Jason Stoneburner is an expert pasta maker and chef with decades of experience. He’s the chef and partner at Stoneburner, Sunny Hill, and Stoup Brewing in Seattle.

Jason Stoneburner

Buongiorno! Welcome to Italian 101 with ChefSteps. Let’s start with some vocabulary. Pestare: to pound or to crush. Pesto: an herbaceous, nutty sauce that comes from Genoa and makes homemade pasta totally crushworthy. <a href="https://www.stoneburnerseattle.com/home">Jason Stoneburner’s</a> Fresh Marjoram-Olive Pesto: just the salty-sweet sauce you need for smothering a heaping bowl of Sardinian <a href="/recipes/beautiful-braided-pasta-lorighittas-with-jason-stoneburner">lorighittas</a>.This coarsely ground sauce is an idea match for those braided beauts. Hand-twisted with love, lorighittas have all the right nooks and crannies for holding pockets of citrusy marjoram and earthy olives. Together, they’re bound to give you a good case of abbiocco, the Italian version of a food coma. However, you don’t have to stop with lorighittas. This recipe makes just over a pint of pesto, and you can use the extra in a million different ways. Add a dollop to the tagliere di formaggi (cheese platter) of your dreams; slather it on toast for the perfect tramezzino (sandwich); spoon it over your coniglio (rabbit) or agnello (lamb). Truly, this sauce is delicious with anything, and when you’re eating pesto, la vita è bella no matter what.*OTHER PEOPLE’S IDEAS: A Series From ChefSteps

At ChefSteps, we love to cook. And we love to share our top tips and techniques with you. But we’re not the boss of everything, and we learn from our friends and colleagues every day. That’s why we created Other People’s Ideas, a new series starring our favorite subject experts. These talented folks are here to help you tackle everything from soup dumplings to pizza pie—and have a ton of fun along the way. You down with OPI? Yeah you are. Let’s do this.*

Fresh Marjoram-Olive Pesto and Homemade Lorighittas, With Jason Stoneburner