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Pesto is one of my favorite parts of any dish. Creamy chicken pesto pasta, pesto on a sandwich, pesto drizzled over grilled chicken, pesto pizza, pesto mixed into rice or spread on bread. If it has pesto in it, I love it. The bright, herbaceous, garlicky flavor elevates everything.
Pesto is a sauce made by crushing or grinding ingredients together. The name comes from the Italian verb pestare, meaning "to crush" or "to pound." Traditionally it's made with a mortar and pestle, though food processors and blenders are common today. The result is a vibrant green sauce with a rich, aromatic flavor.
Classic pesto alla genovese combines five main ingredients:
Authentic pesto alla genovese can also include Pecorino cheese and coarse salt. Some regional versions swap ingredients entirely: Sicilian pesto trapanese uses tomatoes and almonds, while pesto modenese from Modena features lard, garlic, and rosemary.
Pesto originates from Genoa in northwestern Italy, in the Liguria region. Its roots trace back to ancient Roman sauces. Virgil's poem describes moretum, a condiment of garlic, oil, herbs, and cheese crushed in a mortar and pestle. Basil didn't arrive in Italy until the Middle Ages, so early versions lacked that signature ingredient.
In medieval Liguria, agliata—a sauce of garlic, oil, vinegar, and salt—evolved over centuries into modern pesto. Local legend says a monk at a convent dedicated to Saint Basil in Prà (now part of Genoa) first created pesto by pounding basil with ingredients offered by the faithful.