Pesto Sauce

Pesto (Italian pesto alla genovese) is the famous bright-green sauce from Genoa, one of the adornments of Italian cuisine. It is made without cooking, from ground fresh ingredients, so it keeps all the brightness, freshness, and aroma of the greens. The name comes from the Italian pestare — “to grind, to pound”.

The classic recipe combines seven components: fresh green basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, salt, hard cheese (parmesan and sheep's pecorino), and extra-virgin olive oil. Traditionally all the ingredients are unhurriedly ground in a marble mortar with a wooden pestle until an aromatic, grainy paste arises — it is precisely hand grinding (rather than blending in a blender, from which the greens darken and heat up) that is considered the guarantee of the best flavour and colour. The flavour of pesto is rich, fresh, with bright notes of basil, garlic, and nuts. Its most classic use is a sauce for pasta (Genoese serve it with trofie or linguine noodles), but pesto is also added to soups (such as minestrone), spread on bruschetta, and used to season fish, vegetables, and salads. It is the true aroma of an Italian summer in a single sauce.