220g caster sugar
250g Food Forest pistachio pieces [1] please read this note before starting
1 vanilla pod split ad scraped
1000g quality cream
20g Sevarome Pistachio paste…optional [2]
10 room temperature egg yolks…minimum 61g egg size
approximately 2L of ice

essential equipment
Thermomix or similar
ice cream machine [3]
thermometer
fine sieve

Weigh the sugar into the Thermomix, powder it and then tip it into a bowl. Weigh the pistachios into the Thermomix and powder them. Return the sugar to the Thermomix and mix them together and if you can get the mix even finer.

Weigh the cream and the pistachio paste into a microwave safe bowl, add the vanilla bean and seeds and push them under the cream. Put the egg yolks into a bowl large enough to hold everything and whisk them together.

the next part needs to be done without delay because you are relying on the heat of the cream to get the anglaise t reach 80°C which means the egg mix will be safe.

Put the cream into a microwave and microwave on high until it is boiling rapidly. Immediately whisk it into the egg yolks and then whisk in the sugar pistachio mix. Check the temperature it should be 80°C + 1 or 2 degrees. If it is not return to the microwave on low heat and heat in 30 second bursts until you reach temperature. Give the base a good whisk and let it stand for 5 minutes.

[1] The Food Forest pistachios are beautifully dry and you will find that most commercial pistachios are damp by comparison and will not powder in the same way. If you are unable to get Food Forest pistachios you should dry them for 30 minutes in a low 60°C oven and allow them to cool completely before grinding them.
[2] The Sevarome pistachio paste is expensive but it is very good. We keep it in the freezer it has quite a lot of sugar in it so it never freezes hard and it’s quite easy to get a small amount from the container
[3] without and ice cream machine it is very hard to get the perfect texture

Put the ice into a bowl and sit another bowl in the ice. Pressing very hard to exact as much of the pistachio as possible sieve the base into the chilling bowl. Stir to chill the ice cream as quickly as possible and refrigerate for a couple of hours before churning.

note
Over the years we have had to opportunity to work with many commercial and domestic ice cream machines. We have found with domestic machines filling the bowl more than half full results results in less airiness and volume in the ice cream.