pesto variations
Picnic Pesto Spirals…a fun way to use up whatever herbal pesto you’ve made (or bought) this summer. Recipe/styling by Lisa Golden Schroeder, photo by Dennis Becker.
The first time I tasted a true basil pesto was in San Francisco. I was at a small North Beach restaurant with colleagues from the test kitchens where I was interning, and an unassuming pasta tossed with a terrifically garlic-imbued pesto absolutely blew me away. Despite the pungent breath I subjected my friends to for the next day or so, I couldn’t stop thinking about how lovely that dish tasted. That was in 1980, just as pesto took off as a ubiquitous ingredient for myriad recipes—well beyond its traditional hand-pounded simplicity from Liguria, Italy. In its purest form, pesto Genovese is a simple blend of delicate basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt, cheese, and olive oil. But American innovation took what was once considered an exotic mixture and embraced its versatility. Now we make pestos from just about any herb, zipped up in our blenders with any number of aromatic cheeses, rich nuts or seeds, that pungent garlic, and peppery olive oil.
No oven required for this layered lasagna, rich with basil pesto & roasted zucchini and cherry tomatoes…recipe/styling by Lisa Golden Schroeder, photo by Dennis Becker.
So who’s to stop us from puréeing up roasted or grilled veggies with basil, sun-dried tomatoes with rosemary, or large bunches of fragrant cilantro with pepitas and chiles…and calling them pesto? I suppose we’re treading on an authentic Italian specialty, yet the technique of mashing up flavorful ingredients to season grilled meats, top toasted bread, or stir into a thick bean soup is not exclusive to one cuisine or part of the world. Pistou from France, chimichurri in Argentina, or chile salsas in Mexico are just pounded herbs and flavorful seasonings, blended into pastes that enliven whatever recipe they’re added to. It’s easy to find Italian pestos in jars and tubs in the refrigerator section these days, ready and waiting for you to whip up an express supper. But when you’ve got a few minutes, try your hand at buzzing up your own. I’ve played with roasting, grilling, or caramelizing vegetables like asparagus, artichokes, sweet bell peppers, and hot chiles, then blending them with a touch of garlic or onion, different herbs from my garden, and a good splash of olive oil. They’re ready to use in literally seconds or will stick around in the fridge for several days, to make a refreshing macaroni salad, spooned into a skillet of sautéed chicken, spread on a grilled pizza, or slathered on a grilled butterflied chicken. There’s no limit to your imagination as we celebrate this glorious season of fresh herbs and newborn produce.
A thick pesto of summer peas + basil melts into sautéed summer squash scented with fennel seed. Recipe/styling by Lisa Golden Schroeder, photo by Dennis Becker.