Pistachio paste might not be anything new, but it's well and truly having a moment. Whether it's being baked into pastries, cakes or sourdough, turned into a chocolate bar filling or blended into ice cream, it's hard to nip online without stumbling on a pistachio paste-based video along the way. Buttery and distinctively nutty, we don't need to explain why indulgent pistachio paste has become quite so popular, but we will say that it has plenty more uses than just being slathered onto a warm pastry, as delicious as that might be. Though it goes hand-in-hand with sweet dishes, it absolutely has a home in the savoury side of your cooking – think of it as a pizza topping (perhaps with mortadella or sausage), a spread for sandwiches or as a starring ingredient in a pasta dish with pancetta.

While some pistachio pastes are made entirely of blended pistachios, others have added sugar – ones which are solely pistachio are obviously more versatile (and you can add extra sugar to recipes which need it to be sweet). Pistachio paste, overall, is trickier to track down in the UK than almond or peanut butters, and usually more expensive, but once you've got your hands on a jar or whipped up a batch (roast some pistachios and then blend them until a paste forms), here is some cheffy inspiration for how to use it. Most are elements that, even if you aren't following the full recipe, you can pull out and weave into your own cooking.

We'll start off with a classic – Pierre Koffmann's soufflé packs in the pistachio paste in two ways, in the mixture for the soufflé itself, as well as a pistachio ice cream. It was a signature dessert from his tenure at La Tante Claire, where he held three Michelin stars, so you know it's going to be good – but it still only takes forty-five minutes to whip up.

This intricate starter from Matteo Metullio uses pistachio paste as an ingredient in a savoury purée, alongside milk, cream, potatoes, salt and black pepper. He pairs it with a pan-seared venison loin, crispy wasabi chips and a honey, lemon and mustard dressing. It's a beautiful dish, but it's also a fantastic example of how to easily make pistachio paste savoury, so you could create the purée to serve with other recipes. 

Victoria Glass pours a layer of a pistachio paste salted caramel in her tarts, an element which could be added to all sorts of chocolatey puds. Her recipe is straightforward, taking just over an hour, and would make a gorgeous dinner party dessert.

It's not long until blackberry season, and this trifle recipe by Simon Hulstone is the perfect dessert for the time of year. He uses pistachio paste in the sponge, a recipe which you could scale up. Simon advises that if you can't find pistachio paste, blend 100g of peeled pistachios in a food processor. 

This show-stopping dessert from Mark Jordan is incredibly impressive and more straightforward to make than it looks. He blends pistachio paste with icing sugar, double cream and pistachio nuts for a pistachio cream, which goes beautifully with the sharp raspberries, but would be a beautiful addition to lots of desserts.

Chef Francesco Mazzei combines pistachio paste with ground almonds, sugar, egg white, honey and icing sugar to create pistachio biscotti, which he uses as an element in his zabaglione recipe. It's an extravagant take on a classic which includes shaved white truffles and wine-infused custard.

We'll end with an adventurous one. Pete Gray braises snails, finishes them in luxurious garlic butter and pairs them with crispy capers and fennel on French toast in this dish. Before assembling, he spreads 5g of pistachio paste on each slice of bread, sprinkles them with chives and salt and vinegar pistachios. Even if snails aren't your cup of tea, it's a great way of using pistachio paste simply in a savoury dish – you could experiment by topping pistachio paste on toast with savoury flavours like olive oil, Parmesan and salt.

Hankering after more pistachio inspiration? Our recipe collection is this way.