"April showers" has been a bit of a misnomer in my area lately. I love a good torrential spring downpour, so I’ve felt a little cheated. But the sunshine and warmth that have taken its place? It's hard to complain about that.

As temperatures rise, there's one particular sauce that embodies the brightness, promise and ease of spring-into-summer: pesto.

Pesto is raw, vegetarian and endlessly versatile—but it delivers big flavor. Every ingredient adds something essential: garlic for punch, cheese for salinity, herbs for color and base flavor, nuts for richness, oil for body. There’s nothing extra, nothing showy: just the perfect balance. Toss it with hot pasta and you’ve got one of Italian cuisine’s most iconic, satisfying dishes.

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In a 2011 Saveur piece, Laura Schenone called pesto "the uncooked, economical pride of Liguria" — a sauce born of poverty and a reliance on gathered........

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