Reply #7: Pesto is a sauce...

[Auggie]

originating in Genoa in the Liguria region of northern Italy (pesto alla genovese), and traditionally consists of crushed garlic, basil and nuts blended with olive oil and cheese.

The name is the contracted past participle of the Genoese word pestâ (Italian: pestare), which means to pound, to crush, in reference to the original method of preparation, with marble mortar and wooden pestle. Nowadays, however, the ingredients in pesto are not "pounded" but "ground" with a circular motion of the pestle in the mortar.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesto

But Pesto need not be limited to just garlic, basil, pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. Mrs. Auggie has made pesto from Rosemary and Oregano -- as well as various versions of basil (lemon basil, sweet basil, Genovese basil, etc) and different cheese (Asiago and Goat, for example) and different nuts. She'll make a big batch and freeze it in ice cube trays, then store the frozen cubes in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. Whenever we want to "jazz-up" pasta or chicken or seafood we just defrost a cube or two and spread it on top (It'll keep in the freezer for months). You can also substitute it for tomato sauce on pizza. It's easiest to make in a food processor but the blender works too. You'll find a lot of recipes on-line.

Oh, I forgot the most important part -- it's delightfully delicious.