Food - Drink
The Foolproof Way To Open Stubborn Pistachio Shells
By SYLVIA TOMCZAK
Delicious and filling roasted pistachios make for an excellent snack, providing a good amount of vitamin B6, potassium, and antioxidants. However, unlike peanuts or almonds, pistachios are usually sold unshelled, and cracking the hard, pinched shell getting to the small nut inside is often easier said than done.
If you find yourself with a pistachio whose gap in the shell is too small to crack, and you don't have any extra tools laying around, the best thing you can use is another pistachio shell. All you need to do is wedge the thin end of a spare shell in between the stubborn shell's gap, give it a quick twist, and it should pop open with ease.
If this trick doesn't work, you could reach for something heavy like a cast iron skillet and give the nut a gentle tap, but that could cause the pistachio to shatter, which isn't ideal. While you can purchase pistachios without their shells, most pistachio lovers would agree that the act of cracking shells apart is half the fun.