The Quick Pasta Sauce That Starts With A Bunch Of Greens And Your Blender

Summer heat calls for lighter fare, like fresh sauces with herbs plucked from flower pots or grocery store aisles. Few are as easy and refreshing as pesto, a versatile green sauce packed with flavor. While classic pesto is made by crushing basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and salt into a paste with a mortar and pestle, its definition has expanded in modern times. Much to the chagrin of Italy's basil-growing region, pesto is now synonymous with any green, herbaceous, and nutty sauce made in a food processor or blender. We asked Kevin O'Donnell, the chef and owner of Rhode Island-based "freestyle Italian" restaurant Giusto, to offer suggestions for customizing your own pesto.

First, you want to use sweet and fresh herbs, like chives, cilantro, dill, mint, parsley, and tarragon. "I'm a big fan of cilantro and dill together or the traditional Italian flavors of basil and parsley together," O'Donnell shares. "If the herb tastes good with whatever you are serving it with, I say go for it!" He does, however, advise against using stronger-flavored, more robust herbs like oregano, rosemary, and sage.

The one thing O'Donnell won't compromise on? Olive oil quality. "If you don't have good olive oil," he says, "then I would actually prefer a neutral oil with no flavor like grapeseed, avocado, or algae."

Leafy greens can also enhance your pesto and provide easy ways to up your veggie intake. "I like to use greens like kale, broccoli rabe, and arugula to make pesto as well and could see most other greens working too," O'Donnell says. If you're not interested in straying from a classic but still want to try something new, toss in some zucchini for the perfect summer pasta (but cook it first!).

To give your pesto some Middle Eastern flair, O'Donnell suggests using tahini or pureed chickpeas with garlic, cilantro, dill, and parsley. "The tahini or pureed chickpeas help give some viscosity to the sauce and makes it stick easier to the pasta," he explains. The nutty flavor from the sesame seeds is a play on the pine nuts found in traditional pesto. This combination pairs beautifully with braised lamb.

After all, pesto isn't just for pasta — serve it with roasted veggies or meat, spread it on sandwiches, enjoy its fresh flavors with burrata on toast, drizzle it on eggs, or even turn it into a salad dressing. It can also be adapted to other cuisines, too; you can break pesto from its Italian confines with spicy Thai basil noodles. Whether you're a basil-and-pine nut purist or open to trying something new, make pesto your sauce of the summer.