Pesto where it is known as "pistou". In contrast with "pesto alla genovese", "pistou" is generally made with olive oil, basil and garlic only: while cheese may be added, usually no nuts are included in a traditional "pistou" because no pine trees grow there to provide the nuts. "Pistou" is used in the typical "soupe au pistou", a hearty vegetable soup with "pistou" flavour. The sauce did not originally contain basil, however; instead, cheese and olive oil were the main constituents. Sometimes almonds are used instead of pine nuts, and sometimes mint leaves are mixed in with the basil leaves. It
Pesto the regions of Liguria, Italy, and Provence, France. It was abundant in this part of Italy, though only when in season, which is why marjoram and parsley are suggested as alternatives when basil is lacking. Ratto mentions Dutch cheese (""formaggio olandese"") instead of pecorino sardo since Northern European cheeses were actually common in Genoa at the time, thanks to the centuries-long commercial trades of the maritime republic. This recipe for "pesto alla genovese" was often revised in the following years (a noted revision by Emanuele Rossi occurred in 1865, only a couple of years after Ratto's "Cuciniera"), and it shortly