Smoked almonds – Lazy Cat Kitchen

These smoked almonds are a delicious and super simple recipe inspired by a snack I had while on holidays in Greece. They come together really quickly and only require a few staple ingredients and about 2 minutes of prep, that’s it. They can be a real life saver if you want a quick savoury snack to go with your glass of wine or beer.

I made them for friends last week and they went down really well. Smokey, savoury, salty and crunchy yet definitely healthier than a bag of crisps. There is not much to lose so I hope you will give them a go.

MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS

ALMONDS – a bag of almonds is what you need for this simple snack. I recommend regular, unblanched almonds as those tiny cervices help the spices to stay put. You could probably do this with other medium size nuts too but I like to use almonds as their natural flavour takes all these lovely spices so well and their regular shape is quick and easy to work with.

OIL – a little bit of oil helps the spices to stick to the surface. I used mild olive oil that I use for cooking, but any neutral flavour oil (like canola, sunflower, rice bran) will work.

NUTRITIONAL YEAST – nutritional yeast is a bit like magic dust that makes pretty much everything better – even my cat is obsessed with it! It’s basically inactive yeast that tastes cheesy and adds a nice depth of flavour to things. You can skip it if you want to but I think it makes this simple snack 10 times better so its worth seeking it out. I use Marigold Engevita brand, which is available in all big UK supermarkets these days.

SMOKED PAPRIKA – smoked paprika is what turns these almonds into smoked almonds. I use sweet smoked paprika, also known as pimentón, but if you fancy a bit of heat adding a bit of hot smoked paprika into the mix is a great idea.

SALT – salt needs no further explanation, I am sure. I found that a slightly heaped half a teaspoon of fine salt is ideal for this amount of almonds but you can also adjust that amount to your own preference.

GARLIC POWDER – a touch of garlic powder deepens the flavours of these smoked almonds nicely. I only use a quarter of a teaspoon as I didn’t want the garlic flavour to dominate but to reinforce other flavours gently.