Sweet vanilla ice cream, glossy red strawberries, and crunchy green
pistachios are layered in a glass and drizzled with chocolate!
inspiration
When I go to the monthly potluck hosted by my friends, I want to have the best thing there, something homemade and perfect that no one can stop eating. It’s not a competition…but what if it is, just a little bit?
A couple of months ago I bought a big bag of pistachios to make pistachio espresso chocolate chunk cookies with that exact thought in mind. But since my reality doesn’t always match my plans, I didn’t end up making them and the nuts have been languishing in my cupboard ever since.
I scrolled through my giant 4k word long note of recipe ideas in my phone. I had written down roasted fruit parfait? And it snapped into place. Pistachios go great with vanilla ice cream, and with berries. Easy.
Plus, it’s unbearably hot and so muggy walking outside feels like wading through a hot bowl of stew, so some ice cream sounded heavenly.
why i love this recipe
The first thing you’ll notice is that strawberry pistachio parfaits are so cute. Using a clear, half-sized glass shows off all the layers of white and red. And even if the layers are messy or you don’t get the amounts quite even or the ice cream melts weirdly fast in your hot kitchen, they still look great. Layering is magic like that.
Roasting strawberries makes them soft and sweet and deepens their flavor. You won’t taste the maple syrup, but it helps turn the strawberry juices into more of a sauce. Pistachios always taste sort of warm to me, and that’s a lovely match for the cold ice cream. Chocolate sauce just kind of brings everything together.
Strawberry pistachio parfaits are luscious and messy. They are sweet and fruity and refreshing and cold, a nice little treat on a hot summer night. I haven’t taken them to a potluck—too messy, too melty to last long—but if I did, I’m pretty sure they’d win the nonexistent competition.
details
Okay, I know the idea of turning the oven on in 95 degree weather seems insane but I promise it’s worth it. Fresh strawberries are delicious but roasted strawberries are soft and sweet and taste like pie filling—and don’t require a ton of extra sugar. All you do is toss them with some maple syrup and salt on a sheet pan and roast them until they’re easily pierced by a fork. You have a little leeway here—if you prefer them a little firmer, take a few minutes off the roasting time. You can chop up the roasted strawberries a bit, but you don’t have to.
Salt is seriously underutilized in desserts. Half a teaspoon here won’t make the strawberries salty but will make them taste more intense, so don’t skip it!
If your ice cream is rock hard, let it sit out for 10-15 minutes before scooping it. It shouldn’t be melty, but it should be easy to scoop. This is important because in order to make those tasty packed layers, you’ll need to sort of squish the ice cream down a bit with a spoon so the layers are even(ish).
details, continued
It is worth it to spend the extra money on pistachios that are already shelled and roasted. But if half an hour standing at the counter and painstakingly de-shelling the nuts is worth saving $3 to you, I’m not going to stop you. You’ll see them whole in these pictures, but I would crush them up a bit so you get some in every bite.
It probably doesn’t need to be said, but eat these promptly before they melt. (If you can. When I made these I had imagined serving them to my roommate and our friend at our table, still cold and cute and perfect, but it turns out that a sunny North Carolina kitchen is not conducive to keeping ice cream solid for longer than it took to assemble them and take the pictures. We ate them on the floor over the photo backdrop. That was also perfect.)
cook’s notes
Here are a few notes to help you make strawberry pistachio parfaits.
strawberries: The best ones you can find. Don’t feel like you have to take a trip to the farmer’s market or anything, but try to find a container with no moldy or dark, patchy strawberries. They should be red and firm. Once roasted, you can chop them up if you’ve got the time or leave them whole if you don’t.
ice cream: I recommend French vanilla or vanilla bean, but regular would work, too.
pistachios: roasted. And like I say above, I think it’s worth it to buy the pre-shelled ones. But do what you will!
chocolate syrup: I recommend a slightly higher-quality one, like Ghirardelli.
make ahead: you can roast the strawberries a day or two before, but wait until you’re ready to eat to assemble.
leftovers: roasted strawberries will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge, tightly covered.
I hope you love these easy strawberry pistachio parfaits as much as I do! If you’re looking for other tasty treats, try a strawberry nectarine skillet cake (one of my favorites), or caramel apple milkshakes!
strawberry pistachio parfaits
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 425F. Combine strawberries, maple syrup and salt on a light metal baking sheet. Spread the strawberries out into one layer. Roast them until they’re tender, 15-20 minutes. Let them cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then place them into a sealed container. The juice may have thickened a bit at this point—scrape as much as you can off the pan! Chill for 30 minutes.
- In three half-sized glasses, place ¼ cup of ice cream and sort of smash it with a spoon to pack it in and flatten it/even it out. Top with enough strawberries to cover all the ice cream and then a generous sprinkle of pistachios. Repeat all layers a second time, then drizzle generously with chocolate.
- Serve immediately!