Pesto: Italians Are the Real Greengos
In certain parts of the States, people aren’t messing around when it comes to local specialties and they’re willing to battle it out in everything from chili cook-offs to pie contests, BBQ showdowns, gumbo challenges, clam bake-offs, cobb salad toss-ups and everything in between, fighting tooth and nail for that first-place ribbon. Italians on the other hand, elevate their foods’ social status, empowering them with important titles, creating consortiums to protect their often ancient roots, and making sure that when you say, for example, “pesto” , you are rendering unto Caesar what is, without a doubt, Caesar’s.
Pesto is synonymous with the northwestern city of Genoa (remember? Where Chris Columbus was from!), and its popularity is due to the fact that well, frankly, it’s delicious. Though many families have their own recipe and method in making pesto at home, the Consortium for Genoese Pesto demands that producers in the region who want to call their product “Pesto Genovese” adhere to a set of ingredients and production methods, so that people will be able to distinguish the phonies from the real deal. This involves the use of a DOP basil (denominazione di origine protetta – or denomination of protected origin), grown in the area of Genoa and characterized by its smaller, delicately fragrant leaves which are totally devoid of that minty aroma one often finds in basil elsewhere. It also involves the use of a mortar and pestle – the latter of which gives its name to this fresh, herbalicious condiment.
The following recipe is adapted from the Consortium’s official pesto recipe, but we’ve decided to give you a break and let you use the food processor (we do it all the time, but don’t tell). Though traditionally served with trenette or trofie shapes of pasta, pesto lends itself very well to most cuts, long or short, as well as being a great topping for minestrone soup, as they do in Genoa as well, or on boiled meats.
We use Olio&Olive’s Paradiso Extra Virgin Olive Oil, as its mild flavor won’t mask the fragrance of the basil and other ingredients. Of course, we also use genuine Parmigiano Reggiano and pecorino, as “parmesan cheese” and “romano cheese” found in most supermarkets are nothing more than over-processed imitations that will never give you the same result as the genuine varieties you will find at Olio&Olive.
Olio&Olive
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As you may have guessed, we are seriously passionate about food, and especially about olive oil. As Italians, we were raised on it and probably have rarely gone without it on a daily basis. It is our Golden Nectar. It was drizzled into our first “pappe” (mushy baby meals), spiced to top our pizzas, passed around the table to dress our salads, rubbed liberally on every roast, poured generously into every sauce, used in lieu of butter in our favorite sweets – we’ve even seen our grandmothers condition their hair with the olive oil sitting in the kitchen cupboard!
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