Cashew Chocolate Spread (Cashewtella)

In Cooking from Every Angle, we hear from our fearless leaders: Food52 co-founders Amanda & Merrill. This post was brought to you by our friends at S.Pellegrino, who are as passionate about celebrating fine food as we are.

Today: Amanda's spin on classic gianduja that you'll want to start spreading on toast -- yesterday. Read on for her recipe and for a giveaway! 

Every now and then I get mad -- mad! -- that I didn't know what gianduja and Nutella were until I was in my 20s. Two decades wasted! But I've made up for lost time, I have. I may run out of jam or eggs or milk; I don't run out of Nutella (the brand name for the chocolate-hazelnut spread gianduja). But I've never made gianduja, and I thought making it would be a feather in my cap. 

It's not nearly as complicated as I'd hoped (bragging rights deflated) -- all you do is grind toasted hazelnuts with sugar, whisk butter and cream into melted chocolate, and stir the ground nuts and some flaky salt into the chocolate. At this point, you are one step away from toast with gianduja, crêpes with gianduja, and gianduja icing. But I had a problem along the way: I couldn't find hazelnuts (what's up, Hamptons?!). So I put my chips on cashews. And invented a whole new, amazing treat: Cashewtella. Bragging rights restored. 
 

Cashew Chocolate Spread (Cashewtella) 
Adapted from Bon Appétit

Makes about two 8-ounce jars

1 cup raw cashews
2 tablespoons sugar
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/8 teaspoon kosher salt

See the full recipe (and save it and print it) here.  

This post was brought to you by S.Pellegrino; the dish above was inspired by their Off the Menu culinary experience with a menu created by Chef Michael Voltaggio. Tell us by September 2nd at 5 PM what Italian classic dish you'd love to reimagine for a chance to win a signed apron and a copy of his cookbook, VOLT ink. 

Photos by James Ransom