I'm making some pasta at home with a pesto sauce. The recipe I'm referring to asks for some basil leaves to go along with the pine nuts in the food processor. Unfortunately, I can't find basil where I live, and I'm looking for a something else to put instead. What's a good substitute? For that matter, what does basil taste like -- is it like spinach? 
The good news is, you can make pesto almost out of any green using the same process and proportions as with basil -- it just changes the flavor profile. I make pesto-style sauces out of chives, cilantro, kale, arugula... I would not be surprised to find you could make a spinach pesto. Basil tastes very different from spinach, though. 