Roasted Pistachio Ice Cream

Man, this was delicious. It was so good that I declare it is the best pistachio ice cream I have ever tasted. This is another one from the Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream book, and in her description she writes "this is a highly satisfying ice cream with nearly savory qualities." That sums it up well.

Did not get a photo of it, though (not like I am able to convey how delicious this ice cream is with my terrible photography anyway).

Ingredients

1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios (I used salted and it was fine); plus 1/4-1/2 extra if you want to add whole ones to the ice cream

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1½ ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1¼ cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

Toast 1/2 cup of the pistachios on the stovetop or in the oven, just until fragrant and starting to brown. Remove from oven and pulverize in a food processor until the pistachios become a very smooth paste.

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese, pistachio paste and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

COOK

Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

CHILL

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the mint. Pour the mixture into a bowl and set into the larger bowl (filled with ice and water). Let stand until cold, about 30 minutes. 

FREEZE

 Pour ice cream base into the frozen canister of your ice cream maker and spin until thick and creamy.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container,  and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.