I tried to follow this to the tee, just to taste the original recipe. And it was GOOD. It didn't blow me away, but I packaged up the two extra servings and will certainly enjoy them for lunch this week. In my personal tastes opinion, it could have used some crushed red pepper or lemon juice or some sort of "binder" to ensure everything came together at the end. I would have also added another 1/2 cup of the olives to give it that perfect pungency. It was so divine when I would get a small taste of olive. The fresh basil was perfect. I actually added more at the last minute because it just didn't look green enough. Probably amounted to about 2/3 cup. I only cooked it all in 1 tbsp. of EV olive oil. Two just didn't seem necessary, and indeed, I don't think it was needed after tasting the final result. Overall, tasty, good and relatively easy. Adding a spicy sausage or spicy chicken to this (which I did on the side) would have made a wonderful one dish meal. So good with the dry white wine it called for. Nicely done.

I added spicy Italian chicken sausage and red pepper flakes to spice it up and I used a red onion as well..Extra black olives also added more flavor. The goat cheese I used had garlic and herbs in it, that also added more flavor. The basic recipe is fine but not enough flavor.