Rosemary and Chipotle Roasted Nuts


One of our former office colleagues, Janre Mullins, passed this recipe on to Meghan Southworth who brought these into the office one day and - wow! I was hooked. I lost my copy of the recipe but fortunately found the Ina Garten version on the Food Network web site.  These are absolutely the yummiest roasted nuts I ever tasted. The chipotle gives it a nice zing. Coming home from Florida yesterday, I stopped at Trader Joe's in Portland and stocked up on nuts. I think you could extend this by adding Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamias, and even hazel nuts. Trader Joe's has such a good variety of nuts and cheap too! I tweaked the recipe a bit and made a smaller batch. I used raw cashews and almonds but you could use the roasted variety as well.  Go for the unsalted if possible to cut down on the sodium. These would make great gifts at Xmas time wrapped in colorful paper cones. Since Chris picked me up in Portland and is spending the weekend at home with me, this is my gift to him!


Chipotle-Rosemary Roasted Nuts

1 cup cashews
1 cup walnut halves
1 cup of pecan halves
1 cup almonds
1 T olive oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 T light brown sugar, packed
2 T freshly squeezed juice from an orange
1 tsp of chipotle powder
1 T of rosemary leaves (preferably fresh but dried will do as well)
salt to taste (use less salt if using salted nuts)

1. Put all nuts in a bowl.
2. Pour in olive oil, maple syrup, and orange juice and mix thoroughly.
3. Add brown sugar, chipotle, and rosemary leaves and mix thoroughly.
4. Spread out on an oiled baking sheet in one layer (I prefer to line my pan with parchment paper).
5. Sprinkle with salt and roast at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, turning nuts at least once through the roasting process. pecans will darken the most. Nuts should have a nice glazed sheen.
6. Remove from oven and let cool, turning several times to keep nuts from sticking together or spread out on parchment paper to cool.
7. Serve when nuts come to room temperature (or slightly warmed).



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