The Italian word pesto means paste; the verb pestare means to pound or bruise.

Classic pesto sauce, which originated in the basil-rich Italian province of Liguria, consists of basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, Parmesan and Pecorino cheeses plus a touch of salt for seasoning.

It’s traditionally made by pounding the ingredients with a mortar and pestle, which releases more of the flavorful oils in the basil than those made by the blades of a food processor or in commercial production.

But, switch out the basil for other greens (arugula, spinach), ditch the greens entirely (kalamata olives; orange, red or yellow bell pepper; sundried tomato), switch the nuts (pistachio, walnut), change the seasonings (try sundried tomato pesto with chipotle).

You can even add fresh tomato, ricotta, yogurt or crème fraîche. Pink pesto, an American invention, is a mix of fresh tomatoes, a bit of pesto, some onions and a hint of cream. Garlic lovers should try roasted garlic pesto, a rich, golden paste flecked with herbs and small walnut chunks.

Don’t be hesitant: Try anything. The pestobilities are endless!

> National Pesto Day is July 2nd.

> 18+ annual holidays that celebrate sauces, dips, and dressings.

> The history of pesto.

> Easy homemade pesto recipe.
 
 
Pesto At Breakfast

 
Pesto At Lunch & Dinner

 
In Liguria, popular pesto-and-pasta dishes include trenette and triofe alla Genovese. Trenette, flat ribbon pasta almost identical to linguine with a surface the sauce can cling to. Triofe are dumpling-like, rolled, worm-shaped pasta with crevices for pesto to fill.

You can substitute gnocchi; and if you’re a penne or rigatoni person, go for it. You can use any substantial pasta that can take a heavy dressing (i.e., not angel hair); and by all means, use pesto instead of red sauce in your lasagna.

Here’s how to match pasta shape to type of sauce.
 
 
Pesto With Appetizers & Snacks

 
 
MAKE YOUR OWN PESTO

Here’s a delicious and easy pesto recipe.

Whether it’s your own or store-bought, here’s how to store pesto.

> Check out our favorite store-bought pesto brands.
 
 
 
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*To make pesto croutons: Combine 4 cups bread cubes, 3 tablespoons pesto and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 350°F.

[1] A traditional use of pesto: as a sauce or garnish for fish, meat or poultry (photos #1, #3, #4, and #5 © DeLallo).

[2] A colorful, tasty topping for fish, chicken, and other “beige” foods (photo © Good Eggs). s

[3] Chicken pesto pizza or flatbread.

[4] Pesto is delicious mixed in to rice, other grains, even mashed potatoes!

[5] Perhaps the most familiar use of pesto is as pasta sauce, here on orecchietti (“little ears”).

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

There is tuna in tuna noodle casserole. There are strawberries in strawberry shortcake. There’s ice cream in an ice cream soda.

But there’s no egg in an egg cream—and there’s no cream, either. The ingredients are milk, seltzer and chocolate syrup.

In other words, it’s a carbonated chocolate soda made creamy with milk, or carbonated chocolate milk.

There are riffs on the original chocolate drink, a long-ago staple of New York City soda fountains. So let’s make a strawberry egg cream.
 
 
STRAWBERRY EGG CREAM RECIPE

Ingredients

 
 
Preparation

1. ADD a generous dollop of strawberry preserves or strawberry syrup to the bottom of a glass.

If using fresh or frozen strawberries, muddle them in the bottom of the glass and sweeten to taste (an opportunity to add a non-caloric or low-glycemic sweetener).

2. ADD 1/4 cup cold milk, and whisk together.

3. TOP off with vanilla seltzer, strawberry seltzer or plain seltzer. Be sure not to over-dilute the strawberry-milk mix.
 
Variations

 
 
> EGG CREAM HISTORY
 
> MARCH 15TH IS NATIONAL EGG CREAM DAY

[2] Mix strawberry preserves into seltzer: It’s that easy (photo © Bonne Maman | Facebook).

While most sweet fruits don’t pair seamlessly with sushi, mango is an exception. Pineapple, which might seem a match in theory, is too acidic and at best complements a heavy flavored fish like mackerel. Others, like kiwi and strawberry, often don’t assert themselves enough.

