What Was Frank Sinatra's Pesto?

Frank Sinatra's mother was born in pesto's spiritual homeland of Liguria, where the world's best basil is grown, and his love of Italian food is almost as legendary as his voice. In fact, some say he was more responsible for introducing Americans to Italian cuisine than anyone before him.

Sinatra's chance encounter with Luciano Belloni, the owner of a Genovese restaurant called Zeffirino, at a 1967 boxing match led to a friendship that would last decades. Belloni admired the singer so much that he created a dish called Paffutelli alla Frank which was dedicated to the singer and which is still on their menu today.

Sinatra was such a fan of Zeffirino that there are tales of him chartering a private helicopter from Montecarlo to Genoa to dine on his favourite dish, silk handkerchief pasta with pesto. He even had his favourite pesto regularly couriered to his Malibu mansion in a show of extravagance that hasn't exactly aged well.

Sinatra decided to celebrate his love of pesto by bottling his own sauce in a short-lived business venture that featured his name and face. Frank Sinatra Pesto was released on his 75th birthday (alongside an Alfredo sauce and a scampi sauce). Sadly, we never got to try it, but we were delighted to receive an email out of the blue from Deanna Scott who remembers it with affection. Here is what she told us about it:

"Don’t let the colour fool you. It wasn’t a fresh pesto like you’re thinking of. It was more like an Alfredo sauce with pesto mixed in. And it’s not a stretch since the brand was selling Alfredo too. I’m sure that was the base, with pesto added.

I used it as pizza sauce, and it was fantastic with toppings of fresh garlic, onion, Roma tomatoes, smoked mozzarella and fontina cheeses and pine nuts (my own concoction). It was delicious. The other was roll-ups of boneless skinless chicken breasts smeared with the pesto and topped with roasted red pepper before baking.

Take it from someone who bought this product and used it many times and was sad when it was discontinued. It was QUITE good, and I’ve not seen anything even close to it before or since. 

If the product by some miracle was back on the market, I would buy it again for convenience. I kind of thought the product was ingenious in a way."