When I was in Portovenere, Italy a few years back, I stumbled upon the tiniest store, run by the sweetest signora. She made her career selling one thing and one thing only: pesto. In her shoebox-sized store, there was a fridge filled top to bottom with, you guessed it, pesto. It was a beautiful sight that made me incredibly happy, but also increasingly curious. Some of the jars of pesto had to be at least a gallon. Was this pesto all for pasta or did the Italians know something that I didn’t?
I mean, we all know that pesto is the best. It’s yummy, only requires a few ingredients, is super easy to make and adds an amazing pop of color to any dish. While I had made pesto pasta often, seeing all that homemade green goodness in Italy inspired me to find other uses for it. As it turns out, pesto is extremely versatile and easily dresses up sandwiches, vegetables and meats alike. I now double (or sometimes even triple) the recipe and pop some in the freezer just in case I suddenly crave pesto pizza. (Hint: freeze in appropriately sized batches depending on how you plan to use it.) I’ll have to make my way back to Portovenere one day and give that signora a hug thanking her for teaching me about the power of pesto.
Below are just a few ideas of how pesto could be used, but really the possibilities are endless. And once you are feeling good and ready, check out this recipe for Arugula Pesto, a modern twist on this Italian classic.
Pasta: An Italian classic is pesto pasta sauce. You could really use any type of pasta. I prefer angel hair or gnocchi, but traditional spaghetti is great too. Trader Joe’s seasonally sells arugula ravioli that I love to pair with pesto. I’ve also been dreaming of making a pesto lasagna. Have you made this?
Sandwiches and toasts: Pop a piece of bread in the toaster, smear with pesto and bam, you’ve got lunch, a snack or the perfect appetizer. It doesn’t need to be more complicated than pesto toast, but there are endless combinations that go perfectly with this base. Begin with pesto toast, add toppings and finish with some freshly ground pepper. You really can’t go wrong. Try pesto toast topped with: ricotta cheese; fresh mozzarella and tomato; avocado; prosciutto; a fried or scrambled egg; turkey; or a BLT.
Pesto mayo: Mix one-part pesto with one-part mayonnaise and just like that you have a new condiment! Add to your favorite sandwich or wrap.
Pizza sauce: Another classic use for pesto is as a pizza sauce. Make your favorite pizza, substituting pesto for red sauce and discover a whole new combination of flavors.
Vegetables: Pesto is a great compliment to roasted potatoes, but would also go well tossed with roasted cauliflower or tomatoes.
Salads: Transform your potato, egg or tuna salad into an Italian delight by adding a bit of pesto. You could even make a pesto Caesar Salad by simply adding some to the dressing.
Meats and fish: Pesto can be used atop chicken, steak, salmon or shrimp. Or how about making a pesto butter to serve on the side?
Dip: I have often caught my husband dipping whatever we have, be it a cracker, tortilla chips or pretzels, right into the extra pesto that I was saving for pasta. So often in fact that I have started to serve pesto dip as an appetizer.
By the spoonful: I can’t lie…I could eat pesto this way all day every day.
The power of pesto is real. I hope you are feeling inspired to whip out your food processor and start making multiple batches of pesto (here’s a recipe for Arugula Pesto). You won’t regret it. Oh, and let me know how you pesto by leaving a comment below. Enjoy! Buen provecho or as the signora from Portovenere would say, buon appetito!
