What Is Pesto Portofino?

Short answer
This highly unusual sauce, born out of necessity by a chef running dangerously low on basil pesto, is a traditional pesto mixed with a cooked Pomodoro tomato sauce.

Long answer
One of the most significant crimes in Italian cuisine is to heat your pesto. Traditional basil pesto relies on the absolute freshness of the herbs, and applying heat loses the raw quality that producers take great pains to preserve.

That is what makes Portofino pesto so intriguing. Although numerous types of pesto contain fresh tomatoes, Portofino is the only one that contains cooked tomatoes.

The story goes that a chef in the beautiful harbour village of Portofino, in northern Italy, faced an overwhelming number of customers ordering his pesto dish. Realizing he might run out of sauce, he panicked and stretched his remaining pesto by mixing it with tomato sauce he had prepared for another dish. To his surprise, the diners loved the new creation, and a brand-new pesto was born.

Despite our best detective work, we have yet to determine what kind of tomato sauce was used on that game-changing evening, as the Italians have so many. Was it an anchovy-packed puttanesca, a chilli-laced arrabbiata, or a guanciale-based amatriciana? We may never know, but our hunch is that because pesto already has so many big, bold flavours, nothing more than a super-simple Pomodoro tomato sauce is needed.

Pro tip
Combine shop-bought pesto and tomato sauce for ultimate convenience, or follow our recipes for homemade basil pesto and tomato sauce (below) if you want to push the boat out.

Ingredients for four servings

Method
Combine the sauces and heat in a saucepan on the lowest possible flame until just warmed through but not piping hot.

Use it instead of pesto or tomato sauce in your favourite Italian dishes.

A simple tomato pomodoro sauce recipe
Every Italian has their take on the classic Pomodoro recipe. Some start with the classic carrots, celery, and onion base, while others use herbs, garlic, and chilli flakes. We tweak our recipe depending on our mood and what we're serving it with, but in the case of Portofino pesto, which already has tons of flavour from the basil, garlic, cheese, and pine nuts, we think a crazy-simple tomato sauce is all it needs.

Ingredients for 300g of Pomodoro sauce

* Ideally, use San Marzano tomatoes, widely considered the world's best.

Method
Dice the onion and sweat it in olive oil over the lowest possible flame until softened but not browned.

Add the tomatoes, season with salt, pepper, and sugar, and simmer gently for at least 30 minutes until the sauce becomes thick and jammy.

Allow it to cool before mixing it with your pesto.