have been cooking and baking, just not much blogging.

One of the things I love about the summer months is the simplicity of the food and ease of getting supper on the table. With such amazing produce-tomatoes, corn, zucchini, eggplant and peppers-you can get a whole lot of flavor without a whole lot of work.

I’ve been making a lot of old favorites and will share  a few of them with you here. If you hurry you still have time to try a few yourself.

Grilled Gazpacho Salad

Stuffed Eggplant Rolls

Tomato Soup

Spicy Corn Fritters

Sformata di Ricotta

I do try to throw a new recipe into the mix every now  and then and knowing that we were having friends over for dinner, I decided that it was time for a dessert that I hadn’t made before. I had considered making a chocolate icebox cake, then toyed with the idea of something fruity. After thumbing through a cookbook and seeing a recipe for pistachio semifreddo I decided to give it a go. In the end I used a recipe from Epicurious.

Although I was happy with the result, I felt that the almond flavor overwhelmed the pistachios. Next time I would use a little less extract. Don’t forget about this chocolate version that I made a while back. Both recipes are perfect do ahead desserts leaving you time to focus on the rest of the meal.

 

Pistachio Semifreddo

1 1/2 cups shelled salted pistachios (6 1/2 ounces)
1 cup sugar
6 large egg whites
2 cups chilled heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Pulse 1 cup pistachios with 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor until very finely ground. Add remaining 1/2 cup pistachios and pulse until just coarsely ground.
Beat egg whites in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Beat in remaining 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, a little at a time, then increase speed to high and beat until meringue just holds stiff, glossy peaks.
Beat cream with almond extract in a wide bowl with mixer at high speed until it just holds soft peaks.
Fold meringue into cream gently but thoroughly, then fold in nut mixture in same manner. Spoon into a 2-quart dish and freeze, covered, until firm enough to scoop, about 4 hours. Let soften slightly before serving.