Take That, Martha Stewart!

I found an awesome looking recipe in my most recent issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

It looked super yummy, I love pistachio and strawberry! Mmmmm! But after reading the recipe and looking around my kitchen, I knew I would have to get creative to make it. 

Also, I had no idea what "semifreddo" meant. So I had to look it up! Apparently it means a semi-frozen dessert. Plus I did not have most of the fancy kitchen tools it called for, so I improvised!

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

1/2 dry roasted pistachios, shelled

8 ounces strawberries (I bought and used a whole pint sized container)

1/2 cup plus 3 T turbinado sugar

3 large egg yolks

1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Line a standard sized bread pan (9x5) with plastic wrap (I used Glad Cling Wrap), so that it overhangs on all the sides. 

Pulse the pistachios in a food processor or Magic Bullet (what I used) just so they are coarsely chopped. Dump them in a small bowl and set aside. Next, wash and cut the tops off of all the strawberries. Put them in the Magic Bullet along with 3 T turbinado sugar. Puree them until they are completely liquid. 

Combine the egg yolks with the 1/2 cup of turbinado sugar in a small metal bowl. Place it over a pan of simmering water on your stove and beat on high speed (I used my electric handheld beaters) until it about triples in volume and turns a pale yellow color (with the turbinado sugar it turns sort of a Grey Poupon color and took about 3 minutes). Immediately remove the bowl from the heat and put it into a larger bowl of ice water. Stir for about 3 minutes until it is completely cooled. Be sure to scrape the sides as the mixture tends to stick to the sides of the bowl. 

Beat together the heavy cream and vanilla in a large bowl until soft peaks form (think Cool Whip texture). Whisk 1/3 of it into the cooled egg mixture (scrape the sides of the bowl) until it is smooth (I had Matt do this part!), then fold all of that back into the remaining cream mixture with a rubber spatula until it is just mixed, do not over mix!!

Pour 1/2 of the cream mixture into the strawberries that you pureed earlier. Gently fold it together until just mixed, then pour it into your plastic lined bread pan. Smooth down the top. Take the pistachios and gently stir them into the remaining cream. Spoon it gently on top of the strawberry cream already in the pan and smooth down the top. Cover it by folding over the plastic wrap that is hanging down the sides. Freeze at least 12 hours, then enjoy!!

We sliced it into about 3/4 inch sized slices. It was amazing!!!!