Genoa, Italy is said to be the place where pesto originated. Pesto is a sauce that consists of crushed herbs and garlic. Pesto sauce has many variations (e.g., Sicilian version) and uses other ingredients like tomato and basil. Today, you can buy pesto in small jars, and they can either be green or red. Red pesto is typically made with either red bell peppers or sun-dried tomatoes. You can create your own pesto, though! Try this pesto sauce recipe.

Recipe for Pesto Sauce

* 4 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves (washed and dried on paper towels)
* 1/3 cup pine nuts (or walnuts)
* 1 tsp salt
* 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
* 2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
* 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 16-oz. package linguine, spaghetti or farfalle

Brown ground beef. Set aside. Oil bottom of sauté pan with olive oil. Put vegetables and spices and lightly sauté. In a large sauce pain, place tomato sauce, tomato paste and diced tomatoes. Add brown beef and vegetables and let simmer. Add garlic, black pepper, oregano and salt to taste. Simmer over low heat. Turn off heat when sauce comes to a boil. Sauce can be simmered throughout the day for a more spicy flavor. Serve sauce over pasta.

Tomato Sauce Trivia:

- Tomato sauce was a condiment in Aztec Indian food. Basic Mexican sauce consists of tomato sauce and green tomato sauce.

- In the United States, “marinara” describes a simple tomato sauce with herbs (parsley and basil). In other countries, however, “marinara” refers to a seafood and tomato sauce.

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