• kmattingly on April 22, 2013

  I've only done a couple of recipes out of this book but I'm already hooked. The Braised eggs with lamb and tahini was one of the best meals I've had. This is a must have book in your collection.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Roasted sweet potatoes & fresh figs

  • Foodycat on December 05, 2014

    Following the recipe would have taken too many dishes, so I did it as a one-pot: roasted the sweet potatoes in smaller pieces, then added the spring onions, chilli, balsamic vinegar and figs and returned it to the oven for 10 minutes to glaze. It didn't look as pretty as the picture, but the flavours were extremely good.

  • MmeFleiss on March 12, 2017

    I forgot to add the figs and cheese, but this was the biggest hit from last night's party. It was the first time my husband raved over an Ottolenghi recipe.

  • e_ballad on December 15, 2018

    I was a little less excited by this dish than the other reviewers. I found it too sweet & thought that a savoury note would have balanced the dish (maybe walnuts?). The optional goats cheese would be more of an essential element to also provide some contrast.

  • WFPLCleanEating on November 04, 2015

    Delicious! I left out the red chili and the green onions because I forgot to buy them as well as the goat's milk cheese. I used feta instead. It was probably less tasty than Ottolenghi and Tamimi intended, but it was still delicious. The balsamic reduction was divine. (rms-k)

• Na'ama's fattoush

  • clcorbi on July 24, 2017

    Very good salad. I agree that there is much too much dressing--I used buttermilk which I reduced to 1c, but next time I'd reduce even further, and I also don't think a full 1/4c of olive oil is necessary. I did love the cider vinegar here though. I also used pita chips which I'd do again--delicious! I did have to omit the dried mint but I don't think the salad suffered for it. This is a great, quick, refreshing summer salad that I would definitely repeat, with the noted dressing changes.

  • pistachiopeas on June 28, 2017

    Made this again and still loved it. I tried pita chips thrown in at the end this time and it was a great way to do it. My favorite fattoush recipe.

  • stef on August 28, 2018

    This was a last minute decision. I didn't have cucumbers. We really liked it and will plan ahead next time

  • dinnermints on July 15, 2016

    I agree with all - decrease the dressing by at least half. And I'd probably decrease to 1 T cider vinegar as well. I dried some flatbread in the oven and that worked pretty well, but it did get pretty saturated. Overall, fantastic salad, our guests were very excited to eat it.

  • stockholm28 on July 04, 2018

    This is a very refreshing summer salad and it makes a lot. I agree with everyone else; there is too much dressing. I probably used 3/4 of the yogurt-milk mix and about 3/4 of the oil-cider vinegar mix and it was still a bit overdressed. I toasted pita in the oven because mine were not stale. I’d like to try it with pita chips next time as pistachiopeas suggests.

  • mgwalter on October 26, 2014

    Excellent recipe - will make this again and again!

  • Barb_N on November 05, 2014

    I found tomatoes at the Farmer's market- the vendor's tomatoes were the absolute best all summer so I thought I'd try his last of the season. I took the advice of most reviews and decreased the liquid, and used pita chips. I also used the very last of my scraggly basil along with mint and parsley. Yum.

  • Rutabaga on July 02, 2017

    I tried this with pita chips as pistachiopeas did, and it was excellent, definitely a trick to turn to again.

  • Rutabaga on July 06, 2016

    This salad was a big hit, and for such a long list of ingredients it comes together pretty quickly. I used a mix of buttermilk and yogurt for the dressing, and agree with others that it was a little too much. I'd probably cut the dairy down to one cup total. My pitas were not truly stale, despite leaving them out on the counter all day, so I toasted them. Next time, I would toast them longer, until very crisp, and maybe even let them sit out all day after toasting to toughen them up, as they really were over-saturated in the dressing. I can see how pita chips would work well here.

  • Cheri on August 07, 2013

    I really liked this as a cool, refreshing summer side dish. I omitted the garlic, which seemed to work. Briefly toasted the pita, then broke it into pieces that I soaked in the buttermilk. I followed other reviewers comments, and went easy on the quantity of buttermilk, salad nicely dressed in the end, not soupy.

  • westminstr on July 31, 2014

    Made a half recipe with 1/3 cup yogurt and a bit less milk. For the pita, I stirred in pita chips at the end to taste. I loved everything about this salad, especially the sumac!

  • Fiona on January 03, 2014

    Great summer salad, everyone loved it. I used Greek yoghurt and milk as didn't have buttermilk and used about half the quantity suggested. I used tortillas (all I had), which wouldn't soak up as much liquid - toasted them with some sumac and only added at the end.

  • TrishaCP on July 26, 2013

    Agree with Delys77 that there is too much buttermilk but this is a wonderfully fresh tasting salad. (I think the radishes are fabulous here.) I have also done a modified version of this omitting the pita and buttermilk and using some feta instead and that is tasty too. (And you still get moisture from the other dressing ingredients.)

  • owaint on January 03, 2013

    Great Lebanese Salad, the pitta give a really nice crunch to the dish. Keeps well overnight if you fish the pitta out and lay them on top to stop them going soggy.

  • lilham on January 01, 2013

    Very easy and very nice salad. As another reviewer already noted, the salad is very moist. This makes it very nice to serve with plain grains like couscous or rice. I can't find Lebanese cucumbers and used deseeded normal cucumbers instead.

  • Delys77 on January 08, 2013

    Made this to accompany a mezze and it was enjoyed by all. As other reviews have noted it is a bit on the wet side. For me this proved to be a bit challenging so I would suggest pairing back the buttermilk by about half. For me the acid level was fine, but my partner found it to be a bit too much so I might also cut back on the vinegar next time. Over all a very very tasty dish that comes together quickly and easily, and that is very healthy. Serves closer to 3 than 6 I would say.

  • twoyolks on January 27, 2016

    I'd agree with decreasing the amount of the dressing. The pita pieces became saturated. The dressing is good and it has a good mix of vegetables. I particularly appreciated the sumac on top.

  • Hellyloves2cook on October 18, 2012

    very tasty - will try again. Have made several versions of fattoush- this was moister than most.

• Baby spinach salad with dates & almonds

  • k.a.g on June 02, 2013

    A great recipe. The bread and greens are reminiscent of a fattoush, but the dates add an intriguing sweetness and a good contrast to the sharpness of the vinegar. I would recommend either cooking the nuts and bread separately, or watching like a hawk - the almonds are much heavier and will fall to the bottom of the pan and burn if you're not careful. Note to self - DON'T make these croutons in advance... You'll just eat them all.

  • Delys77 on January 14, 2013

    Pg 30 This is definitely a repeat for me. The spinach is very lightly dressed, but the seasoned pita and nuts give the salad plenty of punch. I love the crisp pita along with the tender greens and dates. It has a good balance of sweetness, acidity and salt, but make sure you use unsalted nuts and taste before you season at the end. Partner found it a touch sweet for him so maybe cut the dates much smaller next time and put a few less.

  • Melanie on October 04, 2014

    Make this one again, delicious. I made the pita and almonds at the start of the day to add to salad for dinner (assembling at somebody else's house) however I think they tasted better when warm and fresh so would not make ahead in future.

  • Astrid5555 on September 09, 2014

    My favorite salad from this book so far! Used home-made wholemeal pita bread, and as per suggestion from other reviewers Aleppo pepper flakes, which adds a nice hint of smokiness. I also substituted white balsamic vinegar for the white wine vinegar, which turned out great.

  • lisachile on May 23, 2014

    This salad was excellent. I highly recommend it. Unlike a previous reviewer, I think the almonds added a lot to the salad. I liked the big irregular chunks of almond.

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    As others have mentioned, this salad is truly special. I love marinating the red onion and dates in the vinegar- it lends a quick pickled flavor to the onions and takes away the cloying sweetness of the dates. I did cut the dates into smaller pieces than the recipe called for to better distribute them through the salad. I also loved the fried pita chips with sumac and chile flakes (I used Aleppo pepper). All of these flavors together were stunning. For me, the almonds didn't add much and I think they could be skipped-just make sure to assemble the salad at the last minute so the pita pieces stay crisp.

  • westminstr on March 25, 2013

    Loved this salad. I left out the pita (and cut back a bit on the butter and oil) and it was fine. I chopped the dates so they were similar in size to the almonds. Delicious.

  • Jane on February 01, 2013

    This was a great salad. An inspired combination of tender greens, crispy pita, crunchy nuts. spice elements from sumac & chile flakes, sour notes from lemon juice and sweetness from dates (which I slivered smaller than the recipe suggests). I will definitely make this again. I served it with Roasted butternut squash & red onion with tahini & za'atar on p.36.

  • Rutabaga on October 12, 2014

    This is a great salad. I used sliced almonds, which should be added to the pan a couple of minutes after the pita as they cook faster. I also used Aleppo pepper in place of regular chile flakes. Marinating the onion is a good easy trick to soften the sting. My husband liked the salad except for the dates, but that's only because he's funny about fruit in a non-fruit salad. For the rest of us, the sweetness of the dates provide the perfect balance to the sourness of the sumac and lemon juice. The individual components of the salad can be made ahead and stored separately, then tossed together and dressed at the last minute.

  • ksg518 on October 12, 2017

    This is a great salad with the added bonus of being relatively quick. Softening the onion and dates in vinegar makes all the difference.

  • stockholm28 on December 31, 2013

    Great flavor combination. I will definitely make again.

  • purpleshiny on May 28, 2013

    Very good salad. Substituted broken Cracklebred (gluten free crackers) for the pita pieces as I was making this for a gluten-free friend. Soaking the dates in vinegar does amazing things for their flavor (I'd already been familar with the effect of vinegar on the onions). Served with the Jerusalem Artichoke and Lemon Chicken recipe.

  • hillsboroks on July 21, 2014

    I agree with everyone else that this is a wonderful, special salad. My husband stirred the pita bread and almonds for me while I put the rest of the salad together. I think you could make the pita and almonds ahead of time and throw the salad together just before you want to eat it. We both loved the crunch of the pita and almonds plus the sweetness of the dates against the other flavors. Like others I also used Aleppo pepper with the sumac on the pita and almond mix. I cut the dates into 1/2 inch pieces and that seemed to work well to distribute the bits of sweetness throughout the salad. We served this with Diana Henry's Israeli Chicken with Moghrabiesh, Harissa-Grilled Peaches and Mint from A Change of Appetite. The combination of flavors was spectacular. This is a salad I will make many times again.

  • PinchOfSalt on May 24, 2013

    I used some slivered almonds instead of chopped. So simple and so good! Next time I need to use my biggest skillet to brown the pita. My regular 12-inch skillet was filled to capacity.

  • br22 on September 06, 2014

    Have made this many times and began adding the almonds later than the recipe suggests as I found they were getting a bit too browned by the time the pita was toasted enough. I often use whole wheat pita which works well too.

  • ithyt on November 02, 2015

    5.15 Scrummy - awesome bite in croutons.

  • ithyt on April 24, 2016

    4.16 Delicious again- love this combo - different & tasty.

  • Silverscreensuppers on August 09, 2016

    I'm another fan of this salad. I love it!

  • paulabee on June 17, 2017

    love this salad- I used walnuts instead of almonds because that's what was on hand, but I think I'd use the walnuts again- they were great with the dates.

  • purrviciouz on December 19, 2018

    This is a fantastic salad. I've made a few time and will continue to make again and again.

• Roasted butternut squash & red onion with tahini & za'atar

  • WFPLCleanEating on October 18, 2015

    This is the recipe I have made so often from Jerusalem that I don't need the book any more. I always use butternut squash but mix up the other vegetables according to what I have. Last night's version had Brussels sprouts and red pepper alongside the squash. I love the za'atar and tahini sauce with the caramelized vegetables. - Jane

  • ithyt on November 02, 2015

    5.15 Cut pumpkin into bite sized pieces. Dressing doesn't last well - look wise when dressed.

  • Boffcat on February 24, 2017

    Excellent. I soften the sauce slightly by stirring in a little yoghurt.

  • clcorbi on March 19, 2018

    I didn't love this dish as much as others did. The squash never got very crisp while the pieces of red onion almost started to burn. Next time I'd add the squash first and let it crisp up before throwing in the onion. I will admit that the toasted pine nuts were delicious and complimented the other flavors well.

  • MmeFleiss on January 14, 2015

    I found this completely doable for a weeknight meal. Served by itself, the full recipe was enough for two adults in my household. An unusual blend of flavors, but it really works.

  • br22 on September 06, 2014

    For me this unusual combination of flavors is pure comfort. I totally agree with the reviewer who said they could eat the whole platter. Make sure and roast the squash enough- a couple of times I've had to remove the onions as they were getting a bit too far gone. Easy recipe with killer results.

  • Barb_N on January 03, 2016

    I have made this as written, but this time I added a whole grain (oat groats) to fill it out for six people. With the grain it would make a great vegetarian main. The flavors are genius.

  • adelina on October 31, 2016

    Perfect combination of flavors!

  • vitapano on May 06, 2014

    Added a bit of rocket and some leftover quinoa. Worked very well and looked great on a big serving plate.

  • Yildiz100 on October 22, 2013

    I have to agree with the previous reviewer who said this was good, but not great. I expected to love this, since it includes many of my all time favorite ingredients, but no. The flavors are great together, but the texture of butternut squash with tahini is a bit stodgy to me. I have had the same experience with other recipes using these two ingredients, like the butternut squash, chickpea, and tahini salad at Smitten Kitchen.

  • stockholm28 on December 31, 2013

    I liked this, but did not love it. The red onion was a bit strong, so I'd use a bit less.

  • Rinshin on February 22, 2015

    This was just ok. I did not care for the addition of tahini/sesame sauce as I felt it muddled the taste of butternut squash. The squash already tasted heavy and the addition of this sauce made the dish too similar in richness. I liked the roasting of butternut squash with onion part but preferred more brighter taste note for the sauce. The brighter note came from a small amount of lemon juice and it was not enough to give this dish the needed lift. I much prefer Japanese and Asian recipes for winter squash like butternut squash and kabocha. Will not repeat for sure.

