Back in 1946, when authentic Italian food was still exotic in this country, Sunset Magazine published Angelo Pellegrini’s recipe for Classic Basil Pesto. Pellegrini's pesto recipe gave no exact amounts, just a little bit of this, a little bit of that. In June 1959, Sunset returned to pesto with a more standardized recipe, which I have reproduce here. Many years passed after this 1959 publication and pesto sauce was still unknown by most American cooks, partly because fresh basil was not available in the US markets until the mid-1970’s. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that pesto finally came into its own, again with the help of Sunset, and has since become a favorite of chefs and home cooks alike.