Pesto goes well with tomato and mozzarella.
Pesto is traditionally a green paste made of basil, garlic, cheese, pine nuts and olive oil, a recipe that originated in Genoa, Italy. Pesto is uncooked, so it needs to be fresh. It goes bad quickly and ends up molding, so if you have a jar of it around, it's best to use it quickly. You can use pesto sauce for all sorts of dishes.
Pasta
Pasta is the most traditional way to use pesto and it makes a good alternative to tomato or Alfredo sauce. Toss in a few tablespoons of pesto with hot pasta and a little bit of the cooking water, mixing them together until the pasta is well-coated. You can add some produce to the mix for added flavor, such as tomatoes or artichokes.
Garnish
Pesto makes a good garnish. You can top some broiled fish or steamed veggies with pesto and let it melt to add a kick of flavor. Or, stir a little bit into a bowl of soup. It works especially well in tomato or minestrone soup.
Spread
Pesto works well as a spread on breads and crackers. You can put it on top of toasted slices of French bread, popping it into the broiler to make the pesto melty. Try it on crackers with goat cheese as well. Consider topping both options with some chopped tomatoes.
Dip
Use pesto as a dip for fresh produce. Chop some cherry tomatoes in half and provide it to your guests with a bowl of pesto sauce as a healthy snack that's different from the typical fare of nachos and cheese or a bowl of chips.
Sandwich Sauce
Use it in a sandwich. Grill up some chicken breasts and slice them into strips. Spread them on some bread -- toasted or untoasted -- and coat one side of one of the pieces of bread in pesto sauce. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. You can try this with other meats as well, or make it the main sauce in a vegetarian sandwich filled with fresh veggies.
Pizza
Make some pesto pizza. Create the pizza as you normally would with whatever cheese, toppings and crust you want and use pesto in place of tomato puree.
Tags: pesto sauce, makes good
