Eating pesto in Genoa is a ritual that cannot be missed. The search area can be large, and spill over beyond the borders of the city, but just wandering among the alleyways of the historic center you’ll come across unforgettable aromas of the simple recipe: Genoese Basil DOP (Protected Designation of Origin), Italian pine nuts, aged Parmigiano Reggiano, pecorino sardo, Vessalico garlic (from Imperia), coarse sea salt, and DOP extra virgin olive oil from the “Ligurian Riviera.” These are the ingredients as dictated by the Pesto World Championship, the mortar-and-pestle pesto competition that takes place in the Ligurian regional capital every two years.
But it hasn’t always been this way—and even today, there are those who make pesto their own way. This is because it’s a recipe of the poor, developed in the homes of housewives who had to make do with what they had on hand. Also, because it was codified in relatively recent times, even if its origins seem to date back to the Roman era.
The first person to mention the aromatic sauce in a cookbook was the gourmet Giovanni Battista Ratto. His 1836 book, La Cuciniera Genovese, lists marjoram and parsley, Dutch cheese and butter among the ingredients. Over time, butter was eliminated and the ingredients were brought back to the seven listed above, which reveal a connection with the territory whose culture has been able to protect this sauce—and that today, is working to ensure that Pesto Genovese is recognized as a UNESCO cultural heritage, just like Neapolitan pizza.
Where to eat pesto in Genoa
First stop, Il Genovese
If you only have time for one spot to eat pesto in Genoa, Il Genovese is it. The owner of the restaurant is Roberto Panizza, president of the Palatifini Association, creator and promoter of the World Championship of mortar-and-pestle pesto. Before putting it on gnocchi, trofie and trenette pasta or in minestrone soup, pesto must be tasted alone or spread on a slice of bread, so here, the aromatic green sauce is served to each customer as an appetizer first, in a small marble mortar. The ingredients are the traditional ones and the recipe is pure alchemy, the result of years and years of intimate relationship between mortar and pestle.
Trattoria Rosmarino, tradition revisited
Since 2010, the Trattoria Rosmarino can be found a stone’s throw from Piazza De Ferrari, in an alleyway that descends toward the historic city center’s tangle of streets. Born from the cooperation between Alessandro Massone in the kitchen and Felice Zingarelli at the front of the house, the restaurant has managed, in just a few years, to become one of the best places to sample Genoese cuisine. The common thread is tradition, slightly revisited and made to coexist with reductions, veloutés and crunchy textures that are never trivial or predictable. The pesto has a color that is as intense as its aroma, even if it is not made with a mortar and pestle: to meet demand, they chose to use a blender, “with blades that do not overheat so as not to cook the basil.” The basil comes from a small farm in Celle Ligure, and the other ingredients are pecorino sardo, 36-month aged Parmesan, Vessalico garlic, Italian pine nuts, Ligurian Riviera oil and coarse salt.
The culinary revival of Trattoria dell’Acciughetta
The story of Trattoria dell’Acciughetta is one of an urban revival as well as a culinary one. The trattoria, opened by Giorgia Losi in 2015, faces Piazza Sant’Elena, but one of its windows overlooks Via Prè, a continuation of Via del Campo and a melting pot of humanity that was very dear to the famous Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio De Andrè. Today, area’s role as a cultural hub continues, and it’s here that one of the most interesting restaurants on the city’s culinary scene opened its doors and, within a few years, managed to gain a spot in the Gambero Rosso Guide to Italian Restaurants. Simone Vesuviano, the 23-year-old who can be found at the stove, defines his dominion as a laboratory rather than a kitchen. Experimentation is at home here, but it starts from the solid foundations of tradition and in-depth technical knowledge. Their pesto demonstrates this: they use it not only to flavor trofie pasta, but also, more creatively, in other dishes that occasionally appear on the menu, such as gnocchi alla romana or stuffed pumpkin flowers.
Trattoria da Ugo, home cooking
Home cooking in an environment that feels like home—while still being extremely polished. It’s best to make a reservation for the always-paced Ugo’s which is conveniently located in an alleyway a few steps from the Duomo and not far from the Old Port. The menu features a rotation of traditional dishes and other must-try’s like Genoese tripe, minestrone, stuffed anchovies, fried mixed fish or cuttlefish alla Ugo. Plus, of course, pesto, to accompany the green spinach fettuccine or the classic trofie, both served with potatoes and green beans. Here the sauce is made in a blender using the traditional ingredients, and is prepared by Ugo’s daughter Patrizia, who also creates the desserts.
Il Mangiabuono, an old-school trattoria
Not far from Ugo’s sits an old-school trattoria that has been able to keep up with the times. Il Mangiabuono is informal, without too many frills, and has outdoor tables along the alleyway during the summer and a well-stocked wine list that can be compared to that of a good osteria. The menu features typical dishes, made ad hoc to explore the history of Genoese gastronomic traditions, from trofie or gnocchi al pesto to the seafood salad called cappon magro, stuffed veal breast, and liver all’aggiadda. No reservations are required; if you have to wait, while away the time with a glass of white wine at the counter or outside, weather permitting.
Trattoria Da Maria, an icon of Genoese history
This is truly a trattoria that has helped write the history of Genoa. Until ten years ago, the legendary Maria was herself at the stove, buy today, her daughter-in-law and her grandson Matteo carry on the business. Here, time seems to have stopped: spartan furniture, paper tablecloths, menus photocopied on a sheet of printer paper, and an open kitchen, though not in the modern sense of the term. (It’s open simply because the room with the stove is attached to the dining room.) The customer won’t see chef’s hats and julienne cuts, but instead large pots that simmer with typical Genoese dishes like u tuccu (meat sauce), stocco accomodato or salt cod, and minestrone seasoned with pesto. Matteo makes the latter with basil, pine nuts, garlic, oil, salt, and Parmesan, but without pecorino. And he uses neither mortar nor blender, but rather, “tears” the ingredients into tiny bits.