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 Pesto
© Denzil Green
Genoese Pesto
Genoese-style Pesto, the best known in the UK and in North America, is made with cheese and pine nuts.
Genoese Pesto
Sicilian Pesto uses almonds instead of pine nuts and includes tomatoes. It doesn't, however, usually doesn't contain cheese, because in Sicily their Pesto often ends up in seafood pasta dishes, and Italian cooking doesn't mix cheese and fish.
Pesto Rosso
There is also what Italians call "Pesto Rosso (red pesto)", made from sun dried tomatoes, chiles, olive oil, cheese, pine nuts and basil.
Cooking Tips
Before adding the Pesto to the pasta, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of the pasta water to the Pesto to thin it a bit, then stir the Pesto into the pasta.
If you are making the Pesto before you are going to use it, even if it's only a half hour or so, leave a bit of oil out of the recipe, then use that to completely cover the top of the Pesto with a thin layer of oil to prevent it going brown.
Storage
Freezes well. When either refrigerating or freezing, put a thin layer of olive oil on top to keep oxygen away from the basil to prevent its browning and losing flavour, and then in a tightly sealed container (as you would anyway for anything you were freezing).
You can refrigerate for up to two weeks with the layer of oil on top, and in a tightly sealed container.
History
Pesto is a more traditional pasta sauce than tomato sauce -- it predates the Romans, and some speculate that it may have originated in North Africa. You can discount theories that it was a Middle Ages variation on the Roman fish sauce, garum. Certainly the Romans knew and used pine nuts a great deal, and for that matter, basil too.
Thee was a Roman city called Paestum in Southern Italy (originally founded around 600 BC by the Greeks), which is now called Pesto, but that has no relation to the sauce.
The city of Genoa, Italy is usually given credit as the birthplace of modern Pesto.
Also called:  Pesto (Italian) Pesto (Spanish)
See Also
Pasta for Sauce
Other entries for Pasta Sauce
Carbonara Sauce, Passata, Pesto
Other entries for Sauces
Aillade, Albert Sauce, Allemande Sauce, Amazu Sauce, Awasezu, A.1. Steak Sauce, Banquière Sauce, Barbeque Sauce, Beurre Blanc, Béarnaise Sauce, Black Mint Sauce, Brown Butter, Brown Sauce (English), Butter Sauce, Chile con Queso, Chiri-zu Sauce, Coronation Sauce, Creamed Horseradish, Drawn Butter Sauce, Espagnole Sauce, Finadene Sauce, Fish Sauces, Gravy, Halford Sauce, Harissa, Hoisin Sauce, Hollandaise Sauce, Horseradish Sauce, Ketchup, Ketjap Manis, Marie Rose Sauce, Matelote Sauce, Melted Butter, Meunière Butter, Mint Sauce, Mojo Sauces, Mojo (Cuban), Mole, Murri, Nikiri Sauce, Nitsume Sauce, Noisette Butter, Normande Sauce, Paloise Sauce, Panade à la frangipane, Parisienne Sauce, Pizza Sauce, Poivrade Sauce, Ponzu Sauce, Provençal Sauce, Reform Sauce, Rémoulade Sauce, Rice Wine, Salad Dressings, Salmuera, Salsas, Sambals, Sambi-Zu Sauce, Sanbai Zu Sauce, Sauce Béarnaise, Sauce Diane, Sauce Maltaise, Soubise Sauce, Soy Sauce, Sriracha, Sushi-zu, Tabasco Green Pepper Sauce, Tabasco, Tamari, Tapenade, Tartar Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce, Tonkatsu Sauce, Vatapá, Velouté Sauce, Walnut Sauce, White Sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, XO Sauce, Yakiniku Sauce, Yakitori Sauce
Other entries for Condiments
Liebig's Extract of Meat, Mayonnaise, Pastes, Relish, Spreads, Tracklements, Vinegar, Wasabi
Related Recipes
Green Bean & Pesto Linguine, Grilled Cheese & Pesto Sandwiches, Pesto and Mozzarella Stuffed Baked Tomatoes, Pesto Potatoes, Pesto & Tomato Pizza, Tuna Pasta Salad with Pesto, Zucchini and Pesto Puffs
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