Thursday, February 3, 2022

Trader Joe's Pesto Rosso

I'm not a fan of traditional pesto. For years, I thought it was one of the spices used in the mixture that turned me off, but some time ago, I realized that most regular pestos use pine nuts as a base. Pine nuts have always revolted me for some reason. Sure enough, every non-pine nut-based pesto I've tried since has been a thumbs up for me, this one included.

It's tomato-based, and there's parmesan cheese, cashew, and carrot puree in the mix. The spice blend includes basil, garlic, and lemon juice. It's an interesting flavor—sorta tangy, savory, and acrid, with hints of nuttiness and earthiness underneath. Goes well with pasta. There are some other serving suggestions on the jar that we haven't tried yet, including pizza and soup.

The sauce is thick and dense. Just a few spoonfuls are enough to coat a surprising amount of pasta. It's mostly smooth. No chunks of anything in there, although it's somewhat lumpy until you distribute it evenly across many pieces of pasta.


$2.49 for the jar. Would go great with crackers and cheese. We'd maybe buy it again to have on standby with a charcuterie board or something fancy like that, but I don't think it would ever be a day-to-day go-to kind of condiment for me. Although, I kinda wanna make grilled cheese with fontina, gruyere, or havarti and pair it with this. Maybe goat cheese?


Product of Italy. Three and a half stars a piece from Sonia and me.

Bottom line: 7 out of 10.

5 comments:

  1. Is this a new product? I don't think I've ever noticed it at TJ's. I've had the one from Aldi, which I've found to be a nice break from regular pesto, though not quite as versatile imo.

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  2. You might have pine nut mouth!! https://www.bonappetit.com/story/pine-nut-mouth-syndrome

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  3. Unrelated to this (but now I'm going to try it), you should get the veggie glass noodles that are in the new frozen items section. I tried them and really enjoyed them but I'm curious as to what you think!

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