Pesto alla genovese

Allergens at a glance

• UsuallyTree nutsPine nuts (pinoli). Many jarred and catering pestos use cashews or walnuts.
• UsuallyMilkParmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano, plus Pecorino, pounded into the sauce.
• UsuallyGlutenServed on wheat pasta (trofie, trenette), gnocchi or lasagne.
• SometimesEggsGrana Padano, used in some pesto, contains lysozyme, an egg protein.

Usually in the standard recipe. Often in many versions. Sometimes in some kitchens, or a cross-contact risk.

Diets

• Meat-free, but Parmigiano Reggiano and most Pecorino are made with animal rennet.
• Not vegan: two cheeses. Vegan pesto is a separate recipe.
• The sauce itself is gluten-free; the pasta or gnocchi carries the gluten.

Recipes change from kitchen to kitchen. If you have an allergy, confirm every ingredient with the restaurant before you order.

What is pesto alla genovese?

Pesto alla genovese is Genoa's raw basil sauce: young basil leaves pounded with garlic, pine nuts, coarse salt, aged hard cheese and olive oil. Nothing is cooked. The name comes from pestare, to pound, because the traditional method uses a marble mortar and a wooden pestle. For anyone with a nut allergy, it's one of the Italian dishes to watch most closely.

What's in it

• Basil: small-leaved Genovese basil, protected as Basilico Genovese DOP.
• Pine nuts: the classic and only nut in the Genoese recipe.
• Cheese: Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano, plus Pecorino (Fiore Sardo or Romano).
• Garlic, coarse salt and extra virgin olive oil.

In Liguria it's tossed with trofie (short twisted pasta) or trenette (flat ribbons), often with boiled potato and green beans cooked in the same pot. It also goes on gnocchi and lasagne, and into minestrone as a swirl.

Allergens and diets

Assume tree nuts, milk and gluten when pesto comes on pasta. Pine nuts are expensive, so many jarred, frozen and catering pestos swap some or all of them for cashews, and some use walnuts or almonds. A restaurant can make its pesto in house and still start from a bought base. Ask which nuts, and ask to see the label if it's bought in.

There's a labelling gap worth knowing. In the EU and UK, pine nuts are not one of the tree nuts restaurants must declare, so an Italian allergen sheet can list no nuts for a pine nut pesto. In the US they count as a tree nut. If you react to any tree nut, treat pesto as a nut dish until the kitchen tells you otherwise.

Milk comes from the cheeses. Grana Padano usually contains lysozyme, a preservative made from egg white, so egg can appear where you'd least expect it. Strict vegetarians should know that Parmigiano Reggiano is made with animal rennet.

On the menu

Look for trofie al pesto, trenette al pesto or pasta al pesto genovese. Other "pesto" sauces use different nuts: pesto alla trapanese (Sicily) is almonds and tomato, pesto di pistacchi is pistachio, and pesto rosso often adds sun-dried tomato with almonds or cashews. The Italian for tree nuts on an allergen list is frutta a guscio; pine nuts are pinoli.

Last checked 1 November 2026. Spotted something wrong? Email support@inventum.com.au.