But the exotic flavors of mango seem to blend with all raw fish, as well as cooked items like shrimp and lobster; and the meaty mango texture has a similar consistency.

If you’re near a Whole Foods Market, check out the sushi bar for three new mango-based rolls:

The menu includes raw, cooked, vegetarian and vegan-friendly sushi. The current executive chef, Takao Iinuma, is a protégé of Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. The creativity filters down: Sushi chefs at different locations create their own specialties. So drop in and take a look.

Fruit sushi is not a conventional Japanese preparation; it’s American fusion. Beyond combining it with seafood, enthusiasts have turned it into dessert.

Anything goes in the fruit department. Some fruits—kiwis, mangoes, peaches, strawberries—are pliant enough to be sliced and draped over nigiri-style rice pads. Others, like apple and pineapple, need to be cut into sticks or diced and added to rolls.

Check out this recipe from Food-Like.com, which cooks the rice in coconut milk for an even richer effect.

Purée fruit as a dipping sauce, and have fun with it.

If you’ve always wanted to make sushi, why not start with dessert sushi? You don’t have to worry about the freshness of the fish—or the expense.

If you’re not the dextrous type, check out the Sushezi, which makes no-fail sushi rolls in a mold—no mat required. While we haven’t tried Sushi Magic, it provides molds for nigiri-style sushi in addition to rolls.
 
WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SUSHI?
Check out our Sushi Glossary: the different types of sushi, related foods and beautiful photos.
  

Go team! Jumbo strawberries dress up as
footballs. Photo courtesy Godiva.

If that’s too rich for your pocket, try making your own, and buy icing in an easy-squeeze tube instead of trying to pipe from a bag.

Here’s how to make chocolate-covered strawberries.
HOW ABOUT THAT PLATE!

We found these plates/platters full of football spirit:

A quick look of what’s available shows artisan American and European distillationns: Badcock from Oregon, Blackwood’s from Scotland, Crop from New York (organic) Effen from Holland, Pearl from Canada, Prairie from Minnesota (organic), Rain Organics (cucumber lime), Skinnygirl from Illinois and perhaps the original, Square One from California (organic), a NIBBLE favorite.

You can also infuse your own cucumber vodka with the easy recipe below.

Whether you’re buying cucumber vodka or plain vodka to infuse your own, don’t go for the cheapest vodka on the shelf—unless it’s Russian Standard or Wódka, both quality vodkas at bargain prices.

Photo courtesy Windsor Restaurants | New York City.

THE 411 ON VODKA

Some people in the spirits business are amused by the lengths to which consumers fall for the marketing of “premium” vodka. Premium, super-premium and ultra-premium are marketing terms, not industry standards.

There isn’t much quality difference between high-priced and lesser-priced vodkas. While both use distillation and carbon filtering to remove impurities, it is largely a question of quality control.

Some producers brag that their vodka is distilled to remove impurities 20, 50, even 100 times. Don’t buy that story. According to an industry professional, vodka is typically distilled with a reflux column still, which produces the equivalent of 3-5 distillations in one pass. The number of distillations isn’t as critical as how carefully the distillation is controlled.

The better vodkas use only the “heart” of the distillation, removing the “head” and “tail,” which contain more impurities. Then, it’s carbon filtered; the carbon removes impurities that cause off flavors and hangovers.

If you can find them, seedless Persian cucumbers or other seedless cucumbers are the best choice here. You’ll save the time and mess of seeding conventional cucumbers.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PEEL, seed, and roughly chop the cucumber. Place into jar.

2. POUR vodka over the cucumber. Seal tightly. Reserve the empty vodka bottle and cap.

3. PLACE in a dark spot for three days up to no longer than two weeks. Strain mixture into reserved vodka bottle and label the bottle to avoid a mix-up.

4. TASTE the cucumber. If you like it, keep it for salads or snacking. Otherwise, discard.

EASY CUCUMBER COCKTAIL RECIPE

You can make this cocktail with cucumber vodka or regular vodka plus pressed cucumber juice, which is how they do it at The Windsor in New York City. They call the cocktail the Half Windsor.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE ingredients in a cocktail shaker.

2. SHAKE and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish and serve.
 
Find more of our favorite cocktail recipes.