  • ksg518 on January 06, 2018

    This was delicious. I scaled it back slightly since my butternut squash wasn't as large a specified. I also peeled the squash before roasting. This made a great lunch for two. I'll be making this again and I like the idea of other reviewers to add a grain.

  • Jane on February 01, 2013

    This was fantastic. I think next time I will cut the squash into smaller pieces as I like more caramelized edges but apart from that I would change nothing. I served it with the baby spinach salad with dates & almonds on p.30.

  • westminstr on January 18, 2013

    For me, this combo of ingredients didn't quite gel. However, I did mess up and dust with sumac instead of zaatar, which may have made a difference. I will withhold judgment until I can do the recipe as written.

  • westminstr on November 13, 2014

    I made this again last night. Not sure what the difference was between the last time I made it (maybe it was using zaatar instead of sumac) but it was delicious! Rich, though. We used all the sauce and had to roast the squash for about 10 extra minutes to get it as brown as I like it. I used butternut and delicata and the unpeeled butternut squash was fine in this preparation.

  • jzanger on January 13, 2013

    Wow, this is an inspired combination of ingredients. I think I could have sat down in front of the whole platter and happily ignored the (delicious) roasted chicken and (delicious) kale salad also on the table! Don't skimp on the red onion, even though it may seem like too much.

  • wester on October 28, 2013

    I wasn't that wild about the tahini sauce. However, I did like the rest of the combination and will probably make it again, maybe with a squeeze of lemon. I used shallots instead of red onion, which was excellent.

  • lorloff on October 30, 2016

    This has become our go to winter squash dish. This time I made it with an heirloom squash (it looked like "fairytale" from the farmers market). It was too hard on the outside to cut up so I cut the squash in 1/2 and sprinkled the cut side with za'atar, granulated garlic and olive oil. I roasted the red onions separately. Once the squash was cooked I peeled and cut the squash into pieces and proceeded with the recipe. It was delicious. The tahini sauce with the squash is genius. We hold it on the side and each person adds what they would like.

  • Astrid5555 on October 05, 2014

    Incredibly delicious! The tahini sauce and za'tar elevated this dish to something special. Used red kuri squash instead of butternut squash because I did not want the hassle of having to peel the squash. Worked very well!

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    Loved this dish- it is a tad stingy on the awesome tahini sauce. Unlike the butternut squash and tahini dip, I didn't feel like the tahini overwhelmed the squash flavor- I think it was the sourness from the lemon that helped. This is gorgeous as well, would definitely be good for a dinner party.

  • adrienneyoung on February 18, 2013

    Good, but not blow-your-hair-back great. This recipe gets good buzz, so maybe it's me...

  • lilham on January 30, 2013

    This is the best roasted butternut squash I've ever had. I'll make more sauce next time I cook this. (Because the sauce is really finger licking good).

  • Melanie on September 09, 2013

    I really enjoyed this dish. I would increase quantities next time though as everyone at the table would have liked to eat a bit more.

• Broad bean kuku

  • Delys77 on January 08, 2013

    Pg 39 For me this dish was just ok. The technique is interesting and I expected a whole lot of flavour from the load of onions, garlic, herbs, saffron, and barberries, but the end result was entirely dominated by the very large amount of favas. It seemed as though they sucked up all the flavour. If I were to make again I would up the herbs and cut back the favas by about 40%.

  • TippyCanoe on April 23, 2013

    I agree with Delys77 that this dish is not as exciting as others in the book. The barberries add a great sour note though. I wondered if my favas (frozen) were perhaps not as good as fresh. I might try this again with fresh favas and also add more herbs. It really added flavor to the dish to serve it as suggested with yogurt with cucumber (p. 299).

  • ksg518 on June 29, 2018

    Meh. Ottolenghi has a knack for taking odd combinations of ingredients and somehow making them work but for us this was a fail. We especially didn't like the barberries in this dish (although we love them in other dishes). We made this pretty much as directed and it looked just like the photo.

  • cultus.girl on November 05, 2017

    I really enjoyed this dish however agree that it was a little broad bean heavy. (Used frozen unpodded broad beans). When I next make it I will use the broad beans from my garden in season, picked while they are small and perhaps add a bit of asparagus.

  • Silverscreensuppers on August 09, 2016

    I made this with broad beans (it's what we call fava beans in the UK) from my friend's veggie patch and really liked it. When I had my first mouthful I wasn't sure if I would like it (my first time eating something with barbarries in) but it grew on me. As it was just me, I ate quite a big portion and froze the rest - no idea what it will be like when it comes out of the freezer... we shall see...

  • WFPLCleanEating on November 04, 2015

    I agree with the previous reviews -- just ok...too many favas, not enough flavor. The dish benefited with the addition of feta.

• Mixed bean salad

  • ithyt on April 24, 2016

    4.16 Didn't use peppers - just used 1/2 a lemon I/s of zest. Tasty but would cooler w peppers - kids enjoyed. Herbs just used parsley & tarragon. 4.16 Yum again. quite different and nice for a change. Added peppers this time which looked great.

  • anya_sf on May 29, 2017

    I really liked this. Used dill and parsley, since I couldn't find chervil.

  • adelina on October 23, 2016

    Did not expect to like this salad as much just wanted something for a change and trusted the reviews. I did not have any yellow beans and used fresh green peas with green Roman beans. Other than that, I followed the recipe per written. This was a great side with the roasted chicken and Jerusalem artichokes from the same book.

  • Rutabaga on September 03, 2014

    I made this for the second time, this time including yellow (wax) beans as suggested, which is definitely the way to go if you can. For herbs I used a mix of dill and cilantro, as I had those on hand. I also left out the cumin seeds (I had none) and used only about half the amount of suggested coriander seeds, as last time I felt the coriander was too much. Delicious and a great use of fresh beans!

  • TippyCanoe on April 23, 2013

    Delicious! The spice & herb blend was fantastic and the technique of quickly roasting the peppers really added depth to their flavor. I loved this dish and will make it again with no changes.

• Lemony leek meatballs

  • j_h on January 09, 2015

    If serving as a main, this goes quite well with Pumpkin mash from Marie Claire: Kitchen: The Ultimate Recipe Collection by Michele Cranston - http://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/629234/pumpkin-mash

  • twoyolks on November 15, 2016

    These are less meatballs than they are leek fritters with a little bit of meat. However, they're really quite good. The leeks add a mild flavor to the meatballs and there's just enough meat to make them rich enough. The lemon flavor goes well with this.

  • Rutabaga on November 16, 2016

    These meatballs have a light, delicate flavor. I used ground turkey, and made them into about twelve small patties, so they only needed about ten minutes of cooking in a little chicken stock and lemon juice after being well browned. They weren't as popular as more traditional (read: meat-centric) meatballs with my husband and son, but they still liked them.

  • mondraussie on January 01, 2016

    Delicious, and as previous reviewer noted, does go very well with pumpkin mash.

  • e_ballad on June 22, 2017

    Unlike other reviewers for this recipe, we were quite underwhelmed by these meatballs. I never thought I'd use this word to describe an Ottolenghi recipe: bland. A sprinkling of Aleppo pepper improved things, but still not enough for a repeat showing.

  • clcorbi on December 31, 2016

    My first recipe from this cookbook--delicious! I think these make a great main course and, although I don't always like yogurt with savory dishes, I really loved the combination here. I did deviate from the cooking method a bit for these--rather than steaming and blending the leeks, which seemed fussy, we finely diced them and sautéed them until they were soft, then mixed them in with the rest of the meatball ingredients. I made the meatballs a bit smaller than recommended because I was afraid they'd fall apart, so I probably ended up with 12 or 13. I also only simmered them in the stock//lemon juice for about 17-18 minutes before removing the lid and letting the liquid reduce. Served with the yogurt and herb garnish (we used cilantro), plus some pita and hummus, this was a lovely dinner. Note to self: next time, try these with shallots or onion as leeks are crazy expensive.

  • WFPLCleanEating on November 13, 2015

    Yummy! (Rachel S-K)

  • greatembini on December 30, 2018

    Delicious! Delightfully lemony, with a soft texture that my husband wasn't fond of but that the rest of the family enjoyed.

• Kohlrabi salad

  • MissQuin on October 14, 2013

    I sliced the kohlrabi into ribbons as the idea of eating big cubes didn't really appeal to me. Mixed up the dairy in the dressing to use what I had in the fridge - creme fraiche instead of sour cream, buttermilk instead of yoghurt and double cream (51% fat) instead of marscapone. Dressing was probably runnier that what it was meant to be but was still delicious. Was the perfect side for lamb.

  • annapanna on June 16, 2013

    this was not bad, but I am not sure I''ll make it again. If I do I will chop the kohlrabi into smaller bits than suggested.The dressing was nice, although a bit thick, very similar to the one in the turkey-zucchini burgers.

  • Astrid5555 on August 18, 2014

    Like all the other reviewers I would cut the kohlrabi into smaller pieces next time. Otherwise great new way to use kohlrabi in a salad.

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    I had lots of kohlrabi from the CSA this year, so I was excited to try this recipe. It was tart and bright and a fine accompaniment to a meal, but would not be the star. If I made this again, I'd cut the kohlrabi a bit finer, and add a tad of heat. I skipped the mascarpone since I didn't have it on hand.

  • westminstr on July 19, 2013

    I made a very, very simple version of this kohlrabi salad to serve alongside the turkey-zucchini burgers on p. 200. Basically, since I observed that the kohlrabi salad dressing was very similar to the turkey burger sauce, I decided to use some of the turkey burger sauce to dress the kohlrabi. along with some chopped fresh mint. I used no dried mint and no greens (didn't have them on hand). I think Gio's version (with arugula and very firm pear) sounds great. This was my first time eating kohlrabi and I liked it well enough to want to experiment further.

• Root vegetable slaw with labneh

  • michalow on July 01, 2017

    Crunchy and bright -- well worth all the chopping.

  • Rutabaga on March 28, 2014

    This salad is beautiful, and makes a fresh, bright-tasting accompaniment to rich rice or meat dishes. It provides a great pop of color on your menu.

  • Barb_N on June 04, 2014

    Colorful, crunchy and a welcome tweak to the palate during the cold months. Somewhat labor intensive unless you use a food processor or a julienne blade. Don't mix until the last minute or the beets will turn everything magenta.

  • sosayi on July 16, 2018

    Our CSA showered us with beets and kohlrabi and I think I had everything but one of the herbs on hand... so EYB led me to this salad. And, I am so glad it did! Crunchy, crisp, light and bright... it was a great summer slaw. It contrasted beautifully with the tandoori black cod served with it (a big more rich of a fish) by our hosts. We didn't have labneh, but the headnote instructs you to add lots of garlic, salt and olive oil to regular greek yogurt as a substitute and we thought that worked quite well (and also added a lot to the dish). Definite repeat.

• Fried tomatoes with garlic

  • Zosia on March 12, 2017

    An easy way to enhance even not-so-perfect tomatoes (and takes much less time than roasting). I served these with the fantastic za'atar pitas from Breaking Breads.

  • Jane on January 21, 2013

    A super-easy and tasty side dish - as well as garlic there is finely chopped chile and parsley for extra flavor notes. It takes about 7 minutes from start to finish. This would be great in the summer when there are really good tomatoes in abundance. I served it alongside Poached chicken with sweet spiced freekah on p.182.

  • TrishaCP on August 10, 2014

    This was fine but not as great as other recipes from this book- the taste was reminiscent of stewed tomatoes. The garlic and chile were obviously nice, but I thought the parsley was too assertive here.

• Puréed beetroot with yoghurt & za'atar

  • TrishaCP on December 08, 2012

    Amazing way to use beets, especially if you are dealing with non-beet loving people. Be careful on the amount of garlic you use since it is fresh- do not put in the full amount if you have large cloves. Served with flatbreads as a dip.

  • Emily Hope on May 08, 2013

    My new favorite way to eat beets. Seriously delicious--sweet and earthy from the beets, and just tangy enough from the yogurt. I don't feel like the za'atar flavor really registered (maybe it's the za'atar that I'm using), but I didn't miss it. Have served with flatbreads and grilled lamb sausages, and as part of an assortment of dips. Great in both applications.

  • westminstr on January 31, 2013

    Served this as a beet salad instead f purée. Skipped the garnishes. Just wonderful!

  • Laura on December 31, 2014

    Pg. 53. I made this to use up some beets and we enjoyed it very much. I had to make a couple of substitutions: red pepper flakes for the chile and maple syrup for the date syrup, but otherwise made it as written. I served it as a dip with crackers and pita, but did not bother with the garnishes, as it was just the two of us. The recipe says to serve at room temperature, but I found that I preferred it somewhat chilled. I agree with TrishaCP that the garlic is a bit overwhelming, and I would probably cut that in half next time. Also, the color of the dish in the photo is a beautiful, dark aubergine. The color of mine was more of a raspberry, which is fine for a dessert, but which I find less appetizing in a savory dish. Next time I would cut back on the yogurt in hopes of getting a darker color in the final product.

  • Melanie on July 10, 2017

    Easy to make in food processor, even easier if you use store bought cooked beetroot. But, I bet this would taste better with home roasted.

  • thekitchenchronicles on November 03, 2014

    http://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2014/03/08/pureed-beets-with-yogurt-zaatar/

  • Three_Quarters on April 08, 2016

    This puree is unbelievable. I served it with lamb chops, normally the star of the show, but they paled in comparison to this simple-to-make but complexly flavored dip. It's already on the menu again for next week, since we're overrun with root vegetables here in the Northeast US. Alterations: used honey instead of date syrup and red pepper flakes instead of a fresh chili. Did not add any of the accompaniments, and just ate it with a fork instead of dipping pita or crackers.

