14 brilliant and daring pesto recipes to improve summer cooking

Pesto is one of the best ways to use an abundance of fresh and fresh herbs. “Pesto” comes from the word for “crushed” in Italian, because the cooks traditionally use a mortar and a pestle to crush the basil, pine nuts and amonggian-reggiano until it forms a creamy sauce. Although the pesto is generally made with basil, many other herbs and green – including ramps, coriander, tarragon, parsley and mint – can also be used. There are also pestos, like the Pesto Alla Alla Trapanese, which do not contain green vegetables. Below, you will find our staff’s favorite ways to cook with the condiment. Although you will never find us complaining about a large plate of pasta covered with pesto, there are many other wonderful ways to use the sauce: consider throwing it in the potato salad, serving it with flank steak, or even incorporating it into a vibrant green soup. And if you just want to eat it with a spoon, it’s perfectly good too.