How to toast nuts

There are two main ways to toast nuts – dry frying in a frying pan or grilling them.  Either way, you have to watch them extremely closely and move them around from time to time.  Nuts are very high in oil so can catch and burn very quickly.  They also continue to cook in a hot pan after you take it off the heat or out of the grill.

Grilling

To gill nuts, such as for the toasted almonds in the Cauliflower Couscous recipe, sprinkle the nuts in a single layer on a shallow baking dish and put them under a hot grill.  WATCH THEM LIKE A HAWK!  Move them around with a wooden spoon after each minute to make sure they all toast evenly.  They should be toasted after about 2.5 minutes.  As soon as they are done, tip them into a dish so that they don’t continue cooking in the hot pan.

Pan frying

To pan fry nuts, such as for the toasted cashews in the Winter Coleslaw recipe, sprinkle the nuts in a single layer in a dry frying pan over a medium heat.  Move them around with a wooden spoon to make sure they all toast evenly. They should be toasted after about 2-3 minutes. As soon as they are done, tip them into a dish so that they don’t continue cooking in the hot pan.