  • raybun on June 12, 2017

    This was DIVINE! I will be making this again, and again this summer. I used precooked beets to save time. There was just the right amount of heat, a nice crunch from the hazelnuts that I toasted slightly, and there would have been a nice tangy touch from the goats cheese if I hadn't forgotten it!

• Swiss chard fritters

  • EmilyR on August 22, 2018

    These were a hit - very simple (just mixed in the vitamix). I added some lemon zest and served them with labneh mixed with preserved lemon.

  • Rutabaga on July 04, 2017

    I liked these fritters, but my husband and six-year-old weren't fans, although they decided that adding sour cream was a big improvement. The one-year-old, on the other had, gobbled them up, which was a real victory considering how few veggies he eats. Generally, I thought the taste was great (at least if you like chard and herbs), butI think I might prefer a chunkier texture, maybe finely chipping the chard and herbs instead of pureeing them.

  • Astrid5555 on March 02, 2013

    This is fritter heaven! The herbs complement the Swiss chard perfectly and the feta adds a nice salty touch. Served with spiced chickpeas & vegetable salad as a side.

• Spiced chickpeas & fresh vegetable salad

  • Astrid5555 on March 02, 2013

    Used dried chickpeas, loved the spices, which made all the difference! Nice lemony dressing to accompany the vegetables. Served as a side to the Swiss chard fritters, will make again.

  • Delys77 on November 13, 2012

    I used canned chickpeas and they didn't crisp as much as I would have liked. Next time use dried or make sure the chickpeas are very dry when they go into the pan. The flavours in the salad were great, the only challenge being the fact that the tomatoes release huge amounts of liquid when salted. This is a general problem with this type of salad. That being said it doesn't really impact the flavour and the overall result is very good and quite filling because of the legumes.

  • k.a.g on June 27, 2013

    I have to admit I didn't get around to making the chickpea component, but I thought the fresh vegetable salad was very refreshing - nice acidity, and a great crunch from the radishes. I left out the sugar, didn't feel it would need it.

  • Laura on September 30, 2014

    Pg. 56. The part of this recipe that intrigued me the most was the spiced chickpeas. The salad and vinaigrette are pretty basic and hardly require a recipe -- although the salad itself is really beautiful -- very colorful. The only change I made to the salad was to add some arugula leaves. I was a bit concerned about adding the spiced chickpeas to the salad because I wasn't sure how well the different flavors would combine. Well, as it turns out, it was delicious! The chickpeas really brought another dimension of flavor to the salad and it was subtle, not overwhelming. Ottolenghi suggests adding some Greek yogurt as a topping -- I didn't do that this time but might try it in the future. I would definitely make this again.

  • consortiumlibrary on December 15, 2012

    I also used canned chickpeas (rinsed and drained) . They were delicious and really made the salad. I make salads like this ahead and drain the juices using a colander before serving. So easy, so good. For the red peppers, instead of bell peppers I used spicy red Fresno chiles. The heat added, so will do it that way next time too.

  • annapanna on September 28, 2014

    Even if you don't make the chickpeas part this is a lovely chopped salad very easy to prepare. We had this with the Falafel in Pita bread. Will make again for sure.

  • adelina on November 08, 2016

    Liked the chickpeas. Served it with pita chip per another similar recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

  • Trea on February 11, 2015

    Loved this salad. I used tinned chickpeas which I left drain for about an hour. I also used a dry fry with no oil. Added yogurt as a finishing touch. Very refreshing for a hot summer night.

• Chermoula aubergine with bulgar & yoghurt

  • Foodycat on January 26, 2015

    Absolutely delicious - and lends itself to being halved for two people, which was nice!

  • adelina on December 14, 2014

    My kids loved the bulgur salad. I omitted the green onion and used parsley instead of cilantro since I did not have any. The eggplants were ok for me. I think I will reserve the chermula serve with yogurt next time. It was too strong when it cooked with the eggplants. Also since my kids don't care for raisins, I substituted grape molasses.

  • WFPLCleanEating on November 16, 2015

    This is a good vegetarian main course. The intense flavors of the chermoula really lifts the bland flavor of baked eggplant. And I loved the bulgar salad - I would make that again separately. - Jane

  • PinchOfSalt on May 10, 2013

    Here's a recipe that is greater than the sum of its parts. The minted bulgur salad was excellent and well worth preparing and serving on its own. Be sure to use fresh mint as called for. The eggplant can be prepared ahead of time, but be careful when baking it not to overcook it. The Chermoula can become crunchy if it dries out. Do not give into any temptation to omit the yogurt. The contrast between the gently spicy and unctuous eggplant, the fresh taste and pebbly texture of the bulgur, and the creaminess of the Greek yogurt (I used Fage) was wonderful.

  • helenevans on July 02, 2014

    I love this recipe and agree with the other reviews. I reduce the oil in the chermoula considerably - to just enough to bind the spices together - and this works fine too

  • westminstr on September 19, 2013

    Loved everything about this recipe. Among other things, I think this is a great candidate for a vegetarian thanksgiving main course.

  • Prim on August 26, 2013

    This is an excellent recipe. Very good flavor.

• Fried cauliflower with tahini

  • Rutabaga on November 16, 2016

    My husband and five-year-old really loved the tahini yogurt sauce used here - a good thing, considering I didn't have the full amount of cauliflower, so had an excess of sauce. It is excellent on pita bread, with or without the cauliflower. I did find that it took closer to ten minutes of frying for me to get the golden brown color I wanted on the florets. Having made my florets quite small, I would also keep them a little larger next time, maybe keep them to large bite size, in order to retain a little crunch.

  • Barb_N on June 24, 2017

    Not my favorite Ottolenghi cauliflower recipe but a close second to the Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut salad from same cookbook. Didn't deviate too much, but reduced the pomegranate molasses and skipped the mint b/c it was too dark by then to go out and snip it. It took way too long to fry the cauli- I had a very large head and had to do it in 4 batches in spite of using a wok. Next time I will oven roast it which was my inclination in the first place. If I do that it will still be daylight when I need to harvest the mint.

• Roasted cauliflower & hazelnut salad

  • Barb_N on October 14, 2014

    My cookbook falls open to this page, I have made it so many times. This time I strayed quite a bit- some successful, some not so much. I added oat groats to make it a veg main. I tried to prep ahead- I roasted the cauliflower on the weekend. The groats tolerate being made ahead but the cauliflower was limp and greasy, and didn't crisp up with reheating. I always include the celery- a 1 cm dice strikes the right balance. I omit the pomegranate- never have it and don't like the crunch of arils. Tonight for the dressing I riffed on Diana Henry's Spiced chicken with melting onions and preserved lemons- olives, lemon, cumin, paprika and cayenne: very successful.

  • KarinaFrancis on January 27, 2014

    I've made this several times but never included celery based on previous comments. It's delicious and has converted me to cauliflower

  • kmattingly on April 22, 2013

    Unusual mix of flavours but works magnificently.

  • stockholm28 on December 31, 2013

    Just ok. My cauliflower didn't get crispy.

  • WFPLCleanEating on October 19, 2015

    Another Jerusalem recipe that I make often. The dressing is quite sweet but I like that with the roasted cauliflower. I skip the celery and use whatever nuts I have to hand. I'd run out of hazelnuts so this time I used pistachios - they should be roasted for a much shorter time than hazelnuts (or not at all). It looks pretty with the white/brown cauliflower, green parsley and glowing red pomegranate. - Jane

  • WFPLCleanEating on October 29, 2015

    Fantastic combination of flavors and textures! I never would've thought to put them together, but they work wonderfully. (RS-K)

  • raybun on June 23, 2017

    We loved this salad. I omitted the celery as 2 out of 3 of us would have picked it out (not me!). The vinaigrette was perfectly balanced, and complimented the other ingredients very well. Served with the stuffed aubergines with lamb & pine nuts, also from Jerusalem.

  • Silverscreensuppers on August 09, 2016

    Mmmmmmmm is my verdict!

  • anya_sf on May 29, 2017

    I thought this was fantastic. I did not find it too sweet (there is only 1/2 tbsp maple syrup). I liked the celery, but my husband didn't (but he never does). I would use half the cinnamon next time.

  • clcorbi on January 02, 2017

    I really loved this combination of ingredients--this is a gorgeous winter salad. Unfortunately, I found the dressing to be too cloying for my taste, and I wasn't able to finish my serving. (I should add to be fair that H loved this salad as is and did not find it too sweet.) Next time I would omit the maple syrup and almost all of the cinnamon (as the combination made me think of a baked good every time I got a cinnamon-heavy bite). I'd also up the vinegar a bit. With those changes I can see how this salad could go into heavy rotation for us, as it makes lovely use of winter vegetables, and every bite has such a nice mix of textures.

  • adelina on November 08, 2016

    Overall a good dish but was not a big hit at my house on the sweeness of the salad dressing. Next time ill be careful in using cinnamon and maple syrup.

  • hendrioso on December 29, 2014

    This is a great dish and as Ottolenghi mentions is its mild and warming spices are an excellent complement to the incredibley fragrant grilled fish skewers with hawajey.

  • br22 on September 06, 2014

    This is my favorite recipe from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem book. Make sure to almost over-roast the cauliflower- the more carmelized it is the more successful the salad. The flavor combination is exceptional as is the combination of textures. Have made this dozens of times and never change a thing.

  • TrishaCP on February 14, 2016

    I really enjoyed this salad- I agree the key to success is to get the cauliflower well roasted. I also thought that to get the sweet flavors in line, it does also need to be well-seasoned with salt and pepper. I added the celery and I would again-I liked the crunch and brightness.

  • mziech on April 30, 2013

    Great recipe. Nice flavor combination.

  • westminstr on October 05, 2015

    Years later, I finally got around to trying this salad. I loved the hazelnuts and cauliflower together but the dressing didn't do it for me. I think the allspice and maple syrup were just a little much. My guests loved it though

  • IvyManning on June 16, 2013

    Didn't love the celery in this, a bit jarring. But the hazelnuts and roasted cauliflower were great together, and the vinaigrette that includes allspice and cinnamon was lovely.

  • k.a.g on June 22, 2013

    This is the first Ottolenghi recipe I've made that I didn't really enjoy - for once the flavours didn't meld for me. I found the separate elements a bit disparate and jarring. I did really enjoy the pomegranate/nut/parsley combination, so I will probably play around with that a bit more, but for me it didn't really work with the cauliflower, which was kind of the whole point of the salad.

  • sharifah on August 25, 2013

    This was OK....the roasted cauliflower was interesting, and the combo of hazelnuts, pomegranates and celery added a different texture. But it didn't have the usual Ottolenghi signature of punchy assorted flavours that comes together well. It's a bit non-descript...I made this for guests who are fussy eaters and do not like strong flavours and they thought this was lovely...so I think that says it all.

  • blintz on May 12, 2013

    With purple, orange, and green cauliflower, this was both beautiful and delicious! Added extra hazelnuts for even more crunch.

  • lilham on May 24, 2015

    Love this salad and it comes together so easily. I really enjoy the roasted cauliflower and celery with the dressing, pomegranate seeds and nuts. (I used whole pistachio instead of chopped hazelnut).

  • michalow on December 03, 2014

    Lovely mix of flavors. I have subbed toasted pumpkin seeds for the hazelnuts. Pomegranate is perfect here, but I have also subbed diced plums with success. Love the crunchy contrast of the celery.

  • Melanie on May 17, 2015

    Tasty and simple preparation, this dish has a great mix of textures. As per the header note, this is a lovely fresh salad for winter.

• Bread fritters (A'ja)

  • clcorbi on January 11, 2017

    I'm shocked that there are no notes on this recipe, because these are absolutely delicious and easy! The dough mix looked totally unappetizing which had us both worried, but once we started frying these up, the apartment began to smell absolutely delicious. The only change we made was to substitute scallions for chives. These are deliciously spiced and a really great way to make use of old bread. The headnote also recommends trying these with grated veggies instead of bread, and then serving in a pita with tahini sauce--I will definitely be trying that variation.

• Spicy carrot salad

  • clcorbi on April 28, 2017

    I agree with the below commenters who found the carrots to be too soft. I think this salad would actually be more appealing made with raw grated carrots that were allowed to marinate in the dressing for a few hours. It would be easier to toss in the arugula that way, too. That being said, I'm not sure I'd make the effort to repeat this--the flavor of the dressing didn't do much for me.

  • ithyt on November 05, 2015

    Ok - I wasn't that keen on these flavours.

  • Rutabaga on May 19, 2014

    This salad packs a lot of heat, but if you use the pipelchuma as suggested, there's a great depth and richness behind the heat. I suggest adding about the half the amount of pipelcuma to start, then more to taste. You may find you don't need to cook the carrots for the full 20 minutes if yours are fairly small, but I think this dish is really meant for cooked carrots, as they will soak in the flavors in a way that raw or blanched carrots can't. Making it a full day ahead gives the flavors even more time to meld.

  • Melanie on May 17, 2015

    Loved this dish! A great one to make in advance for a dinner party - it's unusual and everybody enjoyed it. I enjoyed the softened carrots with the other flavours and used the substitute harissa. Good mix of flavours.

  • Astrid5555 on May 21, 2017

    Based on the previous reviews I blanched the carrots for three minutes only and I really liked that they still had some crunch. I also went easy on the Pilpelchuma, but added enough to enjoy the heat. Big hit with dinner party guests!

  • IvyManning on June 16, 2013

    This was indeed very spicy, I'm backing off on the harissa next time.

  • TippyCanoe on April 23, 2013

    I found that the cooking time was a bit long and my carrots were quite soft. However, the spice blend was fantastic (I used harissa rather than Pilpelchuma and did not add caraway seeds as I was out of them), and I will make this again.

  • TrishaCP on November 13, 2013

    I am still trying to figure out the point of cooking the carrots in this recipe- I only cooked them half the time specified and they were still unpleasantly soft. My advice for others would be to do no more than a quick blanch of 1-2 minutes. However, the flavor was incredible. I loved the caramelized onions with the carrots and harissa. As for the spice level, I have found that I can't do a straight substitute of store-bought harissa for the book's pilpelchuma recipe- my harissa is much spicier. I used about 2 teaspoons of harissa in a half recipe, and that was plenty for me.

