Pistachio Cream - Marco Colzani, Lombardia, Italy

Are you one of those people who wakes up thinking about breakfast? Well, we're those people who wake up thinking about Marco Colzani's Pistachio della Sicilia Crema Spalmabile. Perfectly sweet with just a hint of saltiness, you can practically taste the Sicilian sunshine in each gooey spoonful of this spread (and yes...sometimes we eat it by the spoonful).Simplicity is one of Marco's core beliefs, and he invented this recipe to highlight the natural flavor of the pistachio - with just four ingredients: Sicilian pistachios, olive oil, cane sugar, and sea salt - blended into a remarkably smooth and creamy spread. What is Marco's secret to creating a pistachio spread with this much pistachio flavor? SLOW EVERYTHING. Slow drying and slow toasting at an extremely low temperature. Marco sources the pistachios himself in Sicily and he makes this spread at his pastry shop in his hometown outside Lake Como in Lombardia. We can think up countless excuses - uh - uses, for this spread: it makes a killer icing for cakes or cupcakes, a great filling for crepes or pancakes, and an amazing topping for gelato. But our favorite might be the simplest: spread it on a slice of fresh bread or warm toast and you've found your new favorite breakfast. Marco Colzani is a young, passionate chocolatier who opened his own laboratory in 2016. After graduating with a degree in agriculture, Marco became an enologist. But, eager to return to his roots in Lake Como, he soon took all the research and technical skill he had learned in his study of wine - origins, terroir, fermentation, acidity, sugars and oxidation - and turned it to a new passion: chocolate. Under his brand C-Amaro, Marco produces three spreads: pistachio, almond, and chocolate hazelnut, as well as a line of bean-to-bar chocolate. In all of the artisanal sweets he produces, his philosophy is simple: "to take away everything that is unnecessary, and try to come as close as possible to the original."