If you start talking about summer sauces made with fresh herbs, there's no doubt pesto reigns as most beloved of all herb sauces. Although Pesto Genovese that originated in Italy is most often made with basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and pine nuts, the definition of pesto has expanded to include ground sauces made with many types of vegetables or herbs. Pesto is versatile as a pasta sauce, spread, dip, or flavoring for soup or veggies, so if you haven't made pesto yet, this is the summer you really should be trying it!

Photo of Basil Pesto (in progress)
from Sidewalk Shoes.
Classic Pesto with Basil
Basil grows best when it's harvested regularly, and Pam at Sidewalk Shoes is getting a start on this year's basil crop by making Basil Pesto, using a recipe from Mark Bittman to check the proportions. Of course, you don't really need a recipe because Pesto is something that's always made to taste, but the Basil Pesto at The Perfect Pantry sounds like a good combination to me, with a tiny bit of mayo for a more creamy pesto. If you want to make basil pesto but don't have a food processor, Heidi at 101 Cookbooks can tell you How to Make Pesto Like an Italian Grandmother (by hand of course!) Jo at 80 Breakfasts has another version of Classic Pesto made without a food processor. Bee from Jugalbandi makes Basil and Almond Pesto, with lots of pesto-making tips in this post. Finally, at Farmgirl Fare, Susan makes Purple Basil Pesto, which looks delicious on homemade pizza.

Photo of Vegan Basil Mint Parsley Pesto
from Karina's Kitchen.
Pesto with Basil and Other Ingredients:
Basil is also good combined with other ingredients to make pesto. Karina adds mint and parsley for her Vegan Basil Mint Parsley Pesto at Karina's Kitchen (pictured above.) When she wants to make pesto and has only a bit of basil, Clotilde from Chocolate and Zucchini makes Strawberry Basil Pesto. The Trapanese Pesto at Cooking with Amy has basil, mint, tomatoes, and a few surprise ingredients. At Ms. Adventures in Italy, Sara has Almond, Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Pesto.

Other Herb Pestos
There are really an endless combination of herbs that can be used to make pesto. Gluten Free Bay makes Cilantro Lemon Pesto and serves it over gluten-free brown rice pasta. There's also a tasty-looking Cilantro Pesto at Kath Eats Real Food. Karina's Kitchen shares a Recipe Template for Vegan Pesto where you can use any variety of herbs in a dairy-free pesto. Pille at Nami Nami makes Wild Garlic Pesto with wild garlic she finds growing by her house in Estonia. Elana's Pantry has Parsley Pesto with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Got No Milk makes Grilled Chicken Salad with Tarragon Pesto. Finally, when I had a surplus of sage last summer, I made Sage-Pecan Pesto which was delicious on vegetables.

Photo of Garlic Scape Pesto
from Umami Girl/
Garlic Scape Pesto
Garlic scapes are green garlic shoots that appear in the spring, so you may not be able to make this type of pesto until next year but I'm including it because so many good cooks love using garlic scapes to make pesto. Pictured above is Garlic Scape Pesto from Umami Girl, who says she can't get enough of it. Famous cookbook author and blogger Dorie Greenspan also loves to make Garlic Scape Pesto, and points out that garlic scapes are best eaten raw, so pesto is the perfect use for them. Dorie's garlic scape pesto looked so good, Pam at Sidewalk Shoes also made Dorie Greenspan's Garlic Scape Pesto and shows how she froze it in ice cube trays.

Photo of Asparagus Pesto with Pasta
from Simply Recipes.
Pesto with Vegetables
You can make pesto with nearly any type of vegetable, so let your imagination run wild as some of these food bloggers have done. The gorgeous photo above is Asparagus Pesto with Pasta from Simply Recipes. Alanna makes Beet Pesto at A Veggie Venture, and serves it on crostini with goat cheese. At Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, Susan makes Artichoke Pesto Pasta Salad that looks wonderful. At Audrey Needs More Wooden Spoons, there's a version of Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto that looks like it would be perfect on pasta. Another pesto with pasta is the Wild Leek Pesto with Penne at Closet Cooking. Finally, Green Bean Pesto served with salmon looks like a perfect dinner at Just Braise.

Photo of Nettle Pesto
from Real Epicurean.
Unique Pesto Varieties
Of course, a big part of the fun of pesto is that you can make it with anything, but how about using stinging nettles? I really wish I could taste the Nettle Pesto (pictured above) from Real Epicurean. It must taste good, because Sassy Radish also made Pesto with Stinging Nettles and Ramps. Another very unique pesto is the Radish Leaf Pesto at Chocolate and Zucchini, a good way to keep the radish leaves from being wasted. You can also find Pesto with Radish Greens at Delicious Days.

Whew! That's a lot of pesto options, but the truth is I've barely scratched the surface of the different pesto variations that food bloggers have written about. Do you have a good recipe for pesto? If so, please share in the comments.

More Sauces of Summer Featured on BlogHer:
Chimichurri Sauce
Greek Tzatziki Sauce

Kalyn Denny also blogs at Kalyn's Kitchen, where her focus is on low-glycemic recipes using fresh ingredients. Kalyn loves to make pesto of all types, but Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto is probably her all-time favorite.