I think I could live on almonds… I like them almost any way, and eat at least a handful nearly every day. I came up with this recipe for holiday giveaways this year — though I couldn’t bring myself to part with all of them and have another tub of raw almonds in there just begging for this treatment.

The inspiration was a couple of things. First of all, I love freshly ground black pepper on my popcorn, so why not on my other favorite nibbly snack? Also, the idea of salt and pepper calamari kept swirling in my head… After the first round of almonds came out just so-so, I realized that part of what makes the salt and pepper calamari work is the inherent subtle sweetness of the calamari. So I added a pinch of sugar to the next batch and voila…

Recipe: Nibbles: Salt & Pepper Roasted Almonds
Makes 2 cups — but this recipe is easily doubled, tripled, etc. Just make sure you use as many baking sheets as you need to keep the almonds in a single layer!

2 cups raw, unskinned almonds
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons coarse, kosher salt
1 tablespoon fresh, coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 400F. Toss all ingredients together in a small bowl and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 10-15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the coating is crisp and almonds begin to show splits in the skins. Let cool — almonds will continue to crisp as they cool.

Wine Pairing: As I mentioned, I love almonds, so I can and have eaten these with all manner of wines — from bubbly to white to red. Best choice? Maybe a Pinot Gris — the slightly smoky character of the roasted black pepper seemed to echo something in the wine…