blender? no grazie!

I don't have any recipe to give, but a raccomandation: don't use the blender for the basil, ever! I know it takes a century to make the pesto with a mortar, but there is absolutely no comparison. So take your time and work the basil with the nuts of choice (pine nuts is the original, but one can change that) while you read the posts of CZ, or watch a movie, or talk with a friend. Then add the fat, then whatever you want to add. I don't remember where the garlic is placed because I never eat it, probably at the beginning. The aroma will develop fully only like this.

(the same I read about guacamole, the avocado must be worked on in a mortar that I don't remember how it is called, and never mushed to puree)

I have a link for you, the girl is vegetarian which doesn't suit you, and not into healthy food, but the recipes are good with some change, and the blog nice to read:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/
this is instead the site of the most important magazine of cooking in Italy (a real institution there), english page, with many variations on the classics that could inspire you:

http://www.cucinait.com/World/Home_We.asp