Kitchen Technique: Peeling and Toasting Hazelnuts

~With the soaring price of pine nuts, I’m looking towards other alternatives for nutty sauces and condiments (like pesto, gremolata, romesco, etc). Hazelnuts are my current favorite. I love the taste of them raw and the aroma when they’re toasted. While they are plentiful at Trader Joe’s, rarely do I find them peeled.

There are several methods; one of which includes roasting the nuts. However, a quick search on Google shows that I’m not the only one who’s been doing research. Straight roasting is not the way to go.

Special Equipment:

Colander

Cooking sheet

Parchment

Ingredients:

4 cups water

6 tbsp baking soda

2 ½ cup raw hazelnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Fill a pot with water and baking soda. Bring to boil.

Add hazelnuts and boil for about 4min. The water will turn black.

Fill large bowl with very cold water.

Drain nuts in colander. Place nuts directly in bowl of cold water to shock.

Drain nuts in colander. Rub skin off each nut individually.

Once complete, rinse peeled nuts in clean water.

Drain nuts and pat dry.

Spread out onto parchment paper on top of cookie sheet. Place into oven and toast for 15-20min.