Nigella’s Nuts

We make these nuts a lot and, looking back through old posts, they do feature but there isn’t an actual recipe so, this evening, we give you Nigella’s Nuts. According to the recipe, they’re from the Union Square Cafe Bar in New York. Nigella visited, loved them and asked for the recipe so that she could re-create them at home. They’re really good, quick and easy, as well as that it’s a great way of using up any half empty bags of nuts you might having lurking in your cupboard.

We always follow the recipe but it would work well with any combination of herbs and spices. Don’t be tempted to over-do the cayenne though, we like spicy food and have added extra in the past but it over powers everything and doesn’t allow the sweetness of the nuts to shine.

500g assorted unsalted nuts, including: peeled peanuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans and whole unpeeled almonds
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary (from 2 8cm sprigs)
Half tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp dark muscavado sugar
2 tsp Maldon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 180C/ gas mark 4.

Toss the nuts in a large bowl to combine and spread them out on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven till they become light golden brown, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, muscavado sugar, salt and melted butter.

Thoroughly toss the toasted nuts with the spiced butter and serve warm.