Saffron Roasted Salted Pistachios (Peste Zaferani)

Saffron roasted salted pistachios are roasted, lightly salted pistachios finished with saffron, which lays a warm floral note over the usual toasty, buttery flavour. If you know the smell of saffron rice lifting off the pot, it is that same perfume, carried on a savoury nut instead of on grain.

Saffron is the only thing separating this listing from our other roasted salted pistachios, and it is the whole reason to choose it. This is the hosting and gifting jar, the one you set out when you want guests to notice what they are eating. For everyday snacking or for cooking in volume, the plain roasted salted kernels or the in shell pistachios are the sensible, cheaper choice.

How to use them

Serve them with tea or coffee, on a Nowruz or Eid table, or in a mezze spread beside dried fruit and cheese. Chopped, they make a striking finish on sholeh zard, firni, bastani and saffron rice, and they lift a plain qabili palaw. Further afield, try them over roasted squash, on a cheese board with honey, or through a citrus and feta salad. Technique tip: chop them only just before serving, because the saffron aroma escapes quickly once the nuts are broken open.

Details

Also known as

Saffron pistachios, roasted saffron pistachios, Persian pistachios with saffron, peste zaferani, پسته زعفرانی شور, فستق بالزعفران والملح, زعفراني پسته شور, केसर नमकीन पिस्ता, Safranlı Tuzlu Antep Fıstığı, pistaches grillées au safran et sel, 藏红花咸味开心果, Фисташки с шафраном и солью