Pesto

Pesto or more fully pesto alla genovese ( Italian: [ˈpesto alla dʒenoˈveːse, -eːze]; lit. 'Genoese pesto') is a paste made of crushed garlic, pine nuts, salt, basil leaves, grated cheese such as Parmesan or pecorino sardo, and olive oil. It originated in the Italian city of Genoa, and is used to dress pasta and flavour genoese minestrone soup. The name pesto is the past participle of the Genoese verb pestâ (Italian: pestare), meaning 'to pound', 'to crush': the ingredients are "crushed" or ground in a marble mortar through a circular motion of a wooden pestle. The same Latin root gives us pestle. There are other foods called pesto, but pesto by itself usually means pesto alla genovese.

Source: Wikipedia