You Have to Roast Raw Nuts With Salt
Raw nuts are an acquired taste. One that for some will never be acquired. Although I do snack on raw almonds from time to time, they take the lead due to their bitter taste, and the texture is not so much spicy as mealy. For those who beat themselves up for buying a pound of raw nuts when you were looking for something tastier, there is a way out. You can easily salt any kind of nuts at home.
Even if you regret it at first, keeping raw nuts at home is great. You can use them for baking, flavor them to suit your mood, and a small amount can be part of a healthy diet . Lightly salted (or even pizza-flavoured ) nuts are perfect for a personal snack, and you can double or triple the following recipe to make a big party batch.
While you can’t just sprinkle salt on nuts and expect them to stick, this method is almost as easy. To pickle nuts, all you need is salt water, nuts, and heat (in this case, an oven). Start by adding warm or hot water to a medium bowl. (For small batches, I do this in a liquid measuring cup.) The next step is magical if you find store-bought nuts too salty: add a dose of sea salt to the water and stir it for about a minute until completely dissolved. You can start with the ratio below and adjust the amount of salt in future batches to your liking. Pour the amount of nuts you want to toast into the salt water. Stir or shake them to make sure all the nuts are submerged in the water and let them sit for about five minutes. Remove the nuts from the salt water with a slotted spoon, place them on a baking sheet and into the hot oven. After about 10 minutes, the nuts are ready.
The heat of the oven toasts the nuts as the water evaporates, leaving a thin salt residue on the surface of the nuts. The following recipe allows you to prepare perfectly salted walnuts. It’s light enough to boost the flavor factor if you’re just snacking on it alone, but salty enough to act as an additional ingredient in a dish (such as in this pineapple burrata salad ). When I feel like a dangerous rebel, I sprinkle a handful of coffee on ice cream and no one can stop me. To be a wild child, add an equal amount of sugar to an aqueous solution and you get something like the effect of boiled corn.
Lightly roasted walnuts in salt
Ingredients:
- ⅔ cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar (optional, for corn lovers)
- ⅔ cup walnut pieces or halves
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Add water to a liquid measuring cup or small bowl. Add salt (and sugar if using) until completely dissolved. Pour the nuts into the water solution, making sure all the nuts are covered. Let the nuts stand for about five minutes.
Remove the nuts from the liquid with a slotted spoon and arrange on a baking sheet. Bake 6-10 minutes. Check nuts frequently after the 6 minute mark. Nuts should be fragrant and a shade darker than when bookmarked, but not burnt. Smaller nuts will cook faster. Cool and serve in a bowl with a cold drink.