• Shakshuka

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    This is recommended as a breakfast or lunch dish, but I had it for dinner. (If you have already made the pilpelchuma or have prepared Harissa, and you use canned tomatoes, this would be a quick weeknight meal.) It was flavorful, savory, comforting, and filling. I did use Harissa, and you really need to be aware of the spice levels of the condiment you choose because two tablespoons of my product would have killed the dish. I used two teaspoons for a half portion, and that worked for me.

  • fprincess on August 08, 2016

    This is simple to make - other than the bell peppers, everything else was basic pantry items. I found the result good, but not so good that I'd want to make it again any time soon. In the same vein, I much prefer a Basque piperade. Pictures heres: https://forums.egullet.org/topic/153318-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2016–/?do=findComment&comment=2067602

  • radishseed on February 25, 2014

    This was delicious. So good, and so easy to make on a weeknight. I used canned tomatoes, and I had already made the pilpelchuma and labneh over the weekend. The recipe served two hungry people, using four eggs with no extra yolks, with the labneh and some bread and olives on the side. It was very spicy, so if you don't like dishes that make your nose run, I'd cut back on the chile paste. If I were making this for people who don't do spicy, I'd probably use about 2 t. of pilpelchuma (or harissa).

  • westminstr on October 22, 2013

    Made this last night for the second time. It is quick and easy, very tasty, and great this time of year when peppers are still in season. Unfortunately E and O both refused to eat it, so I'm not sure I'll be repeating this dish any time soon.

  • Jane on February 03, 2013

    I loved this. I had it for lunch today and can see this becoming a regular. I made 1/2 quantity of the sauce and have enough left over for another lunch. When I tasted the sauce while it was cooking I thought it was very spicy but when eating it with the eggs, labneh and some warmed pita bread, the spice level was perfect. I used two eggs for one and, I didn't add the extra egg yolks. I'm not sure I see the point of that as it is quite a rich dish already, especially if adding labneh.

  • adrienneyoung on December 08, 2012

    Argh! There are many harissas out there. Mine is not theirs. Recipe calls for 2 tbsp Harissa to sauté with two peppers, other spices and, eventually, 4 cups of chopped tomatoes. I used 2/3 of ONE tbsp of Harissa (thinking "gosh, hot, better cut back"). Ha! So hot only a few of my friends could eat it. I certainly can't. Note to self. Know thine Harissa... And taste carefully! That said, recipe has great promise, and is less oily than the superb shakshuka in Plenty.

  • sharifah on December 19, 2012

    Felt good eating this dish, it was very tasty and easy for a mid-week meal. I cut down on the egg yolks and only used 4 eggs for the two of us. Followed the quantities for everything else and we polished it off. Definitely a dish that I would come back to again and again

  • Delys77 on January 19, 2015

    Pg. 87 Be very careful of your eggs as they looked like they weren't done, so you went with an extra 5 minutes and they were fully set. Flavour wise the sauce was excellent and it complimented the eggs very well, plus I quite liked the peppers in this. It is a very generous serving.

  • wodtke on July 14, 2015

    Last month I had fabulous shakshuka two mornings in a row at Nopi, Yotam and Sami's restaurant in Soho. The Nopi website has this recipe, so I made it at home. Mine was, not surprisingly, not as good as at Nopi, but was pretty darn good. As the dynamic duo note on the website, they've had a couple of other shakshuka recipes, and all can be found on-line quite easily. This one seems simplified, using pilpelchuma or harissa in place of the many spices in the other recipes, and red bell peppers rather than a mix. I agree with Delys77 that the eggs cook faster than one might expect; be prepared to take them off the heat early. And I also agree with radishseed that 2 tablespoons of harissa would be too much -- I used two teaspoons. The version I had at Nopi definitely had some heat, but not in-your-face, more background. I like it like that.

  • Rinshin on July 10, 2014

    I made this for 3 people with different taste preference. I thought this recipe was good but not blow my mind excellent, my husband thought so so but he does not care for very spicy foods (I did halve the harissa), and my nephew who loves all kinds of food and already cooking since he was 13 did not like the taste combination. I wondered about that and came to a conclusion that there are people who do not like the tomato and cumin only combination. I think I will stick to shakshuka from Plenty because I really liked the addition of green/red peppers better.

  • stockholm28 on July 05, 2014

    Delicious, but I like Ottolenghi's version from "Plenty" better. This one emphasizes tomato and has a lot of heat from the harissa, which I thought was great. I skipped the egg yolks and just made with the whole eggs.

  • e_ballad on September 23, 2017

    I'm with @stockholm28 on this one: a nice dish, but we prefer the recipe from "Plenty".

  • Agaillard on October 07, 2017

    Just cooked this... That was my first Shakshuka and so I had no baseline for comparison but I liked it... It was nice and warm and comforting... I put too much cumin but it was not too bothering, I subbed the harissa with cayenne pepper as did not have on hand. I halved the recipe as this was for one, and did not have labneh or yogurt, Will try again with the variations next time to see if I like other recipes better, but I did like that one, nice and simple.

  • Silverscreensuppers on August 09, 2016

    This is my go-to Saturday morning treat when I am home alone. I love it. I agree with Adrienne though, "know thine harissa" - they vary so much...

• Butternut squash & tahini spread

  • e_ballad on January 07, 2018

    Given everyone’s reviews making note of its sweetness, I thought I’d try to counterbalance this & used a smallish portion of this with lamb. It is still too sweet for our family’s palate, even with a mere drizzle of date syrup (which we are big fans of usually).

  • Delys77 on January 14, 2013

    Pg. 69 This yields a large amount of dip. I might consider halving the recipe in the future. Very tasty with pita and pretty good with veggies (some might not like a sweet dip with veggies), plus I think it would be a very interesting addition to a pita sandwich (perhaps paired with pork). Definite winner, but only in specific applications. Great for a party for those who like spreads and dips, especially ones with interesting slightly sweet flavours.

  • twoyolks on February 02, 2016

    The spread is good but it's heavy on the sweet side (particularly with the date syrup). It reminded me almost of a savory version of pumpkin pie filling.

  • westminstr on January 31, 2013

    Made a half recipe, still had leftovers. It was great though, we liked it a lot.

  • Breadcrumbs on September 27, 2015

    p. 69 - Well it took me 2 years but I finally got around to making this delicious spread from when I first read reviews of it on CH. Unfortunately my Greek yogurt was past its prime so I ended up subbing crème fraiche. We enjoyed this very much. The flavour of the spread was a bit sweet so I added a splash of lemon juice to balance things out a bit. We enjoyed this very much and it definitely won’t take me 2 years to make it again! Photo here: http://www.chowhound.com/post/january-2013-cotm-jerusalem-vegetables-beans-grains-soups-884301?commentId=9733363#9733363

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    I enjoyed this, but not nearly as much as the similar beet and yogurt spread in the book (even though I like butternut squash much more than beets). For me, I found the tahini flavor a bit too dominating of the squash, so I would definitely use less if making again. A pomegranate molasses drizzle instead of date syrup may be good as the spread is pretty sweet on its own. And as Delys77 mentions, this recipe makes a ton of dip, so this isn't a good choice unless you are feeding many people or want to eat this for days!

• Spicy beetroot, leek & walnut salad

  • SugarFree_Vegan on March 22, 2014

    Page 73 - I've never cooked leeks and had them cold in a salad before which is a great idea. I also cooked my beetroot in the pressure cooked to save time. I also used some pomegranate molasses (in the dressing) as I couldn't find any fresh pomegranates. A lovely salad.

  • Barb_N on November 05, 2014

    I already had roasted beets, making this easy to put together. I happened to have tamarind paste so I diluted it (not knowing what tamarind water is) but I did think about pomegranate molasses instead (I'm reading SugarFree_Vegan's note after the fact). I think the dressing tasted like a pomegranate molasses vinaigrette. That is an ingredient I am more likely to have on hand. I will definitely make this again.

• Charred okra with tomato, garlic & preserved lemon

  • Zosia on April 30, 2015

    Having never had okra before apart from in gumbo, this dish was quite a revelation. It was tender-crisp without sliminess and had an artichoke-asparagus-like flavour with some smokiness from the charred bits. The tomatoes and lemon (I used some of my freshly made quick pickled lemons) added a nice acid component but I think it would have been delicious with just a little lemon juice.

  • lorloff on August 25, 2018

    Really great recipie. I doubled the parsley and cilantro which I harvested from the garden. The smokiness was fantastic.

  • sheepishjen on October 02, 2016

    Love this recipe. It seems like such a little bit of parsley and cilantro, but they still add plenty of punch and the preserved lemons and tomatoes really brighten up the okra.

• Burnt aubergine with garlic, lemon & pomegranate seeds

  • Astrid5555 on January 01, 2014

    Delicious, and can be made in advance. Very refreshing taste from the lemons and herbs. Much better option than any traditional babaganous recipe.

  • TrishaCP on April 20, 2014

    Overall verdict for me was fine but nothing special. I forgot to serve this with the pomegranate seeds, so maybe I missed out in what would set this recipe apart, but I think they would have helped with the visual appeal if nothing else! I found the plain eggplant dip to be tasty but possibly not worth the time it took to burn the eggplants (I used the roasting method which worked fine.) I did give it a quick blend in the food processor since I was worried the eggplant strands would be hard to eat. Compared to a traditional baba ghanoush recipe, I didn't miss the tahini at all.

  • Rutabaga on April 09, 2014

    I thought this had wonderful flavor, and loved the bright pop of the pomegranate seeds. My husband, on the other hand, wasn't a fan of the pomegranate, but actually preferred the unadorned eggplant. It's amazing how rich and silky the burnt eggplant becomes.

  • JLDuck on September 14, 2016

    Absolutely brilliant with the fish and caper kebabs.

  • WFPLCleanEating on November 13, 2015

    Kind of bland in flavor. (Rachel S-K)

  • clcorbi on August 15, 2017

    Yum. I made this for book club. I ran it through my food processor because my burnt eggplant didn't break down quite as much as I wanted. This got me a nice, scoopable texture. Also, I upped the garlic to 3 cloves, which I would do again. I served this with pita chips and everyone really seemed to enjoy it. Unfortunately, I didn't have any pomegranate seeds for the garnish, but I think the sweet/savory flavor would be lovely here so I'll make sure not to skip them next time. I added some sliced scallions as a garnish to compensate.

• Parsley & barley salad

  • JLDuck on July 23, 2018

    An excellent salad. I halved the spring onions and garlic in order to enhance the other tastes. Very easy to make.

  • pistachiopeas on March 23, 2017

    I added more barley to make this a main dish for a light dinner. Didn't have cashews, so added some toasted panko for crunch. The feta is especially delicious.

  • Hellyloves2cook on October 22, 2012

    Pg 81 An easy salad which is great at barbeques. It was still great to eat the following day.

  • TrishaCP on June 30, 2013

    Really enjoyed this salad. It is a tad on the heavy side in terms of feta- I only used 4 oz instead of the 5 called for in the recipe, but I think 3 oz is probably ideal. I know not everyone is a green pepper fan, but they are pretty unobtrusive here- really just adding crunch and freshness- so try not to omit them.

  • Aggie92 on June 30, 2013

    This was a very refreshing salad. We loved the marinated feta but felt it slightly overpowered the more delicate flavors of the barley and parsley. Next time I will probably use half the amount of feta. I couldn't be bothered to measure 3 oz. of parsley either so I just used one bunch which seemed to be enough for our taste. Watch the cooking time on the barley, mine were small and were cooked just right in 20 minutes. I also substituted lightly roasted walnuts for the cashews. I will definitely make this again.

  • westminstr on July 09, 2015

    I made this salad again and once again - fantastic. This time I subbed farro (cooks faster) and omitted the bell pepper. Kids wouldn't eat it but I loved it.

  • westminstr on January 22, 2013

    Really liked this salad (even though i had a cold). Easy to make and great for winter when it can be tough to find salad ingredients.

  • Jane on January 08, 2013

    This was a great salad and since I usually have all these ingredients in stock this will be a good standby dinner. Actually I missed out the green pepper as I didn't have (and never have) that but it seemed fine without it. It was very fresh tasting and the marinated feta added a good texture and flavor contrast.

  • Astrid5555 on September 07, 2013

    Made as a side for BBQ. Very refreshing, went with the green pepper even though I do not usually like it, really added some crunch. Even the biggest sceptics (who likes pearl barley at a BBQ?) could not stop eating. Will repeat again!

  • Melanie on October 04, 2014

    I love that everything in this dish is chopped up finely so that you get a good mix of flavours in each bite. Tastes very fresh and healthy.

• Chunky courgette & tomato salad

  • zorra on July 05, 2015

    Have a feeling you could stop at any point with this recipe & it would still be a welcome new way with zucchini. Omitted some ingredients due to lack or laziness. But the crunchy combination of grilled squash & tomatoes with garlicky yogurt was delicious. Even the leftovers were good cold.

  • lilham on June 29, 2013

    Delicious. I used golden syrup instead of date syrup. The yoghurt dressing is slightly sweet, which tastes a lot like yoghurt with thai sweet chilli sauce. I found walnuts bitter and will use less than suggested next time. I served this with fish finger baguettes for a lazy summer lunch.

  • westminstr on July 31, 2013

    Sadly, this one just didn't do it for us. Part of the problem was with my zucchini (lots of seeds), but we just didn't love the flavors of this dish. The walnuts, mint, sweet yogurt -- it just didn't all come together for us in a good way. My first recipe from the book that I definitely would not repeat.

  • mondraussie on July 05, 2015

    Also used golden syrup to good result. Loved the flavours in this.

