The Briny Ingredient That Will Kick Your Pesto Up A Notch

When you need to whip up a quick, crowd-pleasing, and nutritious meal with just a few pantry ingredients, look no further than pesto. Derived from the Italian verb for "to pound, to crush," per Online Etymology Dictionary — the dish consists of a simple preparation of fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, cheese, and pine nuts that was first concocted in Genoa, Italy — according to La Cucina Italiana. While widely beloved atop pasta dishes, even the most simple pesto can be used like a condiment, dressing up everything from crusty bread to soups with its vibrant green color and bright flavor.

But perhaps the best thing about pesto is the interchangeability of its ingredients. It can be effectively executed with various substitutions, including cilantro, parsley, or greens for basil, almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts and nutritional yeast in place of cheese. But one interesting add-in caught our eye, and it's endorsed by none other than the EVOO queen, Rachel Ray. You probably have them in your fridge right now, and it's their time to shine!

According to the Rachael Ray Show website, Ray incorporates capers in her nut-free pesto recipes to "add a little extra salt or texture." Not everyone can eat nuts; besides, they can be expensive (particularly pine nuts). But you'll need something to make your pesto's pasty consistency more multi-dimensional. A little goes a long way with capers — they pack a wallop of brine and subtle bitter and floral flavors. They're tiny and green and come in cute little jars, but what are capers, anyway?

The Guardian (via Rachel Roddy) explains that capers are actually the unopened flower buds of the caper plant. If they're left to bloom, the pollinated flowers eventually develop into the larger caperberry, which is also harvested but less commonly sold in the States, The Guardian adds. The magic happens during the curing process: capers are brined for up to ten days, which tempers their bitter notes and develops their unique, complex flavor and soft snap — which, per The Guardian, might be what drove the denizens of the Pantelleria, Sicily to start putting them in their pesto.

Fast forward to today's kitchen, and you'll find many delicious reasons to experiment with caper pesto. Rachel Roddy's pasta with pesto pantesco showcases regional delights — capers, almonds, and Pecorino cheese atop hearty spiraled fusilli. If you prefer tubular pasta, try paccheri with caper pesto by La Cucina Italiana featuring raisins and wild fennel.

Of course, Giada De Laurentiis wouldn't steer you wrong with what she called her favorite sandwich on Today — which boasts not only fresh basil pesto but also fried capers and heaps of mortadella. On her website Giadzy, you can also purchase Kazzen pesto with capers and almonds — bursting with flower buds hand-picked by three brothers from Pantelleria, the caper isle itself. But you should make it from scratch for the ultimate flavor and freshness. On that note, you might want to specifically seek Italian capers because, as Laurentiis explains, American capers are basically pickles — but the traditional ones are packed dry in sea salt. This way, you'll have deep, savory caper essence to add an exciting new facet to your flavor profiles.