pesto

[ pes-toh ]

noun

, Italian Cooking.

1. a sauce typically made with basil, pine nuts, olive oil, and grated Parmesan blended together and served hot or cold over pasta, fish, or meat.

pesto

/ ˈpɛstəʊ /

noun

1. a sauce for pasta, consisting of basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, oil, and Parmesan cheese, all crushed together

Word History and Origins

Origin of pesto¹

First recorded in 1935–40; from Upper Italian (compare Genoese dialect pésto “pesto”), Italian; noun derivative of pestare “to pound, crush”; piste

Word History and Origins

Origin of pesto¹

Italian, shortened form of pestato, past participle of pestare to pound, crush

Example Sentences

The most challenging component of that is the pesto sauce but otherwise, it’s just assembling the sandwich.

From Salon

Five people are receiving emergency medical care in France for suspected botulism linked to eating pesto.

From BBC

The sauce is like a sort of pesto made with kale and it's a bright green color.

From Salon

All the sandwiches in the book have some sauce, whether it's a saucy sauce, a pesto, a jam, or a drizzle of hot honey — each one has some saucy component.

From Salon

Cook freezes them in ice cube trays, using them as sauce starters or in pesto, while Herrera makes cream of nettle soup by blending nettles with baked potatoes, milk, butter, garlic and concentrated chicken broth.

From Seattle Times