• Tabbouleh

  • joyofcooking1931 on December 14, 2014

    Yum! This was so delicious! Tons of parsley, mint, and spices make this a really flavorful and refreshing tabbouleh. I ended up soaking my bulgur for a few minutes in boiling water (the recipe has you rinse the bulgur, but after I rinsed mine thoroughly it was still too hard. The recipe calls for fine bulgur, which is what I used, but the quick soak made all the difference. Otherwise, great recipe.

  • Astrid5555 on September 03, 2016

    Delicious! I also soaked my bulgur in boiling water for 5 minutes, was perfect. Lots of herbs, loved the addition of the baharat spice mix! Great with the optional pomegranate seeds. One of the best tabbouleh salads I have made so far.

  • Melanie on March 12, 2016

    This was delicious - I made in bulk for a party and it was a big hit. I skipped the optional pomegranate.

• Roasted potatoes with caramel & prunes

  • Lauraine on January 19, 2013

    Caramel on potatoes? It sounded a bit far fetched but turned out to be a stunning dish. I used Agria potatoes which are golden and floury, so they were really crunchy. I made the caramel several hours ahead and reheated it gently.

  • Boffcat on May 13, 2017

    I was too impatient with my caramel and burnt it, so improvised by instead tossing a good glug of date syrup through the potatoes for the final few minutes of roasting. The result was delicious and extremely popular, as well as healthier and simpler than the original recipe, so I'll definitely be making it this way again!

  • debnharold on January 07, 2014

    I made this using canola oil instead of goose fat (setting oven only to 450 because of smoke point of oil), and apricots instead of prunes....it was pretty amazing, but make sure to serve immediately.

• Swiss chard with tahini, yoghurt & buttered pine nuts

  • jenniesb on February 16, 2015

    Made this for Superbowl 2015. I made this in a dutch oven enameled pot and took it off the heat after sauteeing the pine nuts because the butter was starting to get really brown. I added the garlic and let it sweat off the heat, then put it back on and proceeded with the rest of the recipe. I also added currants to my version when the wine was cooking down - I love the savory-sweet contrast.

  • Rutabaga on February 16, 2015

    This a wonderful way to enjoy chard. The tahini yogurt sauce is also great for other dishes; we served it with the mejadra recipe in the book, as suggested by the authors, and that sauce definitely elevated the dish. You could also substitute other vegetables for the chard. Although this is a little more work than some vegetable side dishes, most of the work can be done in advance, and the final sautee of the garlic and chard takes no more than 10 minutes.

  • cultus.girl on November 27, 2018

    Great flavours. I agree it is a little time consuming however well worth it and I next time I would do the chopping well ahead.

  • adelina on November 21, 2016

    I like the sauce. My mom makes a similar recipe with spinach and serves with garlic yogurt. I agree that the chard was not chewy enough and next time I will.so I e the chard more thinly for cooking and don't forget using the most important ingredient -wine!

  • saladdays on January 15, 2014

    Definitely recommend serving this with mejadra which is also in this book, the pine nuts and tahini sauce are really excellent, mejadra can sometimes be dry so the sauce provides extra moisture.

  • chriscooks on October 31, 2015

    The sauce is fantastic. It can be used for lots of other purposes. The chard was a problem. I followed the directions closely but ended up with chewy chard that was unappealing. The flavors were great but the texture did not work. Maybe it depends on the age of the chard?

• Sabih

  • honeymilkyum on December 22, 2012

    Taste is incredible, we often add mango chutney on the sandwich too as an added oomph (not that it doesn't have enough ka-CHOW, but this sandwich deserves an overload of flavours I think!)

  • Barb_N on June 04, 2014

    There are many components to this dish so it helps if you have them made in advance- the zhoug (spicy herb sauce) and pickle in particular. I use my own Indian lime pickle that I make regularly. If you grill the eggplant in advance then assembly is simple. Each person can adjust the spice to their liking. You get a new flavor in every bite. Last night instead of eggs I borrowed part of this cookbook's open kibbeh recipe and made little meatballs.

• Latkes

  • Ladyredspecs on February 21, 2018

    A recipe that's simple to follow but despite using good quality ingredients the result tasted of neither potato or parsnip. Just a fritter

  • annapanna on August 30, 2013

    I used only oil for frying, otherwise followed the recipe to the letter. They turned out perfect, just like the picture. Lovely!

• Falafel

  • annapanna on September 28, 2014

    I have finally found a falafel recipe that works! If you mix the soaked chickpeas with the herbs and the onion first and then put that through the meat grinder (as Ottolenghi suggests twice) everything will blend really well. Make sure you leave the mixture to rest in the fridge. I didn't put as much water as suggested, as it looked already pretty wet - I actually added one last spoon of flour before forming the falafel. We had these with pita, chopped salad and tahini sauce, both also in Jerusalem.

  • twoyolks on April 27, 2013

    I had no problem getting the falafel to stick together but I did use a meat grinder to purée the chickpeas. The only issue I had was that I didn't mix the spices into the chickpea mixture well enough.

  • Astrid5555 on January 02, 2015

    I was surprised how easy they were to make. Used a meat grinder as stated, worked out very well! Delicious and very crunchy while fresh, but very dry a few hours later. These are meant to be eaten right away.

  • lilham on January 30, 2013

    This makes the driest and cruchiest falafels I've ever made. The mixture would not hold together when I dropped them into the pan. After three failed falafels, I added an egg into the mixture. That seemed to do the trick. Other posters on chowhound suggested adding more flour to bind the mixture together instead. Ottolenghi said to use oil at 180C. I don't have a thermometer so I can't tell the temperature of my oil, but it's far too hot. My falafels were a bit on the blackish side after 3 min in the oil. I might try pan frying next time.

  • NikkiPixie on November 16, 2014

    These were amazing, some of the best falafel I've had outside of the Middle East. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, but I don't have a meat grinder so used a mini food processor instead. I had no problem getting the falafel to stick together, although they were quite fragile until sealed in the hot oil. Much easier than I expected, will definitely repeat.

  • VineTomato on August 03, 2017

    I've cooked this three or four times and keep returning rather than trying a new recipe. It is really very good - we skip the cardamom powder (not a fan of the flavour) and increase the herbs to a good handful of each. We don't have a mincer and blending the chickpeas in batches with a hand blender (in the closed jug) works well.

  • shoffmann on August 12, 2017

    Excellent. Very crispy and good spice. I ended up adding a bit of extra flour to get these to stick together well enough to make it into the hot oil.

  • joyofcooking1931 on December 14, 2014

    These turned out quite delicious, but still not as good as I'd like them to be. My mixture was a bit too crumbly (not sure why--I used a food processor because I don't have a meat grinder handy, so maybe that was it?), but I added a bit more flour, and they held together just fine. I thought they were a bit on the dry side. Overall, though, a pretty decent recipe.

• Split wheat & Swiss chard with pomegranate molasses

  • Barb_N on June 04, 2014

    I have made this a couple times with wheat berries or whole grain barley- meh. With the pomegranate molasses I thought it would have more zing but it did not appeal.

  • Melanie on September 13, 2014

    I thought this was really tasty and made for a good side to the marinated roast lamb recipe from the Maha cookbook (sumac / cumin / garlic). I used a mix of freekah and pearl barley (adding the barley and part of the liquid later due to shorter cooking time). The tanginess of the molasses appealed although this dish certainly isn't a looker (explains why the book only has a before photograph). We managed to get 6 decent side servings from this recipe.

  • fprincess on November 09, 2016

    Recipe link: http://www.food.com/recipe/wheat-berries-with-swiss-chard-and-pomegranate-molasses-493794

• Balilah

  • westminstr on January 28, 2013

    Made a half recipe with a can of drained chickpeas, black pepper variation. So easy, so good!

  • onetui on January 08, 2013

    If you forget to soak the chickpeas or don't have time, use two 400g cans of chickpeas. So simple but so flavoursome.

• Basmati rice & orzo

  • Rutabaga on October 25, 2016

    Since my rice was done well before the rest of the meal, it sat in the covered pot off the heat for at least 15 minutes, which allowed it to continue slowly steaming. Otherwise, I think it would have likely been a little underdone and wet. It's a really nice basic recipe that goes well with a variety of cuisine, and adding the orzo is hardly more work than just cooking the rice.

  • Silverscreensuppers on August 09, 2016

    Love this way of fancying-up basmati rice a bit. Turned out perfectly.

  • Jane on January 14, 2013

    This was a very simple but satisfying side. It made a big difference in the cooking time of the rice to soak it for 30 minutes first. The addition of toasted orzo made the rice more interesting and didn't add much time to the cooking process.

  • ellabee on January 25, 2016

    Two posters in 2013 COTM thread had same experience w/underdone rice; solution was to increase chicken stock by 1/4 cup.

  • Delys77 on January 02, 2013

    Pg. 103 Once again, sometimes the simplest things are the best. I modified the recipe a little to take advantage of the rice cooker but I think the results were in line with what the recipe envisi0ned. Essentially I cooked the rice in the rice cooker in stock and then I took the orzo and toasted it in the fat, which I then added about 3/4 cup of broth to and simmered (hard simmer) for about 8 minutes till they were tender and most of the broth had evaporated. I then tossed the rice in and added a little bit more butter since the rice hadn't cooked with any butter, along with a pinch of salt. The result is a very nice rice with interesting texture and flavour from the nutty orzo. A small difference yes, but a very welcome one. Great basic recipe that would serve as a more interesting foil to many saucy dishes calling for a bed of rice.

• Saffron rice with barberries, pistachio & mixed herbs

  • Breadcrumbs on January 11, 2013

    p. 105 – Amazing dish! I did make some adaptations which I’ll share here: • No pistachios at the mkt so I omitted. I wasn’t too concerned about this since we were serving this dish w the Meatballs & Favas p.196 and we’d have plenty of contrasting flavours and textures from that dish. • I used my Zoji rice steamer to cook the rice. I used Tilda brown basmati. As a result my brown rice didn’t produce the same visual interest of contrasting colours in the finished dish but I was still pleased that you could easily differentiate the saffron-infused grains from the “naked” ones. • I used flat Italian parsley, fennel fronds and dill as my herbs This is the first time we’ve ever eaten barberries and we really liked them. They add a citrusy pop to the dish. The rice was sensational and I’d like to make it again and add some legumes, lentils perhaps. This is one of my favourites from the book thus far. Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/884301#7817550

  • TrishaCP on May 09, 2016

    This is incredibly delicious, even just using dill and cilantro as the herbs. The barberries were excellent in this-just bright pops of flavor.

  • WFPLCleanEating on November 13, 2015

    A Really good dish and so pretty too! (Rachel S-K)

  • Rutabaga on April 07, 2014

    This is a pretty easy rice dish to get the hang of, with beautiful results. I've made it when I have dill and parsley on hand because it's such a good way to use herbs, but I imagine it would really shine if made with the tarragon and chervil called for in the recipe. Definitely include the barberries if you can get them.

  • Barb_N on June 04, 2014

    I love the beauty of this dish (similar to a recipe appropriately called 'jewelled rice') and it is adaptable to ingredients you have on hand. A caution about barberries (which were hard to come by in my corner of Virginia)- rinse them well! Otherwise there will be little bits of grit among the jewels. An easy sub for them is currants.

  • Zosia on June 04, 2016

    As others have noted, this is a very pretty as well as delicious rice dish. With the tartness of the barberries, it's particularly good with rich protein dishes and without, it's a versatile side that goes with just about everything.

• Basmati & wild rice with chickpeas, currants & herbs

  • Zosia on April 04, 2017

    A really wonderful, flavourful side dish. As others have noted, it is quite labour intensive but it does make a huge amount and leftovers (with herbs and fried onions packed separately and stirred in at the last moment) reheated quite well at next day's lunch.

  • Jojobuch on July 24, 2017

    Flavourful recipe - as I couldn't find wild rice, I used just the basmati and it was still a good dish, though you may lose some of the "al dente" component without it.

  • Rutabaga on April 02, 2014

    What a fantastic rice dish! It's a little too labor intensive for a weeknight, but it's hearty enough that it could almost stand on its own, with just one or two simple side dishes. It also makes an elegant side dish for a more elaborate dinner.

  • mondraussie on November 22, 2014

    Definitely use a basmati/wild rice mix to save on cooking time. Fantastic rice dish, really wonderful flavours

  • Silverscreensuppers on August 09, 2016

    Lovely rice! I made this for a dinner party to go alongside some Indian spiced slow cooked lamb and it was a perfect combination. It's a nice fancy rice to make for an occasion...

  • Hannaha100 on September 18, 2017

    Used a wild rice/long grain mix 150g instead which takes 18 mins to boil. Added 200g cauliflower to water. Otherwise as written (but no dill). Enjoyed by all including toddler, and healthy! Will repeat. Might do a veg side as well next time.

  • twoyolks on November 15, 2016

    I didn't feel the rice had a lot of flavor. The spices added the chickpeas just didn't carry through to the rice. I think it'd be better if the rice was cooked in stock instead of water. I did like the addition of currants.

  • saladdays on August 20, 2013

    I made this with a packet of mixed basmati and wild rice, which made it quicker to prepare than cooking both types of rice separately. It makes a substantial side dish which we had with a hard-boiled egg to provide some protein. Another success from this wonderful book!

  • mfto on June 14, 2016

    p 106

  • anya_sf on May 30, 2017

    I made 1/2 recipe, which was plenty for 3 people. It's definitely time-consuming (although not difficult) to make all the various components, but the total combination of flavors was great. I did need to add more salt and pepper at the end. I might skip the fried onion next time just to avoid that extra work, but the flavor was definitely complementary to everything else. I think you could just do basmati rice and skip the wild rice without too much flavor loss. I served it with chicken sofrito, and they went well together, but this would go well with many other, simpler dishes, since this has a lot going on. I would consider increasing the herbs next time also.

• Barley risotto with marinated feta

  • lilham on January 30, 2013

    This is like a posh version of baked beans. It tastes just as good on reheat. (I refrigerate the feta separately from the risotto). Definitely make more so you have left overs for lunch.

