Pesto: The Modern Mother Sauce: More Than 90 Inventive Recipes That Start with Homemade Pestos

by Leslie Lennox

Most people are familiar with classic Italian pesto, a green sauce made from basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt, and olive oil. But Leslie Lennox, founder of the award-winning artisanal pesto company Hope's Gardens, shows us that pesto need not be limited to its original ingredients--and that creative pestos can serve as building blocks for all manner of flavorful dishes, just like any good "mother sauce."

In Pesto: The Modern Mother Sauce, Lennox introduces readers to a new way to think about pesto. In the right proportion, almost any combination of plants, garlic, nuts, cheese, seasoning, and oil can make a delicious sauce--especially when you're using what's on hand, what's local, and what's in season.

Lennox offers up several favorite pesto recipes, and then takes these simple sauces a step further. They serve as the building blocks for 97 kitchen-tested recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and more. From risotto and ramen to chicken fajitas and swordfish kebabs, everything tastes better with pesto!

Genres: Cookbooks

224 pages, Hardcover

Published May 14, 2019

Reviews

[Karen Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feeling very inspired! This book has given me so many ideas of not only creative ways to use pesto in recipes, but to get inventive with the sauce ingredients itself...... Using a basic principle and ratio of plant, oil, nut, cheese or cheese alternative, garlic and seasoning..... the varieties are endless! Can’t wait to start creating! 🌱

[Prima Seadiva · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Library book.
Well laid out with good photos and illustrations. Taking the premise from classic French cooking that there are mother sauces which once learned provides the cook with a basis for many other sauces and uses, the author does this with pesto.
She also describes and uses the other mother sauces she terms "modern". These include yogurt, hot or pepper, herb and tahini. Like pesto, they have been around for centuries in other cultures and used in the US since the 60's thanks to adventuresome food hippies and the natural foods movement.

Pesto in Italian means crushed or pounded; it has become associated with basil here.
The author provides a basic formula plus recipes and suggestions for other combinations.

If you have never made your own pesto I think it is useful. They are easy to make and freeze well for winter use. She also includes her freezing methods. For myself when freezing I do not include cheese but add that later. Cheese not frozen tastes better and this also gives the flexibility of using in vegan recipes. I don't always use nuts either.
If you have found yourself with an abundance of spinach, parsley, lovage or arugula in your garden you may have already discovered other pestos.

She also has a number of recipes incorporating pesto of various types. They seemed okay, in line with today's trends of sheet pan, many spices, meaty, some vegetarian and vegan. Most are designed for four servings.
A bit off the book's main topic, but as to classic mother sauces, at the least knowing how to make a basic roux and then use in sauces is most useful in the kitchen. In particular a bechamel sauce is quick, easy to make and does not have to be super rich. The author does describe the traditional mother sauces and refers to other books for recipes but all are easy to find online.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love pesto, so when I saw this cookbook I knew I wanted to check it out. Lennox gives information on how she started her pesto business and also about mother sauces and why she thinks pesto is the modern mother sauce that can be the foundation or an addition to many dishes. She gives a basic pesto recipe, ways to vary it, several ways to use pesto in salad dressings, and tips on growing basil at home. Then she gets into the recipes - some use pesto as more of a garnish, but many include pesto in a larger way. There are several recipes I'd like to try and I have a TON of basil at home in my garden, so this cookbook was good timing.

[Shipshapeeatworthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the beginning of 2020, I treated myself to a few new cookbooks -- Pesto: The Modern Mother Sauce by Leslie Lennox (owner of Hope's Garden) was one of the titles I bought. As a fan of pesto, I'm always looking to expand my pesto repertoire and, Lennox's cookbook seemed like just the book to help me achieve this. Thinking along the lines of the original "mother sauces" from French gastronomy (bechamel, espagnole, veloute, hollandaise, and tomat), in the introduction, Lennox looks at how others, like Samin Nosrat, expand on and have begun to redefine what a mother sauce looks like for modern cooks. What is crucial for Lennox's purposes is that as Nosrat defines the "modern mother sauces" as: yogurt, pepper (hot sauce/chili sauce), herb, tahini, and pesto; Lennox presents the purpose of her book: "Unlike those early mother sauces, this one can come from your backyard, reduce waste, and deliver healthy, nutritious vegetables into your diet in delicious and surprising ways."(13)

