Pine Nuts Are a Cook’s Best Friend
Posted by Supal on May 31, 2011 in Condiments, Featured, Photos, Recipes, Reviews
Tags: pesto, pine nuts, toated pine nuts
This post is by Eat With Me contributor Supal. See more at Simple Cooking with Supal.
Yes, Yes, I know. Pine nuts are not a spice or herb as I promised in all of my posts, but they are something even more special (to me at least). I have chosen to write about pine nuts because they truly enhance the flavors of herbs and spices in your cooking (ie. pesto). It brings an extra level of texture as well as flavor with its nut-complex oils, which is why pine nuts are often cooked with herbs.
Pine nuts are seeds from about 20 different species of pines. Historically, pine nuts were first used in cooking in Europe and Asia as early as the Paleolithic period. As civilization progressed, the little seeds were added to meat, fish and vegetarian dishes.
Today, pine nuts are used primarily in Italian and Mediterranean cooking, but they are slowly being incorporated to other cuisines due to its health benefits and flexibility in use. Pine nuts contain thiamine, vitamin B and protein. Thiamine helps break down sugars, which is beneficial to the heart and nerves.
Pine nuts can be used for sweet or savory dishes. As mentioned before pine nuts are used pesto, but as well as baklavas, macaroons, ladyfingers and more. Just add a hint of cinnamon and cayenne after toasting. To toast them put raw pine nuts on a flat baking tray in a 350 degree F heated oven. Toast for 10 minutes. When they are toasted, the oils are released making it easier for it to capture the sweet and spicy flavor of cinnamon and cayenne.
For a pesto recipe check out my blog here!
Hi Supal,
Thanks for the great post on pine nuts.
I am really interested in spices and was trying to figure out if pine nut was a spice. It seems to meet the definition – seed, flavoring for food, it’s been traded around the world for thousands of years, etc.
Since there is not a definitive list on spices, just wondering if you had any additional thoughts on pine nut being a spice?
Thanks Supal!
Mark
It’s seems so delicious!!Count me in!
Thanks for the comments! Sorry It took me a bit longer to reply, I was backpacking through south of Spain!
Mark – I consider pine nuts a seed that definitely acts like a spice agent because it adds another element of flavor. I don’t really consider it a spice because it is a different texture and the nuttier flavor is unique to that of a seed. I hope that answers your question? I’m a bit sleep deprived from the travels so I apologize. It is by far my FAVORITE seed to work with.