Herb-Crusted Sautéed Salmon Fillets with Pistou

Piston is the southern French version of Genoa’s pesto. Pesto is made with basil and garlic but also contains pine nuts, sometimes walnuts, and usually Parmigiano Reggiano. Pistou, a mixture often dolloped into vegetable soup, usually contains neither cheese nor nuts but frequently contains tomatoes. Purists insist that pistou (and pesto) be made by hand in a large mortar, but most of us don’t have a mortar, much less one large enough to do the job efficiently. So I give in an