Beyond Basil: How to Make Authentic Italian PESTO(s) Like A Pro

Summary by Krater

The hosts make two traditional pestos from Liguria—a bread-soaked white pesto served with potato wedges and a tomato-and-almond pesto served with homemade busiate pasta—and explain their origins and how they compare to the classic Genovese pesto.

From the video

Answers: How do you make traditional white pesto and tomato-and-almond pesto?

• White pesto with potato wedges
• Tomato and almond pesto
• Homemade busiate pasta
• Mortar and pestle technique
• Traditional Ligurian sauces

Ingredients

• garlic
• salt
• white bread
• white vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• potatoes
• black pepper
• cherry tomatoes
• basil
• almonds
• Pecorino cheese
• apple cider vinegar
• flour
• water
• ricotta cheese

What it concludes

• Using a mortar and pestle avoids heating and destroying ingredients compared to a blender or food processor.
• Pesto alla Trapanese has a strict connection to Pesto alla Genovese and Pesto Ligure because Genovese sailors brought the technique to Sicily.
• Pesto cannot be cooked, so pasta must always be mixed with pesto in a bowl rather than on the heat.