There is nothing like the experience of eating a pine nut. Do you recall your first encounter with them? I do mine.
It was in the mid-1980s when I lived in a rambling Victorian flat in the Inner Sunset district of San Francisco. A friend dropped in unexpectedly with handfuls of sweet, pungent basil, extra virgin olive oil, fresh Parmesan cheese, and something I’d never seen before: pine nuts.
She wanted to borrow my blender. You can guess why, I’m sure, but at the time I didn’t have a clue as to what she had up her sleeve.
I stood transfixed, watching her put ingredients one by one into the blender to conjure up the first pesto sauce I’d ever tasted.
While pesto is common today, at the time my experience with Italian food had only gone as far as spaghetti and meatballs or lasagna.
It was a magical experience.
Through the years I’ve learned to appreciate pine nuts for their own merits: an ever-so-delicate crunch, creamy smooth texture, and a flavor that I can only describe as luxuriously buttery, somewhat sweet, and slightly resinous.
Pine nuts are the seeds of several different pine trees, with most from the Italian stone pine, the pinyon pine, and the Chinese nut pine.
The seeds develop in the crevices between the scales of the cones on these trees, and are almost exclusively harvested in the wild.
The hard shell in which they’re encased must be removed before enjoying the delectable seed within.
In North America, most pine nuts are from pinyon pine varieties found in mountainous regions in the western U.S. and Mexico, including in the Sierra foothills on the east side of California’s Central Valley.
In Europe, they’re harvested from the Italian stone pine that grows throughout the Mediterranean region, and from the Chinese nut pine in Asia.
They lend their unique nuttiness to a variety of foods: sprinkled over salads, incorporated into rice or pasta dishes, roasted with meat, strewn over pizza, or added to frittatas once they’re almost set, to name a few.
Basically, if you can drizzle olive oil over it, you can also pepper it with pine nuts. Think, for example, of roasted vegetables, pasta salad, or little Italian toasts (crostini) spread with any manner of toppings.
Some use pine nuts in desserts: in a pie, as a component of a cobbler topping, or in other more exotic applications.
I love an unexpected touch of savory in a sweet dessert – thyme in a fruit tart or coarsely ground black pepper over strawberries and vanilla ice cream – but caution must be exercised with pine nuts. Use a light hand, as their distinctive taste can easily overtake a dish.
If you’d like to try your hand at including them in a dessert, they go especially well with apples, figs, and apricots.
Italians bake them in biscuits or cakes, which give the finished product a fine texture and flavor.
Pine nuts are a very old food source, having been gathered since prehistoric times in Europe and the Americas. American Indians in the Southwest relied on pine nuts for millennia as a protein source.
Pine nuts were used in cuisine in ancient Rome, especially prized for thickening sauces or in an herby relish for meat. In ancient Greece, they were often preserved in honey.
They’re an excellent protein source, one of the best in the nut family. They also have great stores of monounsaturated fats (healthful fats which lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood), B vitamins, folate, and trace minerals.
In general, European species of pine nuts are richer in protein and lower in fat than American varieties, but American pine nuts offer more vitamins and minerals.
Pine contains a potent antioxidant called pycnogenol, one of the few that protect brain cells from the ravages of free radicals in the blood, and its benefits can be had from consuming pine nuts.
Because pine nuts contain high levels of fat which can quickly turn rancid, it’s important that they be stored well and consumed as fresh as possible.
Pine nuts still in the shell will remain fresh longest, but that means finding them in this state and cracking them before eating. The Internet is one option for procuring unshelled pine nuts, and, while I haven’t done it myself, I’m told a gentle tap with a hammer should easily release the tender seed.
If purchasing them loose in bulk bins, the least expensive way to go, be sure to check for freshness by smell (or taste, if allowed). If they smell a bit musty, it means the fats have become rancid.
Pine nuts are expensive, and the “per pound” price may cause sticker shock. Thankfully they’re small and light, and the amount for most recipes doesn’t weigh much. I find that I can get away with spending only two or three dollars for almost all applications.
Unless they’re still in the shell, store pine nuts in a tightly-sealed container in the fridge for optimum freshness.
Roasting pine nuts brings out their nutty flavor, and today’s recipe for classic basil pesto may be made with toasted or untoasted nuts, depending on your preference. I’ve listed two methods for toasting them below the pesto recipe.
In addition to being wonderful on pasta, basil pesto is fantastic as a spread for sandwiches or hors d’oeuvres. A dollop of pesto adds delicious flavor to soups or sauces.
Here’s to having plenty of opportunities to enjoy pine nuts frequently and creatively! Bon appétit!
Basic basil pesto with pine nuts
3 cups packed basil leaves
½ cup (approximately) extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic (use more or less to taste), minced
½ cup pine nuts (toasted or not)
½ teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
If desired, toast the pine nuts (see methods below) and set aside.
Add basil, garlic, pine nuts, and approximately one-quarter cup of the olive oil to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. (Or you may use a blender.) Pulse or blend until ingredients become a rough puree.
With the motor running, drizzle olive oil into the food processor or blender until a smooth, creamy consistency is achieved. You may end up using more or less than the remaining ¼ cup of oil.
Add the half teaspoon salt, blend, and taste. Add more salt if desired, and pepper to taste.
This makes about 1 ½ cups of pesto, which, although best used immediately, will keep for at least a day or two in the fridge if stored in a tightly-covered container.
Pesto may be frozen, either in ice cube trays (and then stored in zipper-sealed freezer bags) or in an airtight freezer container.
Recipe by Esther Oertel.
Variations: If a more rustic version is desired, ingredients should be processed less, until a rough puree is formed. For a rich pesto sauce, add a quarter pound or so of freshly-grated sharp, dry cheese, such as Parmigiano-reggiano. For less basil flavor, add 1 cup of Italian parsley in place of 1 cup of the basil.
Methods for toasting pine nuts
Toasted pine nuts should be a lovely golden color reminiscent of butterscotch. Keep a close eye on them, as it only takes a second to go from perfect to overdone, even burned. Once you begin to smell their aroma, chances are they’re done or close to it.
Below are two methods for toasting, oven and stovetop.
In the oven: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread pine nuts on a baking sheet and place them in the oven. Bake for three to five minutes, checking after three minutes.
On the stovetop: Put pine nuts into a dry pan over medium heat. Toss them in the pan (or, if you prefer, stir them) as they toast. This is a much quicker method, so it’s important to watch them closely.
Esther Oertel, a freelance writer, cooking teacher, and speaker, is passionate about local produce and all foods in the vegetable kingdom. She welcomes your questions and comments and may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .