Dish · italian
Pesto
A raw sauce of basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, and olive oil, traditionally ground by hand rather than cooked. It's bright green and sharp, meant to be tossed with pasta off the heat.
Where it comes from
The sauce comes from Genoa, where basil grows well along the coast, and its name comes from the Italian word for pounding, referring to the mortar and pestle method used before blenders existed. Ligurian basil is considered essential by traditionalists.
What cooks argue about
The main fight is mortar and pestle versus food processor, since a spinning blade heats and bruises the basil, turning it darker and slightly bitter than hand pounding produces.
Versions
Nobody has published a pesto here yet. When somebody cooks one from a video and publishes it, their version appears in this list, with a link back to the original.
What goes in it
Each one opens everything else made with it.
basil
pine nuts
garlic
olive oil