There's a vaguely Jamie Oliver based pesto that I sometimes make where you put almonds, cherry tomatoes, and plenty of raw garlic, chilli and fresh basil in a blender, and then eat it with pasta. Depending on the exact proportions you might or might not need olive oil, but I find that enough oil comes out of the almonds to make it a sensible consistency. IIRC Jamie wants you to do something slightly complicated involving blanching the pesto with the pasta water, but I find that makes it way too watery, and it's fine to just drain the pasta in the normal way and mix the sauce in with the hot pasta, that cooks it quite enough.

If you want more protein, grated parmesan or equivalent hard cheese is friends with the pesto. And / or you can use it as a sauce for pasta with fake chicken chunks, instead of just a sauce for plain pasta.