Pesto (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpesto]) or, in extenso, pesto alla genovese (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpesto ˈaːlla genoˈveːse]), is a sauce originating in Genoa, the capital city of Liguria, Northern Italy. It traditionally consists of crushed garlic, European pine nuts, coarse salt, basil, Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan cheese) and pecorino sardo (cheese made from sheep's milk), all blended with olive oil.

Etymology

The name is the contracted past participle of the Genoese verb pestâ (Italian: pestare), which means to pound, to crush, in reference to the original method of preparation: according to tradition, the ingredients are "crushed" or ground in a marble mortar through a circular motion of a wooden pestle. This same Latin root, through Old French, also gave rise to the English noun pestle.

Strictly speaking, pesto is a generic term for anything that is made by pounding, that is why the word is used for several pestos in Italy. Nonetheless, pesto alla genovese ("Genoese pesto") is definitely the most popular pesto both in its native country and in the rest of the world, so that it is largely known as "pesto" par excellence.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pesto (or Paëstum or Pæstum) was a bishopric and remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

History

The diocese was established around 400 AD in Pesto, the Italian name of the Ancient Greco-Roman city of Paestum.

In gained territory in 600 from the suppressed Diocese of Agropoli and again in 750 from the suppressed Diocese of Sala Consilina.

In 1100 it lost territory to establish the the Roman Catholic Diocese of Capaccio (presently Vallo della Lucania).

As the city declined and was to be abanoned, the bishopric was suppressed in 1160, its territory being reassigned to its daughter, the Diocese of Capaccio.

Residential Bishops

(very incomplete; all Roman Rite)

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric in 1966.

It has had the following incumbents, both of the fitting lowest (episcopal) and intermediary (archiepiscopal) ranks :

Pesto may refer to :