  • Delys77 on January 18, 2013

    Pg. 109 This is a good vegetarian main course that mimics risotto but is much easier to make. The amount of cheese and oil seems high, but you will need it to offset the acidity of the tomato sauce. Make sure you dice the vegetables very small so they cook through. Nice simple dish.

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    Love a barley risotto. There are strong acidic flavors in this that may not be to everyone's taste, but I think it can be easily managed by omitting or adding to taste the lemon peel, feta, and caraway. (And I did omit caraway from my husband's since he is not a fan. Instead, I just topped his with feta and a dash of olive oil.)

  • westminstr on January 31, 2013

    Subbed parsley for oregano and didn't have caraway. Still good though. The feta makes the dish. However, next time don't try it with hulled barley! That stuff took forever to cook.

  • Lepa on February 12, 2017

    I love this dish. I would perhaps add slightly less caraway to the feta- and cut the quantity of feta in half- as we never eat that much feta with the risotto.

  • Bradley on October 25, 2018

    I love this recipe. It is simply stunning. Looks good - tastes great.

  • adelina on October 31, 2016

    Family liked it, especially my younger daughter. She had several servings and I had to tell her take a break. I loved the feta and will use it for other dishes as well. Instead of tomato passata, I used a big spoon of tomato paste.

  • joneshayley on May 03, 2015

    This is beautiful - the feta is delicious and makes this.

• Conchiglie with yoghurt, peas & chilli

  • Rutabaga on April 09, 2014

    To reiterate what others have already said: this dish is easy, tasty, and a refreshingly different way to serve pasta. It's a great way to use frozen peas when you don't have fresh vegetables on hand, and the spiced pine nuts really take the dish to a higher level.

  • pistachiopeas on May 25, 2015

    I like this dish a lot but I think it's very rich so I cut down on the cheese.

  • sosayi on November 27, 2018

    I know that I've made this once before, but I must have failed to write it up. As others have said, this is a silly-easy weeknight pasta dish with minimal prep. My yogurt sauce was a bit too loose (albeit using non-Greek yogurt), so I think that next time I'd just omit the olive oil. I've successfully made Diane Kochilas' Pasta with Yogurt and Caramelized Onions with the same yogurt, where you don't add oil, so I wonder if that would make it thicker. I loved the spicy pine nuts (which also add some oil), and I liked how many peas it incorparated! The picky preschooler liked helping make it, but refused to eat more than two bites (instead he had buttered noodles with feta), so I'll count it a partial win.

  • clcorbi on January 19, 2017

    Delicious and easy! As others have noted, this is very rich. I reduced both the yogurt and the feta, but feel I could reduce the yogurt even further next time. I used 1t of normal red pepper flakes--not the Turkish kind called for--and my pasta was quite spicy, so I would decrease those a bit next time. Also, note to self: take care not to over-fry the pine nuts.

  • westminstr on January 18, 2013

    Loved this. Very easy weeknight meal with frozen peas, very satisfying as a vegetarian, one-dish meal. 5/2018 update: 1/2 recipe is enough (with 10oz frozen peas). I still love this dish but kids refused to eat it.

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    This is a quick and easy main course vegetarian dish. Definitely week-night friendly. The sauce is puréed Greek yogurt, olive oil, garlic, and frozen peas. (I forgot to thaw the peas per instructions, but it wasn't a problem.) The sauce is combined with the pasta, more cooked peas, feta, basil (I subbed parsley since basil wasn't in season when I tried it), and white pepper (omitted). Finally, the whole dish is topped with chile coated pine nuts and their cooking oil (I used slivered almonds with Marash chile flakes), which add a needed crunch and punch of heat and shouldn't be missed. Unique and amazing- will definitely make it again.

  • Delys77 on April 09, 2013

    Pg. 111 This dish is a real winner. Comes together in about 30 minutes and has a good balance of veggies (peas and basil) and protein from the yogurt and feta. Loved the pinenuts in chile oil, and the rich texture of the sauce. It is different from any other pasta dish I have made and we really liked it. Used non fat yogurt and that worked fine.

  • twoyolks on August 05, 2013

    The combination of the Greek yogurt and the feta made the sauce extremely tangy, almost too much so.

  • lilham on January 30, 2013

    This is a very easy but satisfying one dish meal. I substitute the Turkish chilli flakes with Indian chilli flakes and a pinch of smoked paprika. I will also double the chilli pinenuts next time as they are really moreish. Also I wasn't organised enough to have defrosted frozen pea for the yoghurt sauce. So I cooked the entire amount of peas required in water and used cooked peas for the sauce, to no ill effect.

  • michalow on July 01, 2017

    I think this is just as good without the feta. Also, I've replaced the basil with lemon zest, and like the brightness it gives the dish.

• Basic hummus

  • mattlebaron on January 12, 2013

    Our kids haven't stopped eating this since we made it. Our oldest has been a big fan of hummus and I wanted to try something other than the supermarket fare. It was very easy to make and, to be frank, I'm not sure that I've ever had real hummus before - non-industrial that is. I found it to certainly taste different, which is understandable considering that there aren't any preservatives, etc, in our version. The other thing I quite liked is that it was very clean on the palate in my opinion. Unlike the lingering aftertaste in commercial versions, we found that it was nice and fresh. We'll mix in some roasted red peppers in the next batch.

  • Delys77 on January 23, 2013

    Pg 116 I've made hummus at home before, but only from canned chickpeas, and mostly in the blender. Well this recipe yield a much much better result. The flavour of the dried chickpeas is much better, and the texture that results from the long processing in the food processor, along with the drizzle of cold water makes for a silky smooth product. I much prefer this to any other hummus I have ever made. My only variation was that I cut back the tahini to just over a 1/3 cup. I know this is much less than he suggests but to be honest, while Iike the flavour of tahini, I don't want it to be the primary flavour note. With the amount I used it was perfect for us.

  • Astrid5555 on March 02, 2013

    Best home-made hummus ever! Very silky and smooth. Added a tsp of ground cumin, since I cannot do without. Great either way!

  • pomona on October 20, 2018

    Replaced lemon juice with preserved lemon.

  • twoyolks on January 13, 2014

    The texture on the hummus is perfect. However, the overwhelming flavor was of tahini. Neither the garlic nor the lemon juice was noticeable. I'd definitely consider adding more lemon juice in the future.

  • annapanna on June 16, 2013

    I had never made hummus before and was extremely pleased with the result. I used dried chickpeas as indicated in the recipe, cooked them for around 25 minutes. The skins were floating in the water and I tried to remove them as well as I could. I used 2 cloves of garlic instead of 4, 100g less Tahini than indicated as I was afraid its taste would be too strong. I would advise to start with much less than in the recipe and then adjust the quantity based on personal taste. The mixture was really thick at first so I added a bit more ice water. The hummus turned out super silky and smooth, one of the best ones I have ever had.

  • TrishaCP on April 19, 2014

    This made for a wonderfully smooth and silky hummus. But the final product was bland and disappointing. This recipe was really lacking acid, even after increasing the lemon juice to 2 lemons worth (and I had juicy lemons). I also reduced the tahini and that didn't help the flavors pop either.

  • Lindsay on March 27, 2014

    Fabulous and pure. Added cumin (1 tablespoon).

  • IvyManning on June 16, 2013

    Good recipe, nice and silky smooth. It set up quite a bit after it was chilled, though, so I needed to add more ice water, lemon, and oil.

  • milgwimper on July 27, 2014

    The baking soda made the chickpeas explode in the pressure cooker. It was beautifully smooth and we mixed it in the vitamix. I think I will add cumin, lemon and garlic. We will be making it again. :)

  • radishseed on January 13, 2014

    I made several hummus recipes for a taste test, and this came in last place. Too thick, too much tahini. I also think five minutes in the food processor is overkill.

  • Rutabaga on May 03, 2017

    Firstly, this hummus was amazingly silky smooth. I didn't have as much tahini on hand as called for in the recipe, so only used about half the amount called for, which was fine, but I think I'd prefer it with more. My big mistake, though, was not adding additional water. Immediately after blending, the mixture seemed loose enough, so I left it as is, albeit with a little extra lemon juice and olive oil stirred in. But after time in the refrigerator, the hummus became very hard and even at room temperature lacked the creamy softness it should have had. This made it far less appealing to my family. I will definitely add additional water next time.

  • PinchOfSalt on May 11, 2013

    Excellent! Silky and with a wonderful toasty flavor I have not experienced in hummus before. I made this in my Vitamix. Using the amount of water called for in the recipe resulted in an extremely thick paste and a very noisy blender! I backed out about 2/3 of the hummus, added some water, blended a bit, and then re-added the reserved extra thick mixture in two batches. The results were excellent. Next time I do this in my Vitamix I will put in the liquid first.

  • k.a.g on June 03, 2013

    I have made a lot of hummus before, and this is the best technique I have come across - the result was incredibly smooth and silky. As for quantities, I think for hummus you really have to follow your nose, and make something you'll be happy with (e.g. there's no way I could handle all the garlic and tahini in Ottolenghi's recipe, but by reducing them and increasing the salt and lemon I ended up with something perfect... for me, that is!). So I'll be fiddling with the proportions, but I will absolutely definitely be preparing the hummus Ottolenghi's way from now on.

  • VineTomato on August 03, 2017

    Very silky and smooth - I'm impressed. Only used 60g of tahini as did not have a light version and I was worried it would over power the dish. I added more lemon and used less garlic. Wonderful with some toasted pinenuts and olive oil sprinkled at the end.

  • CAMcooks on March 05, 2017

    This is my go to hummus recipe. I make my own tahini and never have a problem with it being overwhelming. I do add more garlic and lemon. I also only ever make it in my food processor when it is done it seems a little thin but, when chilled, sets up very nicely. I have had people who don’t like hummus rave about this one.

• Hummus kawarma (lamb) with lemon sauce

  • HarvestingDinner on November 23, 2018

    Absolutely loved the flavours of this dish. It’s a bit involved and needs to be started a day ahead (I found the marinated lamb flavour better after a full 24 hiurs). I would double even triple the lamb and lemon sauce to serve as a main because it’s so good!

  • thekitchenchronicles on December 08, 2014

    Love, love, love. Best hummus recipe I've ever come across and the toppings are great. The lamb is so flavorful and the lemon sauce complements the richness of the dish perfectly. Wrote it up on my blog: http://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2014/12/08/hummus-kawarma-with-lemon-sauce/

  • KarinaFrancis on October 18, 2015

    Wow!! Absolutely loved this dish! I used my family hummus recipe, so really only made the topping. The combination of the 3 elements was outstanding. I might never go back to plain hummus

  • laurenlangston on August 07, 2016

    Yes! Stunning. I made it on one big platter and it was gorgeous. Used arm instead of neck at butcher's recommendation since they didn't have neck; made za'atar with fresh herbs instead of dried, used all black pepper instead of black + white, sherry vinegar instead of white wine vinegar. After browning the lamb I also put a dash of water in the pan to scrape up the fond, let that reduce for a minute, and poured over the lamb along with the lemon sauce. We all agreed that this should happen again.

  • okcook on August 11, 2015

    The flavours are delicious. Lots of complexity. For some reason my hummus was not as runny as the picture so will add some water next time. Also, the cookbook picture shows olive oil drizzled over the dish on serving but the instructions do not mention that. This is definitely a do again. I think you could use chopped lamb shoulder if you ca't source neck.

  • RosieB on August 09, 2015

    Absolutely delicious. The hummus must be the best you can make. The lamb was tender and tasty and the lemon sauce nicely cuts through the fat from the lamb. This will become a staple for sure as it is pretty easy to prepare though you do have to soak the chickpeas overnight.

  • Dishyrishie on March 15, 2015

    Brilliant crowd-pleaser. simply, tasty and kid-friendly.

  • Delys77 on January 23, 2013

    Pg. 118 Delicious plate of hummus and seasoned lamb with a tangy sauce. I thought that this topping combined with the super smooth hummus was delicious. You can definitely go with the full pepper in the lemon sauce, but be light handed with the lemon sauce when you drizzle. Great dish!

• Warm chickpeas with hummus & toasted pita (Musabaha)

  • annapanna on September 28, 2014

    I just made the tahini sauce described here, to eat with Falafel. Simple and good.

• Mejadra

  • Delys77 on January 24, 2013

    Pg. 120 For us this was ok but not great. I don't believe I followed the recipe closely and I don't think I made any mistakes, but we still found the dish a little bland despite the spices. The onions were a huge hit, but individual bites of the dish that were devoid of onion were also light on flavour. Perhaps you could up the onion and lightly grind the spices to release a bit of the flavour, also serve with heaping amounts of yogurt as the dish is a little dry.

  • lilham on January 30, 2013

    Love this. I used a rice cooker for the rice, instead of doing it on the stove top. Toast the cumin and coriander seeds on a pan, then add to the rice cooker with the rice and spices. Boil lentils for about 12min. Coat onions in flour and salt, and fry until crisp. I used only one tiny onion (was making half recipe), so I did all the onions in one batch. All of these can be done while the rice is in the rice cooker, with time spare to cook some veg (and probably make the yoghurt with cucumber as suggested).

  • saladdays on August 28, 2013

    This is becoming a favourite mid-week supper as it can be made from ingredients that I always have in the cupboard. The onions are delicious, difficult not to keep sampling them while cooking the rest of the dish! Keep an eye on the liquid while cooking the rice and lentils together, it may need topping up if you have very absorbent lentils.

  • TippyCanoe on April 23, 2013

    This is a spicier Mejadra than the versions I have made before, but it was a great hit at our house. I will make this again. I liked the faster technique for cooking onions (toss in flour, cook at a fairly high heat) as I have only done the long, slow method before.

  • lizwinn on December 25, 2015

    This was a big hit at a party. My husband, who has been on a Paleo diet for over a year without 'cheating', ate four servings. Even the less adventurous eaters among the group were digging in. Will definitely make again.

