Chocolate Covered Strawberries with Pistachios

Strawberry season is upon us (at least in Texas). You can find ripe, warm, fresh, organic strawberries all over or even pick your own at u-pick-em farms. I've had a fancy to try making a vanilla ice cream ribboned with a balsamic strawberry reduction, but haven't gotten there yet. Soon.

I was inspired by an old clipping I had from Delicious magazine for these chocolate-covered berries dipped in pistachios. So gorgeous! They're also incredibly fast, easy and delicious.

Note: I tried chopping the pistachios in a food processor but it turned some of them into dust before others were even touched. So I finished them by hand. Also, I did half the berries with pistachios and half with just chocolate for contrast. But the quantities below should be enough for doing all of them with pistachios, if you like.


Chocolate-covered strawberries with pistachios

1 pound organic strawberries
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
pinch of salt
4 ounces unsalted pistachios, toasted and chopped finely
bamboo skewers

Put chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Melt in 30-second increments, two times. Chocolate won't be completely melted, but you can stir it the rest of the way until it's smooth. Add a pinch of salt and stir in.

Press skewers into tops of berries. (I left the little green tops on because they are so much prettier. You can also do this with popsicle sticks or longer skewers, I just liked these little Asian ones.)

Dip berries individually into melted chocolate and let excess drip off.

Then dip into pistachios, covering on all sides.

Set on parchment-covered cookie sheet or tray.

Continue with the rest of the berries.

Place in fridge until ready to serve. Best served within a few hours.

Adapted from Delicious magazine.