Pistachio Ice Cream

In a food processor, grind up 3/4 cup of pistachios with 1/4 cup of sugar until very fine.

In a large saucepan, combine the remaining sugar, heavy cream, milk, salt, vanilla and pistachio extract over medium high heat until it starts to bubble.

While the cream mixture is heating, in another bowl, use a hand blender to whisk the eggs.

When the cream mixture has bubbled, turn down the heat a bit and temper the eggs. To temper, slowly ladle -- one at a time -- three scoops of the hot cream mixture into the eggs and whisk after each addition.

Pour the egg mixture back into the sauce pan with the remaining cream mixture, mix thoroughly and continue to heat until thick enough for a spoon comes out coated.

Remove from heat and add the ground pistachios, mixing well. (If you want your ice cream to have a bit of green color, you can add a few drops of food color.)

Put the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for at least 6-8 hours or overnight.

Once chilled, pour the mixture into the ice cream maker (maybe in portions, depending upon the size of your ice cream maker) and let churn according to the manufacturer's instructions (about 20 minutes).

During the last 5 minutes of churning, add the remaining 1/2 cup of whole pistachios.

Put in freezer container and freeze for 6 hours or overnight to freeze solid.

Enjoy!