  • lorloff on May 02, 2016

    Absolutely great dish would definitely make again. Ramps were in season so added sautéed ramps. I fried the ramp white parts together with the onions. I added the ramp greens at the end just as I finished the dish. It was a very good dinner party hit would make again

  • TrishaCP on March 21, 2016

    I really enjoyed the flavors here (I reduced the cinnamon to 1tsp based on previous comments). It took me forever to cook the onions, perhaps because I stinted on the oil, but it took me well over an hour to get them all fried in three batches, not the 7-8 minutes per batch as the recipe indicates. (They really do make the dish though.)

  • radishseed on March 14, 2014

    The fried onions here are wonderful. The dish as a whole came out a little dry for my taste (though that is remedied with a big scoop of yogurt on top), and next time I think I would prefer ground coriander to whole seeds, and I might cut back on the cinnamon.

  • vinochic on October 22, 2013

    Really good flavor.. I followed exactly but used brown rice. I adjusted the amount of water to accommodate the brown rice, but should have added the lentils near the end (they came out a bit mushy).

  • Breadcrumbs on January 08, 2013

    p. 120 Fabulous! We thoroughly enjoyed this dish. I decided to do the rice in my Zoji steamer. I toasted the seeds as described and placed them, along with the remaining spices into the rice cooker along w the Zoji suggested amount of water. The aromas coming from Zoji were so enticing. The combination of spices infused the air with such a sweet, exotic fragrance that had everyone commenting how lovely the house smelled. While the rice cooked, I boiled the (green) lentils as set out in the book and once they were drained, I tossed them into the cooked rice along w approx 1 tbsp of EVOO. I didn’t feel any additional oil was needed after doing a quick taste test. I decided to fry the onions to order so I just did enough for this meal. I used a mandoline to slice. They really are delicious and, added a nice crunchy texture. Leftovers are great for breakfast w a runny egg atop and a little Sriracha! Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/884301#7810778

  • joneshayley on May 03, 2015

    Nice but overall blander than I expected. The onions are delicious but a lot of effort- to me a weekend dish to serve with other mezze.

  • Rutabaga on February 16, 2015

    I served this with the chard with tahini yogurt sauce recipe that is also found in this book. As others have noted, this dish is rather dry, so I highly recommend topping it with the tahini yogurt sauce or plain Greek yogurt. I used French green lentils, and even though I only had a cup, there were more than enough lentils in the dish. I boiled the lentils for 15 minutes before adding them with the rice, and they were nicely cooked "al dente" in the finished dish. The fried onions were delicious, and really made the dish, but be sure to allow for time to fry them; I used a 12 inch sautee pan and fried them in four batches, which took me almost 40 minutes total. The dish was even a hit with my three-year-old, who loved mixing in his own tahini sauce.

  • clcorbi on April 28, 2017

    Yum. I also reduced the cinnamon. I actually made a half-recipe, and I'm glad I did, because there are only two of us and we still ended up with a huge amount of leftovers. This is nice comfort food, not the most earth-shattering thing I've ever eaten, but the crispy fried onions alone make this worth it. The leftovers were still tasty too, even though obviously the onions had lost their crispness.

  • Brieforme on March 24, 2015

    Brilliant with the fried tomatoes, and some mint yoghurt. Delicious.

  • adelina on November 13, 2016

    I tried doubling the recipe and think my pot was too small and had difficulty with cooking the rice in 15 min. It took me almost double the time. Otherwise, the seasoning combination was good. I served with tomato and lettuce salad to lessen the dryness

• Maqluba

  • JLDuck on March 22, 2016

    Agree that more seasoning would be a good idea. Also suggest grill rather than fry vegetables. It does work!

  • jbny on October 18, 2015

    Needs more seasoning. Don't use too much stock (may have to push everything down more to cover the rice)

  • RosieB on September 01, 2013

    This dish was fantastic. The recipe looks complicated but is not difficult. it takes a while to prepare the components. I made it in a heavy based SKG frying pan which I buttered before assembling the layers. It held together perfectly when turned out. It looked spectacular and the flavours were great. I will definitely make again.

• Couscous with tomato and onion

  • TrishaCP on June 29, 2013

    This is a very flavorful side. The wow factor of this dish is the crust that develops after you put the cooked couscous mixture in a pan to brown (kind of similar to the idea of tadig in Persian cooking). The recipe calls for low heat, but like Jane, I had to move mine up to a higher temp (medium) to get any color. No problems for me with unmolding, but do try and use your most non-stick pan for this one.

  • Jane on January 28, 2013

    This was a good way to liven up what can be a rather bland starch, It was pretty quick though I had an issue with the bottom of the couscous "cake" browning at the lowest heat possible (authors' instruction). It didn't help that I hadn't noticed the flame had gone out (don't you hate it when that happens?) but when I started it up again there was no way it was going to get a crunchy browned crust on the bottom with minimal heat. Turning the heat up worked well. It didn't turn out of the pan in a neat shape either, but it tasted good anyway. I served it with the Turkey and courgette burgers with spring onions and cumin on p.200.

  • a2cook on June 10, 2016

    One of the best things I've ever eaten. Even better with sun-dried tomato paste. Used in-season tomatoes the first time I made this, and Pomi boxed crushed tomatoes the next time, and it was just as good!

• Watercress & chickpea soup with rose water & ras el hanout

  • TippyCanoe on April 23, 2013

    Fantastic, fast & easy recipe. The soup is fairly thin with a great, rich flavor. I liked the spiced chickpea and carrot condiment, but it is the soup itself that is the star here. I will make it again. (The prepared ras el hanout that I found in my local store was extremely expensive, so I made my own using an internet recipe. It used spices that I already had and tasted great. This spice blend is only used in the roasted carrot & chickpea condiment and the soup can be made without it.)

• Hot yoghurt & barley soup

  • TrishaCP on June 27, 2013

    This soup was easily prepared and the technique of adding the egg to the yogurt and slowly incorporating the hot barley liquid kept it from breaking- my soup had a great consistency. Flavor wise, I found it ok- the book says the chopped herbs are optional but I really think you need them (whatever combo you want).

  • Barb_N on June 04, 2014

    I agree with TrishaP- the creaminess of this soup is appealing. Even with the herbs the flavors are VERY mild. I would consider adding lemon juice for some tang next time.

• Cannellini bean & lamb soup

  • clcorbi on January 02, 2017

    This is a nice, comforting stew. I wasn't blown away by it, but it is definitely tasty and winter-appropriate. We made many of the same changes as Westminstress--no cannellini beans so I used dried chickpeas, and no cardamom pods so we used ground. Rather than buying a whole celery root to only use 1/4 of it in this recipe (which seemed silly), I used an equivalent amount of diced celery, which I already had. I also took a particularly lazy approach with the lamb--I was using a pound of bone-in shoulder chops, so rather than attempting to cube them while raw, I threw them into the water whole and left them that way for the entire cook time, only taking them out at the end to remove the bones and shred them. This worked perfectly and kept me from having to struggle with deboning raw meat. Served with naan and the cauliflower hazelnut salad from this book, this made a nice winter dinner, but I'm not sure I was wowed enough to make this stew again.

  • sosayi on May 16, 2018

    A good lamb stew. I made some changes (thanks fellow EYBers): whole lamb shanks, which I browned and cooked in the stew until tender and then shredded it and put back in, which took about 3 hours; celery instead of celery root; cassoulet beans instead of cannellini, as that's what I had on-hand. I also served it with the suggested Zhoug, instead of just lemon and cilantro. I feel I would have liked the soup without it, but I loved it with it. It elevated what was a good, but basic lamb stew into something with even greater depth of flavor and interest.

  • westminstr on April 13, 2015

    I made this with my leftover Easter lamb-bone and the leftover meat that was clinging to it. I subbed chickpeas for cannellini, waxy instead of floury potatoes, and used ground cardamom because that's what I had on hand. Everything else as written. To make, I put the lamb bone and the unsoaked chickpeas in a pot with 8 cups of cold water, added everything else, then put the potatoes in when the chickpeas were soft. It took about three hours to cook. The most surprising thing was the way that the 20 whole garlic cloves just disappeared into the stew. Where did they go? The stew didn't have a strong garlicky flavor, but was very deeply savory between the garlic, meat, and chickpea broth. This was a good soup, I would do it again if I had another lamb bone to contend with. The kids didn't like it that much though. O especially is not into stews.

  • anya_sf on April 12, 2017

    I used small white beans. Also added 8 oz baby spinach at the end. Otherwise followed recipe exactly. Served with lemon and cilantro as suggested. The whole family loved it; 3 of us finished the whole thing.

  • purrviciouz on December 19, 2018

    We really enjoyed this and the addition of zhoug and lemon juice really enhanced the flavors. This was a very comforting dish. I used beef instead of lamb and added some extra beans.

• Pistachio soup

  • dinnermints on July 10, 2016

    Very, very rich. Eight servings would probably be better.

  • peaceoutdesign on March 12, 2017

    Fantastic soup but I would like to try roasting and rolling to get the skins off otherwise I'm not sure that it is worth it. Instead of sour cream, I used Mexican crema.

• Tomato & sourdough soup

  • dinnermints on October 08, 2017

    Served as a starter soup; guests did like it. And it was really simple to put together. I used canned diced fire-roasted tomatoes for canned tomato bit.

  • Delys77 on January 02, 2013

    Pg. 143 Delicious little tomato soup that has a slightly richer and thicker feel due to the addition of the bread. Also, I found that the soup, while it remained tomatoey, had several other flavour nuances from the whole cumin and the sourdough. This is something I quite liked, but Spencer noted that he missed the dominant tomato flavour of other tomato soups I had made in the past. For me however this was a successful variation on an old classic.

• Spicy freekeh soup with meatballs

  • Melanie on August 15, 2013

    Make this one again - the squeeze of lemon at the end makes it a winner. I used minced beef (next time work the meat more so that they hold together); whole freekeh instead of cracked; and used fresh parsley only (substituting for the fresh coriander).

  • Maura on February 12, 2013

    Delicious! Doubled the meatballs as recipe doesn't make that many.

  • juliejean1 on February 16, 2015

    I used extra meat and ended up with 15 meatballs, which seemed like plenty. I used about 14 ounces canned whole tomatoes and two small fresh tomatoes and just 3 cups hot water. Love this.

  • TrishaCP on December 21, 2014

    This was hearty and satisfying. The "spicy" in the title refers to a predominant flavor of warm spices- there wasn't any heat in this recipe. (Make sure you like your Baharat blend-it is the dominant flavor.) While the soup is intended to be thick, I added an extra cup of stock and that consistency worked for me.

  • Rutabaga on October 31, 2016

    This is a beautiful warm and fragrant soup that is hearty enough to be a light meal all on its own. I made approximately 1.5x the recipe, and found it to be fairly brothy, although generously studded with veggies and freekeh. Our whole family, including my in-laws - and even our ten-month-old! - enjoyed it, although our five-year-old needed some prodding at first.

  • joneshayley on March 14, 2018

    My family loves this. Deeply warming, richly spiced sweet and savoury. Perfect winter fayre. The meat balls are tender and untuos, the freekah nutty and light- I’ll make this over and over again .

  • yassoma on April 11, 2017

    Fantastic soup. Despite me making a mistake and adding the flour and oil TO the meat mixture! It ended up working beautifully because the meatballs barely held together even with the flour. I can imagine they will easily fall apart without it. I also used 1.5x the amount of beef required, just to make it more substantial, and I made around 40-45 small meatballs out of that. It's oh so good. That squeeze of lemon before you devour it takes it to another level in my opinion. I used my mother's homemade baharat (she toasts and grinds spices herself).

  • Zosia on January 06, 2018

    Family loved this soup flavoured with warm spices balanced by acidic notes from the tomato and lemon. I increased the meatballs as this was meant to be a meal in a bowl and replaced the freekeh with farro.

  • tmitra on September 12, 2017

    Based on the notes below, I was excited about this. I followed the recipe (and the book's baharat recipe) as written, just substituting bulgur for freekeh and reducing the simmering time accordingly. I found the flavors to be surprisingly generic, despite the lemon squeeze.

  • e_ballad on July 05, 2017

    Big bold flavours, making this a perfect winter warmer. I'd also recommend doubling the meatballs if you want a 'meal in a bowl'.

  • JLDuck on May 24, 2016

    Agree re the lemon. It is a fantastic soup made superlative with the squeeze of lemon.

• Lamb stuffed quince with pomegranate & coriander

  • Trea on July 10, 2014

    This dish has become a favorite at home. I've changed it by cutting the amount of quinces by 1/3 which I blitz (all the quinces) in the food-processor rather than stuff.

  • Boffcat on February 24, 2017

    I found this a little disappointing - although nice it wasn't special, which it would have needed to be to merit repeating given the graft in preparing the quinces.

• Turnip & veal 'cake'

  • MissQuin on August 25, 2014

    This makes waaaay more than 4 serves. Could easily feed 6 - and they would still be very generous serves. Luckily it's delicious so we don't mind eating in for the next few days. I didn't have any tamarind on hand so used a combination of pomegranate molasses and lemon juice and reduced the sugar a little instead.

• Stuffed onions

  • Barb_N on November 09, 2014

    I made a variation of the variation- minced lamb instead of beef. I also used par-boiled wild rice instead of white rice. This was everything I envisioned and won high praise. Several fussy steps but none too difficult; I think the vegetarian version will be a stunning Thanksgiving side dish. I added tomato paste to the left-over stuffing to make a Moussaka recipe I found online.

• Open kibbeh

  • Rutabaga on April 09, 2014

    I enjoy finding creative new dishes to use ground turkey, which I substituted for the lamb in this recipe. It works wonderfully, making a warm, comforting dish with a little flavor boost from the tahini (which also keeps the dish from being too dry) and extra crunch from the pine nuts. This is also a convenient dish to make ahead.

