Pesto has been pointed out that pesto is essentially a combination of flavourful leaves, oily nuts, hard cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt and lemon juice; any ingredients meeting this description can produce a pesto-like condiment. "Pesto alla siciliana", sometimes called "pesto rosso" (red pesto), is a sauce from Sicily similar to "pesto alla genovese" but with the addition of tomato, almonds instead of pine nuts, and much less basil. "Pesto alla calabrese" is a sauce from Calabria consisting of (grilled) bell peppers, black pepper and more; these ingredients give it a distinctively spicy taste. Outside Italy, the household name "pesto" has
Italian cuisine with use of tomato are spread in all Italy. Italians like their ingredients fresh and subtly seasoned and spiced. In Northern Italy though there are many kinds of stuffed pasta, polenta and risotto are equally popular if not more so. Ligurian ingredients include several types of fish and seafood dishes. Basil (found in pesto), nuts, and olive oil are very common. In Emilia-Romagna, common ingredients include ham (prosciutto), sausage (cotechino), different sorts of salami, truffles, grana, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and tomatoes (Bolognese sauce or ragù). Traditional Central Italian cuisine uses ingredients such as tomatoes, all kinds of meat, fish, and pecorino cheese.