The cookbook is organized into two parts -- basics of pesto making and recipes that use pesto. I really appreciate that while Lennox offers a guide for home cooks to follow, she also encourages experimentation too. There is a variety to the recipes which use pesto: from eggs and toast to appetizers, pizza, pasta (and more!). While the pesto itself is vegetarian (or vegan depending on what ingredients you use), the recipes using pesto offer a range from vegetarian options to ones that use meat, fish, and poultry. Leslie's husband, Dave, also gives detailed and invaluable information about growing your own basil at home. There's a glossary of important culinary terms as well as "worksheets" for jotting down personal combinations you might create. What Pesto: The Modern Mother Sauce offers is a compendium on pesto.

In some ways, this has been the perfect book for home cooking during the pandemic. I find I rely on her basic "how to" ratios for making pesto when I want to make the most of the ingredients I've got on hand -- no cheese or nuts? No problem! Lennox advocates for the home cook to be thoughtful and resourceful, which allows them to create a pesto to suit their needs and tastes. Lennox outlines the 6 basic components of pesto (3 of which -- the nuts, cheese, and garlic -- are optional) and she provides lists of ingredients for the plant, cheese/cheese substitute, oil, nuts/seeds, and acid/seasoning components. With the information she provides, it seems that the combinations for making pesto are limitless. If this sounds overwhelming, Lennox also offers "tried and true" combinations as well. Her recipes for kale pesto as well as for spinach pesto are my go-to because the recipes help to stretch out the spinach or kale over a few meals. Kale can often have a tougher texture for my young daughter, so I find that by incorporating the kale into a delicious pesto helps to make it more palatable for her.

Each week I make a big jar of pesto that I use throughout the week in sandwiches, pasta, dressings, as well as on pizza. A spoonful of pesto (or two) added to a soup or sauce also gives whatever you're making more flavour. And, while Lennox offers a wealth of recipes, I've found that I prefer to add the pesto to whatever I'm already making. For example, I found that adding a generous dollop of pesto to roast potatoes adds flavour and nutrients than just serving them with sour cream. Also, I take the opportunity to make my own pesto now, rather than using store bought as is called for in other cookbooks. I find that the recipe for Classic Basil Pesto from the Lennox's book tastes great with my daughter's favourite pizza scroll recipe. And who could resist a luscious swipe of pesto on a hunk of fresh sourdough or as a base on avocado toast?

Pesto: The Modern Mother Sauce is such an excellent kitchen resource! Sharing the task of making pesto with my young daughter is a great way of showing her how to combine different flavours and ingredients, as well as teaching her new kitchen skills. I appreciate how Lennox encourages home cooks to use what is in season/local when making and enjoying pesto. I find I'm continually inspired by Lennox's enthusiasm for how versatile and delicious pesto is.

Please note that this review is an excerpt of one posted to www.shipshapeeatworthy.wordpress.com

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of really interesting variations on how to make pesto and then recipes to use your pestos in.

[Sean Maden · Rating 5 out of 5]

1) "Pesto: The Modern Mother Sauce: More Than 90 Inventive Recipes That Start with Homemade Pestos" by Leslie Lennox and Linton Hopkins

This was my top pick of 2024 in cookbooks because it (A.) got me to clean out my fridge, and (B.) rekindled my interest in home gardening. With gorgeous pictures, thoughtful details, and lots of curated recipes, Pesto drives to the fundamentals of not only what makes a pesto but also what makes pesto so delicious. Learn about different types of pesto, what differentiates pesto from tapenade, and much more. Do you have an older blender you have not been using or are you eying that new food processor for your next gift purchase? Want to start eating healthier, planning meals, and get into home cooking? If any of these applies even a little, this is a book you should consider picking up. A gentle warning: while I am fully on board with the more garlic heavy recipes in this volume, these may prove a little too much for some.

Tags: cooking, Sean’s Picks, Year in Text 2024, food prep, pesto, Mediterranean diet

Lennox, Leslie and Linton Hopkins. "Pesto: The Modern Mother Sauce: More Than 90 Inventive Recipes That Start with Homemade Pestos." Agate Publishing. Evanston, IL. 2019.

Read on my Year In Text 2024: https://metamaden.github.io/inst/blog...