Sauce – What’s a good substitute for basil in pesto sauce

For cooking in with the pasta, consider red or yellow bell peppers, carrots, cauliflower or other vegetables that hold their color well when heated. Also, you can help this problem a lot with good, flavorful, beautiful garnishes. Even a simple shower of minced parsley goes a long way. Lemon or orange zest is nice too.

Check out this peppery red-wine capellini from my blog, you'll see how the quick, fresh garnish of cherry tomatoes and parsley turns a brown pasta bright (and maybe learn a new way to cook pasta too).

You need enough liquid in the blender for it to work; if the leaves get stuck in blender canister, they won't reach the blades to get ground up. It's mostly an issue of width of the container relative to the size of the basil leaves.

I typically make my pesto in a blender rather than a food processor, but I do the following:

1. Pack a few inches of basil (or other herb) down in the bottom of the blender
2. Add some oil on top to 'wet' it.
3. Blend for a second or two 'til it liquifies.
4. Pack some more basil in there, shoving it down into the liquid, with a few pinches of salt.
5. Blend again.
6. Repeat 4&5 until you have all of the basil in there.
7. Add the nuts & oil until you get the consistency you want.

I pull it at this point, as I get better results freezing it without cheese, and just stir in the grated cheese separately.