Pine nut meticulous person) and are an essential component of Italian pesto sauce; the upsurge in the popularity of this sauce since the 1990s has increased the visibility of the nut in America, primarily on the West Coast. "Torta della nonna" (literally "granny's cake") is a generic Italian dish name that in most families indicates an old family recipe for any kind of cake but often is used for a tart or a pie filled with custard, topped with pine nuts and optionally dusted with icing sugar. "Pignoli" cookies, an Italian American specialty confection (in Italy these would be called "biscotti ai
Pesto are also traditionally added to the dish, boiled in the same pot in which the pasta has been cooked. Pasta, mixed with pesto, has become a well-known dish in the majority of countries today, with countless recipes being posted online for "pesto pasta". It is sometimes used in minestrone. Pesto is sometimes served with sliced beef tomatoes and sliced boiled potatoes. Pesto comes in a variety of recipes, some traditional and some modern, as the very noun "pesto" is a generic term for anything that is made by pounding. The original "pesto alla genovese", the quintessential pesto recipe, is made