Good with a Few Modifications We made 1/2 batch and halved all ingredients except we used only 1 cup wine and 2 quarters of only one lemon. For the tomotoes after quartering we mushed them a little in the strainer to squeeze out the seeds. We also rinsed the capers. We simmered the ingredients (except lemon) for about 20 minutes then added the 2 lemon quarters for the last 10 minutes. We liked this recipe a lot with these modifications. Pros: Liked olives very much in this sauce Cons: Are lemons really necessary
We loved this! It supper easy...a little bit lemoney will probably cut back on the lemons next time but very tasty. Planning on making it with Salmon this week.
The bitterness is coming from the lemon rinds - if you cook the sauce for longer than recommended the bitterness is really going to come out. It is probably best to reduce the amount of liquid used in the first place to reduce cooking time or add the lemons toward the end of the cooking. Three cups of wine seems like a lot to me too. Also be sure to rinse the capers or they will add more tang than expected. Hope these suggestions help.
This sauce was fabulous! Since I only had enough cherry tomatoes to make a half batch and based on others comments I only used 1 cup wine and 1 lemon. After simmering the sauce was a little bitter so I added 1/2 tsp. sugar. Perfect! We'll make this one again and again.
Will make again and again. I did cut down on the lemon after reading the reviews also added some chicken and served over whole wheat pasta - delish! Next time I think I will serve it over fish.
I had high hopes for this dish but it turned out terrible! My first hint that the "sauce" might not turn out was when I added the wine. Three cups is a lot! I added 2 cups instead. The lemons were the same. Three seemed like it would overwhelm the tomatoes and garlic. I added 2. I allowed the "sauce" to simmer for MUCH longer than the recommended 25 minutes. It reduced but instead of tasting rich and delicious it was bitter and briny. The citrus in the lemons paired with all that wine totally took over. It was impossible to taste the tomatoes or anything else. No amount of Parmesan could turn it around. It looked wonderful but my husband and I were unable to stomach it. I am usually able to make anything edible but this one was a throw away.
I haven't made this sauce but I'm sorry to hear the disappointed comments. This sounds a lot like Spaghetti alla Puttanesca. You may want to give that a try instead. Here's a link to a recipe that I haven't personally used but is nearly identical to my Italian husband's delicious version: http://racheleats.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/happy-together/
Not a fan favorite as a recently diagnosed T2 diabetic I've been searching around for healthy homemade pasta sauces. While this one is very healthy it's not very well put together. First it takes a long time to quarter 6 cups of cherry tomatoes. Second it takes much longer to reduce down into a real sauce than the recipe suggests. Third the sauce is far to acidic and tangy to really be palatable. I didnt care for it and my wife didnt like it at all. I realized that at the last minute and tried to balance it out with baking soda bonito flakes and extra spices but I just couldnt overcome the ridiculous amount of lemon flavor. That combined with the olives and capers just made for a mouth-puckering dinner. For the left-overs I had to buy a jar of store bought sauce to pour over it.:( Pros: healthy Cons: took longer than I anticipated taste was too tangy and acidic
I too was excited about this recipe as it combined ingredients I love. But it turned out overly tangy and watery despite simmering for twice the time. I used herbes de provence (from Penzey's!) rather than fresh oregano and that worked well. I will try it again using much less wine and lemon and adding canned whole tomatoes in addition to the cherry tomatoes.