Lara Ferri was raised in Reggio Emilia, a city in northern Italy, and moved to Duxbury seven years ago for her husband’s work. She came with her passion for cooking and family recipes. Her beautiful pestos wowed her friends, who, Ferri says, “pushed me into starting a business.’’ So five years ago, she launched Lara’s Cuisine and sells a line of pestos and relishes. Once a week, Ferri creates her specialty, Pesto Di Lara, a bright green, earthy, fresh pesto, oozing with the fragrance and flavor of basil, thick with specks of two-year-old aged Parmesan and raw pine nuts ($12 for 6.7 ounces). Her other rich and luxurious pestos are crafted in Italy by a company in the Piedmont region using Ferri’s own recipes. They’re made in small batches and come in choices that include black olive, tomato, parsley, artichoke, and walnut ($8 for 6.7 ounces). “The ingredients taste better if grown in the Mediterranean, and Italy is in the very center of it,’’ she says. Each pesto is perfect not only for pasta, but for crostini, spread on a sandwich or pizza, or to enliven any summer dish. Available at Fruit Center Marketplace, 10 Bassett St., Milton, 617-696-5274 and 79 Water St., Hingham, 781-749-7332; Foodie’s Market, 46 Depot St., Duxbury, 781-934-5534; The Market at Pinehills, 33 Summerhouse Drive, Plymouth, 508-209-2000; Farmers’ markets in Chatham on Tuesdays, Plymouth on Thursdays, Braintree and Provincetown on Saturdays, and SoWa on Sundays; or go to www.larascuisine.com. ANN TRIEGER KURLAND
Ann Trieger Kurland can be reached at atrieger@comcast.net.