Finding this recipe was damn difficult. I'm not complaining, but I wonder about a culture in which a recipe for Pistachio pudding includes the line "Take a package of instant pudding mix..."

But from the results, I can see why people pick the instant. The color from the pistachios leaves the pudding looking as if it was based of a vegetable rather than an exotic nut. The taste however, was worth it.

• 1 ounce pistachio paste
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pistachio nuts

Pour milk into a 2 qt sauce pan and place over medium heat. Whisk in the pistachio paste and stir until the heat dissolves the paste into the milk.

Combine your dry ingedients (sugar, cornstarch, salt) in a seperate bowl. Slowly whisk into milk immediately after pistachio paste has dissolved. Stir constantly, until mixture thickens and begins to boil.

In yet another bowl, scramble the two egg yolks together. Then temper the pudding, by bringing 1/2 cup of the thickened pudding and combine it the egg yolks. Once combined, immediately pour egg mixture back into the pudding that's in the sauce pan. Allow to boil for 1 minute, whisking all the while. After the one minute, remove from the heat.

Add the butter, vanilla and chipped pistachios. Mix thoroughly. Pour into dessert cups and chill for at least 2 hours.

NOTE: This is homemade pudding, so expect to get the dreaded (or undreaded, if that's your thing) "pudding skin". This skin cannot hurt you. Simply stir into the rest of the non-skinned pudding.

Serves 4