Pesto is one of many Italian foods known all over the world. These days, this unique pasta sauce made from fresh basil can be found in any grocery store and on all sorts of restaurant menus, where it is as much a chic bistro dish as it is classic Italian fare.
The sauce that started it all is called pesto alla genovese. It comes from the coastal city of Genoa, in the region of Liguria, just north of Tuscany where the top of the “boot” of Italy begins to curve towards France. You might remember Liguria from the movie Luca. This delightful tale of sea monsters, friendship, courage, and small-town Italian life is set in the splendid environment of the Cinque Terre, five villages on the Ligurian Sea that have brought unprecedented notoriety to Liguria.
The origins of pesto can be traced back a couple thousand years. The Ancient Romans ate a paste of crushed garlic, salt, cheese, herbs, olive oil, and vinegar called moretum. The word “pesto” comes from the Italian verb pestare, which means “to crush” or “to pound” — basically, what you do with a mortar and (ta-da!) pestle. Just about anything pounded into a homogeneous mixture can be considered pesto.
The version of pesto we’re familiar with today emerged in the mid-19th century. The original pesto alla genovese recipe calls for garlic, pine nuts, coarse salt, Genoese basil, and hard cheese, usually Parmigiano or Pecorino Sardo (sheep’s milk cheese from Sardegna) blended together in a shimmering encasement of extra virgin olive oil.
Nowadays, you can find lots of innovative uses and recipes for pesto outside of Italy, but if you travel around the country and eat at places off the beaten tourist path or in the homes of Italians, a whole world of interesting pestos is waiting to be discovered, most of them not containing any basil whatsoever. We’ll highlight some of these at the end of this post, after a wee discussion about the mortar and pestle, basil, and the D.O.P. designation.
The Mortar and Pestle
The best way to make pesto from delicate substances (like basil) is with a mortar and pestle. Pesto alla genovese certainly can’t be considered genuine if made any other way. In Italian, this old-school kitchen-gadget duo is called a mortaio e pestello. Not too hard to see where the English term came from!
The mortar is traditionally made from marble, which is abundant in Italy. In addition to being readily available, marble possesses many qualities that make it optimal for the culinary purpose of grinding. The weight and hardness of marble lighten the task of working the ingredients with the pestle. Marble also helps to keep the temperature stable during the grinding process, which is important for preserving the flavours and properties of the ingredients being crushed (something that can be easily lost due to oxidation when using a modern chopper or stick blender).
The pestle is often made from wood, typically olive wood. The wood of olive trees is well-suited to the task of grinding thanks to its hardness and durability. Additionally, olive wood is very lovely, sporting a distinctive grain that forms into gorgeous patterns, perfectly suited to a country obsessed with beauty.
If you’ve never hand-ground pesto with a mortar and pestle, it’s something to try. The act of crushing and blending ingredients in this way can feel like a ritual or perhaps a sort of therapy.
The Basil
To truly be pesto alla genovese, Genoese basil must be used. Sometimes called “the king of Basil” or “the true basil”, Genoese basil is part of the Sweet Basil family, cultivated and propagated to retain certain properties; namely, its intense flavour that holds up even when cooked.
Real Genoese basil will bear the D.O.P. designation, a certification issued by the European Union guaranteeing the authenticity of a food product. This can apply not only to fresh produce but also to foods that have undergone some sort of process, such as olive oil, vinegar, or cheese.
Surprising Pesto Variations
Italians are usually not very inventive when it comes to food; they stick to tradition quite rigorously. Classic dishes are made in a certain way; to fiddle with the recipes is unthinkable! (Ask me how I know.) Pesto is one of the few culinary things that Italians can improvise on without fear of condemnation.
Seasonal produce is the driving force when it comes to pesto in Italy. The essential ingredients are extra virgin olive oil, a generous amount of salt, and some sort of hard cheese (preferably Parmigiano, Grana Padana, Pecorino Sardo, or Pecorino Romano). Nuts are almost always part of the mix. Garlic is pretty much a constant but not necessarily obligatory; you can omit it if fresh garlic bothers you. Once you get the ratios of the main elements down, you can fly by the seat of your pants and whip up an imaginative pesto in no time.
To follow are a few favourite pestos of the author, after living in Tuscany for about thirteen years. If pine nuts aren’t your thing, you’ll be glad to know that all sorts of tree nuts appear in these concoctions.
Recipes and more awesome ideas can be found on the Giallo Zafferano blog (in Italian but hopefully your computer will be smart enough to translate).
Pesto di Cavolo Nero (Black Cabbage)
Black cabbage, better known outside Italy as Tuscan or Lacinato Kale, is a staple of Italian cooking, particularly in Tuscany. Pesto di cavolo nero is the Tuscan equivalent of pesto alla genovese, with boiled kale replacing fresh basil, and almonds replacing pine nuts. Besides being very delicious and extremely nutritious, pesto di cavolo nero is a fantastic dark blue-green colour, almost unnatural in its intensity, that will surely spark some conversation over dinner.
Pesto di Rucola (Arugula)
Arugula has become quite a popular ingredient in fresh salads but it makes for an awesome fresh pesto as well. The fact that it is not cooked makes it ideal for summer meals. It's a novel sauce with stuffed pasta such as ravioli, especially ones that contain seafood, where the lively earthiness of the arugula is a nice complement to the fishy flavours.
A nice variation on arugula pesto is a cooked version made with zucchini and (believe it or not) salted peanuts.
Pesto di Radicchio e Noci (Radicchio and Walnuts)
Radicchio brings a brilliant burst of purply red to any dish, and it can be eaten raw or sauteed. When made into pesto with walnuts, the result is a fun, pinkish sauce that is out of the ordinary, the slightly bitter taste of the radicchio balanced perfectly by the walnuts. If you love the unusual, this is a pasta sauce to try.
Pesto di Fave e Pomodori Secchi (Fava Beans and Sundried Tomatoes)
In springtime in Italy, fava beans are ubiquitous. (In Tuscany, they’re called baccelli.) Italians love to pluck fava beans from their giant fleece-lined pods and eat them raw with fresh cheese. In this yummy pesto, the freshly-shelled beans are blanched and then blended with sundried tomatoes and walnuts or almonds to create a unique seasonal pesto.
Pesto di Pistacchi (Pistachios)
For lovers of all things Sicilian, pesto made from pistachios is a quintessential pasta sauce. Pesto di pistacchi is one mixture where garlic is decidedly absent. The ingredients are simple: shelled pistachios (preferably from Bronte), good olive oil, and a mix of Parmigiano and pecorino (sheep’s milk) cheeses. The result is a simple but fragrant sauce that is also very versatile. Ingredients such as pancetta (uncured bacon), shrimp, swordfish, sundried tomatoes, fresh cherry tomatoes, and burrata (a sexy, fresh cheese) can be combined with pistachio pesto to create truly scrumptious dishes.
If all this talk about food is making you hungry for Italy, let DriverInRome help you cook up some touring plans! Ask about our standard and custom itineraries.
