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.
Nobody has published a pesto recipe yet. The page stays out of search until one exists, which is the rule for every thin page here.