Pesto: A Saucy Little History
Pesto: The Green Gold That’s Been Winning Hearts for Centuries
I think we can all agree—pesto is a beautiful agreement among its ingredients. A little bit of magic in a jar. Just a spoonful has a way of making everything better: pasta, sandwiches, eggs, pizza, you name it. But pesto didn’t just show up one day on our grocery store shelves. It has a long, flavorful history that reaches way beyond our weeknight dinners.
In the Way Way Back
Back in ancient Roman times, people were already mashing garlic, herbs, cheese, and oil into something delicious. They called it moretum—basically, pesto’s rustic great-grandparent. It didn’t have basil yet, but the concept of “grind tasty things in a mortar and smear it on bread” was alive and well.
On to Liguria: The Home of Real Pesto
Fast forward to Genoa, a port city in the Liguria region of northern Italy—that’s where pesto as we know it was born. We're talking fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan, pecorino, and really good olive oil. The most prized basil for pesto comes from Pra, a small neighborhood on the western edge of Genoa.
The word pesto comes from the Italian pestare, meaning “to crush.” Crushing = Flavor. No blender needed—though let’s be honest, the food processor was a great invention.
More Than Just Basil
Classic green basil pesto gets most of the attention, but it’s far from the only game in town. In parts of western Liguria, it’s traditional to make basil pesto with walnuts instead of pine nuts. So yes, walnut pesto is totally legit—sometimes even better, especially if your pine nuts are a bit stale.
There’s also pesto rosso, made with sun-dried tomatoes, and other fun spins with arugula, parsley, kale, or even mint. Every cook has their own take—and that’s part of what makes pesto so wonderful.
From Italy to Your Fridge
For centuries, pesto stayed a regional favorite. Then in the ‘80s and ‘90s, it went global. Suddenly it was everywhere—in cookbooks, on restaurant menus, and in jars at the supermarket. People realized just how good it is on, well, everything.
These days, pesto isn’t just for pasta. Spread it on toast. Swirl it into scrambled eggs. Drizzle it over roasted veggies or grilled meat. Mix it into salad dressing. Stir it into soup. Once you start, it’s hard to stop.
Buon Appetito!