Our Family Recipe Story: How Pesto Joe Began

Our Family Recipe Story: How Pesto Joe Began

Two weeks after I graduated from Seton Hall University, my dad passed away unexpectedly.

I was standing in the kitchen with my mom not long after, making dinner the way we always did, when I opened the freezer and saw one of the last batches of pesto my dad ever made. For a second it felt like he was still there with me.

That freezer is where Pesto Joe began.

This month, California Walnuts featured our story on their blog, "A Family Affair: Carina Castagna and the Pesto Joe Legacy." We wanted to share it here, in our own words, because the story behind the product is the whole reason the product exists.

The Family Recipe Behind Every Jar

People ask us often why our pesto uses walnuts instead of the traditional pine nuts most American pestos are built on. The answer is simple. It is the only way my dad ever made it.

His family is from Capestrano, in northern Italy, where pesto has long been made with walnuts rather than pine nuts. Italian cooking is deeply regional, and northern Italy's version leans on the walnut for a reason. It changes the texture and the flavor entirely, giving the pesto a bite that pine nuts do not.

For us, this is not a twist on a classic. It is the recipe exactly as my father made it, preserved.

What Makes Our Fresh Pesto Different

A lot of store bought pesto is built around seed oils and fillers, which makes it overly smooth and creamy. Real pesto should have some texture to it. It should hold up as a sauce, a spread, or a dip, not just coat noodles and disappear.

That is the standard we hold ourselves to with every batch. Fresh, never shelf stable, made with clean ingredients you can actually pronounce.

The Moment We Are Always Chasing

Our favorite part of this business is still the simplest part. Handing someone a piece of bread with our pesto on it and watching their face when they taste it for the first time. Kids especially light up, and a lot of people tell us it brings them right back to their own family's kitchen, even if their family is not Italian.

That reaction is the entire business model. Quality ingredients for quality time. We focus on the ingredients so you can focus on the people across the table from you.

What Is Next for Pesto Joe

We are proud of our Pirate Pesto partnership with Seton Hall, our alma mater, where a portion of every sale supports student athletes through Onward Setonia. It is a full circle project for us, personally and professionally.

We also have new flavors in development that we cannot share details on yet, but they are coming.

Read the Full Feature

California Walnuts asked us thoughtful questions about family, tradition, and what it takes to keep a recipe alive after the person who created it is gone. You can read the full interview here:

A Family Affair: Carina Castagna and the Pesto Joe Legacy

Thank you to California Walnuts for telling this story with us. My dad would have loved this.

Loss into legacy. More than a sauce, it is a story.