What Is Pestato?
Just when we thought we knew everything there is to know about pesto, Milan throws us a curveball. We'd never heard of pestato before visiting Eataly's flagship store in the heart of the city. Here, we found jars of pestato sitting alongside jars of pesto, with very little to differentiate them. Naturally, we had to investigate further.
The similarities between pesto and pestato
Although you won't find the word pestato in any mainstream dictionary, just like pesto, it originates from the Italian verb pestare, meaning "to pound" or "to crush." This references the pestle and mortar that was traditionally used to make the sauce, and it's why some people consider pesto to be more about process than ingredients.
A comparison of the ingredients in jars of pestato and pesto confirmed our suspicion that the two sauces share some of the same base ingredients, namely oil, nuts, salt, and garlic. Both were inspired by the Roman sauce, moretum, and both sauces are marketed as being excellent on pasta, bruschetta, and pizza. They are also unusual in the culinary world because they are raw sauces. That is, however, where the similarities end.
The differences between pesto and pestato
We've written before about how to define pesto and how many people in the sauce's heartland, Genoa, consider the official pesto recipe to be the only one worthy of the name. Over the years, though, things have been complicated by the fact that the pesto aisle increasingly contains sauces that contain very different ingredients to the official recipe while at the same time being marketed as "pesto."
Our theory was that companies that prefer to call their sauces pestato are not just doing so to differentiate themselves from competitors but out of respect for the classic basil pesto recipe. It's almost a way for them to doff their cap to tradition but at the same time have the freedom to sell their sauces in good conscience and without upsetting the Genovese.
Examples of pestato
Pestato di Nori (Artista del Vegetariano)
This is a simple, four-ingredient sauce made from walnuts, sunflower oil, olive oil, and salt.
Pesto Di Pomodori Secchi (Ursini)
This incredibly flavourful sauce is made from sun-dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, onion, and parsley.
Pestato di Olive Verdi e Basilico (Viani)
This simple, four-ingredient sauce features green olives, olive oil, basil, and salt.
Pestato di Olive Nere (Calaforno Angelica)
This is another simple sauce made from black olives, oil, mint, oregano, chilli, and pepper.
Pestato di Friarielli (Vestalia)
This unusual pestato is primarily made with Neapolitan broccoli but complemented by sunflower oil, salt, and chilli pepper flakes.
Pestato di Carciofi (Antica Passione)
This sauce features artichokes, sunflower oil, extra virgin olive oil, parsley, salt, and mint.
Other producers that market some of their sauces as pestato include Naples-based Magno Foods and a Norwegain company called Olivenolje. Some of their sauces contain some very unconventional ingredients, such as bell peppers, anchovies, pumpkin and paprika.
How pestato companies define their sauces
Some believe, although without much evidence to back it up, that pestato hails from Tuscany. However, anyone who has spent as much time as we have researching the best pasta shapes for pesto will know that Italy has so many regional and dialectal nuances that it's often tricky to pinpoint exactly where and when a recipe originated.
To try and get clarity about what exactly pestato means, we contacted a few producers to see how they define their sauces.
"The main difference between pesto and pestato lies in their texture and ingredients. Pesto is a smooth, creamy sauce traditionally made with basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil. Pestato is more of a chopped or coarsely ground mixture offering a more rustic feel."
Ursini (Naples, Italy)
"Pestato is a sauce with more generous pieces than classical pesto but is just as delicious. It gives more texture to your preparations, but you'll love it in the same way as pesto."
Maison Bremond 1830 (Aix en Provence, France)
"Pesto usually refers to the Genovese pesto made with basil, while pestato can be used on bruschetta but also on pasta."
Tenuta Chiaramonte (Ragusa, Sicily)
"Pesto is a homogenous sauce, while pestato is more rustic."
Calaforno Angelica (Monterosso Almo, Sicily)
On this basis, we're confident our theory was right. Pestato very much has the same lineage as traditional pesto, but it has a chunkier, more rustic texture and shuns the classic ingredients in favour of alternative nuts, cheeses, herbs, and vegetables.