Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Pistachio Fudge
When I was a teenager, I confess I showed the utmost disdain for the holidays. I didn’t just not see the point; I condemned others for even suggesting there might be a point. What was all this unseemly fuss about having a good time? As everyone knows, the whole point of adolescent life is that you don’t have a good time, or if you do, you mustn’t show it, let alone exhibit it noisily and--a most heinous crime--at home.
Funny how things change, how we change. The great feature of the holidays is they are about tradition and a grateful celebration of togetherness, and perhaps it takes a little time, once childhood is over, to appreciate either. It was worth the wait. Now, every year when the holidays come around, I feel a surge of mellow optimism. It’s all about to happen, and I love it.
No surprise really. If I were to name two areas in life that give me inordinate amounts of pleasure, I would have to say food and being surrounded by those I love (hope you appreciate the order in which I list them!). The holidays are about both in tandem, and for me this underlines and celebrates all that matters most in life.
When I wrote my book Feast some time ago, what drove it was the conviction that human society shows that an occasion, be it personal, familial, social, or religious, has significance by organizing food around it. I have never denied that I’m a greedy person, but it isn’t just greed that makes me want to load up my table with good things to eat--lamb shanks with figs and honey, flourless apple and almond cake, chocolate pistachio fudge, squash with blue cheese crumbles and toasted pecans (the first two recipes are from Feast; the second two are from Nigella Express)--but a desire to celebrate my good fortune in having people to sit around a table sharing them with me. Happy Holidays!
Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Pistachio Fudge
From Nigella Express: Good Food Fast
Ingredients:
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 14-ounce can condensed milk
Pinch of salt
1 cup shelled pistachios
2 tablespoons butter
Directions:
1. Melt the chopped chocolate, condensed milk, butter, and salt in a heavy-bottomed pan on low heat.
2. Put the nuts into a freezer bag and bash them with a rolling pin until broken up into both big and little pieces.
3. Add the nuts to the melted chocolate and condensed milk and stir well to mix.
4. Pour this mixture into a 9-inch-square aluminum foil pan, smoothing the top.
5. Let the fudge cool and then refrigerate until set. You can then cut into small pieces approximately 1-3/4-by-1-/34 inches in size. Cutting 7-by-7-inch lines in the pan to give 64 pieces best achieves this.
6. Once cut, you can keep it in the freezer, no need to thaw; just eat right away.
Makes 64 pieces of rich fudge
Excerpted from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson. Photographs by Lis Parsons. Copyright © 2007 Nigella Lawson. Published in the United States by Hyperion. All Rights Reserved. Available wherever books are sold.
Benedict J. Likens on November 03, 2008 at 03:58 PM
I don't know about the recipe, since I'm a diabetic. However, Ms. Lawson is a really beautiful woman. If her cooking/baking skills are as arresting as her face/figure, she's bound to be a runaway success. Good luck, Nigella!