Feb 08, 2010
This actually turned out to be a pretty tasty dish. Like many of the other reviewers, I tend to doctor recipes (1. because I do not always have what's called for and 2. just because I can.) The meat marinade I used was about 1/4 cup of lemon juice for a double batch (1 medium lemon, juiced). My sherry was wine, so I chose to use the sherry and red wine vinegar. I doubled the red pepper flakes. I used about 4 cloves of garlic, because more really is better, and then omitted the wine from the sauce mixture. I chose to use chicken broth and again the red wine vinegar in place of the sherry. My only bean option was small white beans, and the basil was limited to some frozen cubes of basil. Fresh may have been a bit more flavorful, but it worked out great. I simmered the liquids and the basil, tomatoes and beans for about 10-15 minutes to cook off some of the liquid. Just for good measure, I included 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp thyme, and 1 tsp red pepper flakes, salt and fresh ground pepper in the simmer. It did taste a bit spicy, but was perfect once everything came together. I did not have arugula on hand, so spinach took its place. It was a great combination, very tasty, a little bit of spice and overall a great weeknight meal that came together fairly quickly.
—CYBERJYN
