If you have one pistachio nut that has only opened a tiny bit, you may use half of an empty pistachio shell to leverage your way in.
Stick the half pistachio shell into the tiny opening on the shut pistachio. With a firm grip, twist the shell either to the right or left — it doesn’t matter — just like you would a screwdriver. You’ll be amazed to see how easily the clamed-up pistachio shell opens right up.
Large companies use shelling machines for shelling all kinds of hard shell nuts.
Once shelled, pistachios have a thin skin on the nut that sometimes needs to be removed for the purposes of a recipe. The skin is perfectly edible, but it can mar the texture of pureed pistachios, and it can take away from the nut’s lovely, distinctive green color.
Find out how to skin pistachios at Toriavey.com.