Pistachio

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

Tah-dig—the crunchy crust of rice on the bottom of the pot—is considered by many to be the prize of Persian rice. Here it is rivaled by the surprise of pistachios, whose natural sweetness is brought out by the dill.

Lemon curd separates the layers of this fine-crumbed, very-special-occasion cake. Get started at least one day ahead: The frosting base and lemon curd must chill overnight before using. For the frosting, high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina) works best.

I have always loved the combination of lemon and pistachios. Maybe it's the idea of yellow and green or the fact that the acidity of lemon perfectly tempers the richness of pistachios. Be careful on the second baking of these biscotti — if they get a little too dark the pistachios will turn brown and you'll lose their lovely green color.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 4 hr (includes cooling)

These pistachios make an unusual but addictive cocktail snack. The recipe was inspired by some versions we tried at Restaurant Sent Sov‭, in Saratoga, California.

This crisp and creamy dessert pairs pistachio praline meringues with lemon buttercream. The unique praline is also used to garnish the sides of the cake. Assemble it a day before serving to allow the buttercream to set and the flavors to come out.

Grand Marnier gives an extra kick to the frozen orange mousse, and pistachios make the crust crunchy. Start preparing this at least a day before you plan to serve it.

The pleasingly chewy biscotti are coated on one end with white chocolate. In our test kitchen, imported white chocolate, such as Perugina or Lindt, yielded the best results.

(Ghotab) After trying several kinds, we concluded that Iranian and Turkish pistachios* have the best flavor. Active time: 1 1/4 hr Start to finish: 4 hr

Use to frost White Chocolate Easter Cake with Strawberries

If you are using salted pistachios, omit the 1/4 teaspoon salt in the ingredient list.

This pull-out-all-stops dessert layers a white chocolate pistachio cake with strawberries and a do-ahead pistachio butter-cream. For the finishing touches, whipped cream is piped up the sides, and a marzipan top is crowned with fresh strawberries.

Blancmange is a jellied molded pudding (similar to panna cotta) that is made with almonds and milk and served cold, often with a fruit sauce. Though it dates back to medieval times, blancmange became part of Jefferson's dessert repertoire after he encountered it during his years in Paris. Following his lead as an innovator, we made this version with pistachios instead of almonds, which gives the pudding a beautiful pale green hue and terrific flavor. Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 7 1/4 hr (includes chilling)