Have you seen the price of pine nuts lately?

 Admittedly, one can use walnuts in a basil pesto, but one day way back when, I was feeling whimsical and I ground up some salt & pepper pistachios and tossed them with olive oil and pasta and loved the result. More recently, I bought some pistachios and thought I'd try to find a recipe that could improve on that impulse, and Food and Wine had the perfect solution:

• 7 ounces unsalted roasted shelled pistachios (1 1/2 cups) (get help shelling them, this took me about 49 minutes, or one episode of the Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me podcast)
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped mint
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup finely shredded pecorino cheese, plus more for serving
• 2 scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths and julienned
• Salt
• 1 pound orecchiette (I had spaghetti in the pantry, so that's what I used)

In a food processor, chop the pistachios. (I recommend doing this in batches because the smaller bits of nuts will sink to the bottom. You can probably use a blender. I have a small food processing unit that came as an accessory to my stick blender) Add the olive oil, mint and garlic and pulse to combine. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the 1/2 cup of cheese and the scallions; season with salt. 

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente; drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot. Add the cooking water and the pesto and cook over low heat, tossing, until coated. Serve, passing more cheese at the table.

I recommend a bit more of the cooking water because it will help prevent the cheese from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Here's my final result:

I might have put on more cheese after I took the picture. This is a deeply satisfying dish. The mint leaves a coolness at the end of a bite. The Romano gives a bit of a feel of cacio de pepe, but elevated with the pistachio for richness, and there's a tiny bit of bite from the scallions. I can't find anything I'd change, which, if you've been reading me for while, is damn rare.

What's your favorite pesto?