I love hazelnuts and chocolate and millions of people love the chocolate-hazelnut spread Nutella. I’ve made hazelnut-chocolate bark many times, ostensibly for gifts, and eaten most of it myself.

But I keep telling everyone how good for you hazelnuts are; they’re high in protein, low in saturated fat, high in vitamin E and folic acid. (I remember those prenatal vitamins with folic acid.) Harold McGee writes in his wonderful book On Food and Cooking, that the oils in nuts “are made up mostly of monounsaturated fatty acids, with more polyunsaturated fats than saturated fats. This balance of fats, antioxidants and folic acid may explain that nut consumption is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.”

I’ve been exploring some non-sweet and possibly healthier ways to use hazelnuts and here are a few ideas and recipes that I thought I’d share.

I keep a jar of toasted hazelnuts (of course I do!) on the kitchen counter and just toss them into salads all the time.

I often make a simple arugula salad with lemon juice, olive oil, parmesan shavings and chopped-up roasted hazelnuts.

Arugula salad with shaved parmesan and roasted hazelnuts

Here’s another nice salad from Mark Bittman if you like blue cheese:

https://www.food.com/recipe/iceberg-lettuce-with-blue-cheese-dressing-419450

from a few years ago. He suggests other nuts but hazelnuts are first on the list.

Nigella Lawson also pairs nuts with blue cheese.

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/butternut-squash-with-pecans-and-blue-cheese I think this would be good with hazelnuts instead of pecans. Hazelnuts are really, really good with blue cheese. I’ve also chopped them up and sprinkled them on plain cut-up roasted delicata squash.

One of my sisters put together a lovely dish of beech mushrooms sautéed with greens, added to penne pasta, and tossed with toasted hazelnuts and Parmesan cheese.

Penne pasta with beech mushrooms, sautéed greens, roasted hazelnuts and grated parmesan

You can sub in hazelnuts for other nuts too. They have a more subtle and delicate flavor than other nuts, so they can be overwhelmed by a lot of other strong flavors; I’d recommend a light hand with spices and flavorings.

Here’s one a friend sent this morning (April 25th) and just right for spring - a pesto made with hazelnuts and ramps from Beyond Sweet and Savory Beyond Sweet and Savory Wild Ramps and Hazelnut Pesto

I keep scouting for savory – and easy! - hazelnut recipes and I’ll share them when I find them, usually on our IG.

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Monica Longworth, Sermoneta Orchards

Hazelnuts – not just for dessert

Hazelnut flowers