cover image Pesto Manifesto

Pesto Manifesto

Lorel Nazzaro. Chicago Review Press, $6.95 (110pp) ISBN 978-1-55652-028-0

Nazzaro's ""manifesto'' proves yet again that too much of a good thing is still too much. Pesto is one of the simplest and best pasta embellishments. Since leftover pesto is too good to discard, recipes like pesto bread, an alternative to garlic bread, are welcome. A few dishes make moderately interesting use of pesto (stuffed winter squash, smothered rabbit, tortellini, vegetables and fish, and a couple of salad dressings), but creativity runs awry with pesto hot dogs and Ritzy pesto (Ritz crackers topped with crunchy peanut butter, catsup, pesto and red onion). Many of the recipes are merely standard fare with a pesto enhancement: lentil soup, meat loaf, potato salad, guacamole, gazpacho and salsa. There is even a cheesecake with two teaspoons of pesto. Determined to ``pestocize,'' amateur cook Nazzaro recommends that certain leftovers, ``often found, several days later, unwanted and dried out in the refrigerator,'' will benefit from a pesto garnish. As with too many other suggestions advanced here, this sounds like a waste of good pesto. (March)