  • Jojobuch on January 05, 2018

    Great flavours, loved the dish! The only thing I would change is skipping the final baking step with the tahini sauce. My sauce turned into a bit of a dry disk on top of the layer of lamb; I would much prefer it being runny, as it is before you bake it.

  • Barb_N on June 04, 2014

    I thought this was delicious if a bit ambitious for a weeknight. Do not skimp on the spices even though it seems like a lot. I am not used to using these spices in savory dishes but I have become a convert.

  • Foodycat on August 16, 2018

    Turned out I didn't have bulgur, so I substituted kasha - which was too coarse to bind as well as the bulgur, but it held together enough to be sliceable and the flavour worked very well. All the flavours of kibbeh and a lot less fiddle to make.

  • Astrid5555 on September 03, 2016

    Made for a dinner party, perfect to prepare in advance and just pop in the oven when needed. Loved the lamb part with its spices, next time would probably reduce the bulgur. Big hit with the guests!

• Kubbeh hamusta

  • okcook on June 27, 2013

    The overall flavour was nice. However, there was not enough dough to use all the filling. I had at least half of the filling left.

• Ruth's stuffed Romano peppers

  • DeborahBluhm on July 13, 2014

    We had this at the finish of Yom Kippur to break the fast. It was stunning! Will definately make again.

• Stuffed aubergine with lamb & pine nuts

  • JLDuck on July 12, 2016

    Go crazy with the spices. I almost doubled the quantity and it was still delicious.

  • raybun on September 18, 2016

    This dish was such a success! I loved the flavour combination of the spices with the lamb, and texture of the soft and slightly caramelized aubergine. The foil shifted during the second bake so my sauce unfortunately evaporated so make sure your dish is well sealed.

  • raybun on June 23, 2017

    I made this again, only this time using little Indian aubergines. I also upped the sauce slightly and reduced the cooking time by 20 minutes. They were so delicious, and I appreciated having the extra tangy tamarind sauce that evaporated last time. Side note: pine nuts have gotten so expensive!

  • KarinaFrancis on April 21, 2013

    Loved it!! The sweetnes and the spices made this more than a humble stuffed eggplant. I had a fair bit of stuffing left over so I used it as the base for a pilaf to serve with the eggplants and it worked surprisingly well (not the overkill I expected). I served it with a big blob of natural yougurt, which was a great contrast. Note for next time, score the eggplants before baking so the filling has something to grab onto.

  • okcook on August 03, 2013

    Very yummy. I used smaller Japanese eggplants from my garden so did not cook them as long as the recipe called for. This is a make again for sure.

  • TrishaCP on November 14, 2013

    Savory and delicious. Like most other recipes from this book, the spicing is spot on and wonderful. However, it is not the prettiest of dishes. The eggplant isn't hollowed out, so there isn't really anywhere for the stuffing to go but right on top, and it doesn't sink down either. Doesn't impact the taste or cooking, but hard to make it pretty. (I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the eggplant was hollowed out in the book photo.)

  • Delys77 on August 09, 2016

    The lamb toping for this is delicious and adhered to the eggplant fairly well as I had scored my eggplant. My only challenge is that I found my Eggplants a touch thick and so the end result had a bit too much of the mushy eggplant texture. If I were to repeat I might slice the eggplant into three pieces and either discard or use the centre slice to make for a thinner base.

  • chawkins on September 18, 2017

    Delicious! The hands off oven time for this dish is quite long, including the pre-roasting of the halved eggplants, it was close to two hours. The Italian eggplant that came out of the garden this year is so creamy and the fillings provided a contrast in texture. I scored the cut surface of the eggplant before roasting and the fillings adhered to the eggplant quite well, the sauce thickened nicely during the bake.

• Stuffed artichokes with peas & dill

  • okcook on June 26, 2013

    Delicious. The lemony poaching liquid is addicting. I found that the liquid did not reduce as much as the recipe indicated. Found some frozen artichoke hearts at the store which made this a very fast recipe to put together.

• Braised quail with apricots, currants & tamarind

  • tmitra on April 20, 2016

    Per the recipe, boneless chicken thighs work well.

  • JLDuck on April 27, 2017

    Chicken stock makes a richer sauce. More chilli also works

• Roasted chicken with clementines & arak

  • MmeFleiss on April 02, 2015

    6 tablespoons arak = 6 tablespoons plain vodka + 3/4 teaspoons powdered star anise.

  • cultus.girl on September 03, 2015

    Lovely lovely dish and had all guests raving on a cold winter's night. Don't seem to be able to get clementines where we live so substituted honey murcott mandarins which have enough body and sweetness to hold their own.

  • cultus.girl on May 16, 2018

    Superb flavours in this dish. Have made on a number of occasions for friends and always a hit. Used Pernod instead of Arak.

  • stef on November 27, 2017

    Another yes for this wonderful dish

  • WFPLCleanEating on November 13, 2015

    This a great dish when you need to do the prep ahead as it marinates for up to 24 hours then all gets tipped into a roasting pan. I loved the combination of fennel, ouzo and fennel seeds with the clementines. The anise flavor is more subtle than you would expect from 3 anise ingredients. - Jane

  • stockholm28 on December 31, 2013

    Very good dish. I used ouzo and a cut-up whole chicken. I don't like ouzo, but it is very subtle in this dish. If I made this again, I'd probably use all thighs as the breasts were a bit dry the next day.

  • purpleshiny on May 28, 2013

    This is absolutely lovely and really very easy. Used Ouzo as I couldn't find Arak locally. Served with quinoa. My sauce cooked down in the oven to the point where there was nothing to reduce - think I will add more liquid next time. I use a very dark roasting pan - I'm sure that's the reason.

  • Barb_N on March 25, 2014

    I have been eyeing this recipe for over a year- when I came across a bag of organic clementines, I knew it was time. No arak of course (I have sources who smuggle it in from Lebanon but not recently) so I used Sambuca. Otherwise followed recipe as written. At the 75 minute mark I removed the nicely browned chicken thighs (they were gigantic as thighs go) and left the fennel and clementines for another 30 minutes in the sauce. Only then was the fennel tender. The sauce was not thickened but was covered by an unappealing layer of fat (probably mostly the olive oil from the marinade and a bit of chicken fat). But, by now we were TIRED and ready to eat so instead of reducing said sauce I skimmed it instead and served it over the chicken and purchased Israeli couscous salad with almonds and dried cranberries with a side of golden beet salad with horseradish vinaigrette. A tasty but not quick meal.

  • Barb_N on March 25, 2014

    With another snow storm upon us at least we had sunshine looking up at us from the plate. Like TrishaCP I did not find the anise overpowering- just a side note to the citrus. I would definitely make this for company- it's delicious and beautiful.

  • Breadcrumbs on January 08, 2013

    p. 179 Outstanding dish! It’s a pleasure to prepare, aromatic while roasting and, a sheer delight to eat. • I used 6 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs and wished I’d added more • All ingredients were combined in an extra-large (Ikea) zippered bag and marinated in the fridge for approx 8 hours. We turned the bag twice during this period. • I used ouzo • I likely reduced my sauce by half vs 1/3 as suggested. I wanted to achieve a thicker texture and was very pleased w our results. We thought this was sensational. The sauce was outstanding, citrusy w a strong fennel flavour that we absolutely love. We served this w the Mujadara and drizzled a little sauce atop of that as well. Pure heaven. Honestly.

  • westminstr on January 31, 2013

    One of my favorite chicken dishes ever! 3/6/2018 - made again and can't believe I waited so long! Once again I think it's one of the best chicken dishes I've ever made. I may try lining the pan with foil next time as I used parchment and most of the marinade ran underneath the parchment and charred.

  • featherbooks on March 16, 2018

    Another vote for a delicious Ottolenghi dish. We agree with this cook about leaving fruit in longer: "At the 75 minute mark I removed the nicely browned chicken thighs (they were gigantic as thighs go) and left the fennel and clementines for another 30 minutes in the sauce. Only then was the fennel tender."

  • Jane on November 08, 2015

    I've been meaning to make this for ages and I don't know why it took me so long. It was so easy and the results were great. Everything is prepped ahead then left to marinate then roasted. Served with a bulghur pilaf, this is one of the best effort to results ratio meals.

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    If you eat chicken, I can highly recommend this recipe-one of those wonderful Ottolenghi flavor combinations- in this case with citrus and anise. Chicken is marinated in orange and lemon juices with any type of anise liquor- I didn't have arak so used Herbsaint, but Pernod or ouzo would work too. It is then roasted with sliced clementines (I had tangerines so that is what I used) that caramelize and taste so floral and wonderful. Fennel and fennel seeds are added too, but the final anise favor is milder than I would have guessed, so don't let that scare you off. I served with barley couscous, and the nutty sweetness was perfect with this dish.

  • twoyolks on January 13, 2014

    The best part of this was the sauce; the savory, citrus, and sweet flavors balance well together. I may have overcrowded my baking pan a bit but the chicken skin was flabby and not particularly browned. Not all of the fennel cooked all the way through. I'm still not entirely sure what the purpose of the clementines is (to eat, to add seasoning to the sauce?).

  • Delys77 on January 09, 2013

    Pg 179 We loved this dish. The first major point in its favour is the ease of preparation. Just toss the ingredients into a bowl to marinate and then roast, with a brief reduction of sauce at the end. The flavours compliment each other very nicely, with a great balance between the anise and citrus flavours. I must admit I forgot to reduce the sauce at the end so my chicken was a little under salted, but I believe that had I reduced the sauce it would have given the chicken just the right amount of salt once it had been sauced. The other major advantage is the fact that the dish has you roast chicken and vegetables together, I added a basic israeli couscous and the meal was complete.

  • Astrid5555 on January 10, 2016

    As pointed out by all the other reviewers before, this is an amazing, company-worthy dish with very little hands-on time invloved. Can't wait to make it again!

  • lilham on January 30, 2013

    I found roasted unpeeled clementines bitter. So I substituted with peeled, sliced clementines. The resulting fruit is sweet and jammy. But we like our food a bit on the sweeter side.

  • PFP on April 11, 2014

    This is a wonderful dish for holidays -- I will be serving it for the Seder this year. It is easy to prepare in large quantity, can be made ahead and the slight bitterness of the charred Clementines balances the richness of the flavors and the gravy. I made it last week, put it into vacuum sealed bags -- white meat in some, dark in others -- and I will be able to rehead them in a sous vide bath so that they don't overcook. Makes serving so easy and no pots or pans to clean up.

  • aargle on July 04, 2018

    I was very pleased with myself after making this. It was so easy but so delicious. I has to substitute mandarins for the clementines as they are impossible to find which is why I resisted making this for so long but I needn’t have worried. Used Ouzo instead of Arak and spread it over two baking trays.

• Roasted chicken with Jerusalem artichoke & lemons

  • twoyolks on November 08, 2013

    The various flavors in the recipe never really melded together. The chicken ended up relatively bland and under seasoned. I did marinate the chicken overnight.

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    I love chicken flavored with lemon, and I liked this version but it was a bit of a letdown after the version with arak and clementines, which I loved. However, the Jerusalem artichokes are amazing, and work really well with all of the flavors and I will definitely make these again, if not the chicken. (Potatoes would be good in this too.)

  • westminstr on January 28, 2013

    YUM! the jerusalem artichokes are SO good prepared this way. Time consuming though (lots of chopping)!

  • purpleshiny on May 28, 2013

    I've made this twice - once with the ingredients I had on hand (subbing szechuan peppercorns for the pink peppercorns and tumeric for saffron) and once as written. It's good both ways, but it's definitely worth seeking out the saffron and pink peppercorns. My favorite way to use sunchokes so far.

  • adelina on October 23, 2016

    I made this tonight for dinner but with a few modifications. I swapped potatoes for Jerusalem artichokes since I did not have any. I parboiled the potatoes and took the same steps as the artichoke seasoning. I followed the instructions on the chicken closely and added a little turmeric per one of the recommendations. I also added some parsley, and generously salted the chicken .I used tricolor peppercorns since did not want to handpicked.only the reds. I covered the chicken with onions and added the parboiled potatoes around the chicken and followed instructions of roasting for 45 minutes at 475. I did not cover the pan with foil since the onions helped be the protector of chicken. Very much success and everyone loved it.

  • purrviciouz on December 19, 2018

    This took a long time to get everything together for the marinade but after that it was hands off so perfect for company. I made this twice, the first time with lemons and parsnips since the grocer didn't have jerusalem artichokes and the second time with clementines and jerusalem artichokes. I think any root vegetable would work well here. I preferred it with lemon.

• Poached chicken with sweet spiced freekeh

  • joneshayley on December 04, 2016

    Followed the recipe to the letter and loved this. Very delicately spiced chicken, beautiful freekah. Absolute knock out

  • Jane on January 21, 2013

    This was very easy, manageable as a weeknight dinner if you allow the hour for the chicken to poach. Though I made it just with boneless, skinless breasts which needed less cooking time. One odd thing on the coordination of this dish is that you start cooking the freekah while the chicken is poaching, but you remove 600 ml of the poaching broth and add it to the freekah, which then has 40 minutes more cooking time. So you have removed a large part of the poaching broth. So you either continue cooking the chicken with a lot less broth or dilute it by adding more water. This isn't explained in the instructions. Apart from that anomoly, this was really good. The chicken wasn't anything special, just poached chicken (which I admit would have better if it had been a whole chicken with skin on) but the freekah was great. It was sweet (from caramelized onions) and spiced (by allspice and coriander) but also additional notes from parsley and browned almonds in butter.

• Chicken with caramelized onion & cardamom rice

  • Jane on May 04, 2018

    I've been meaning to make this for ages so I took the opportunity while visiting my father. His larder/pantry is not as well stocked as mine so I had to use currants rather than barberries. I really enjoyed the dish - it has a great depth of flavour. I feel I was maybe a bit heavy handed with the cloves so I'll cut that back next time as I'd rather that cardamom was the dominant flavour. My only issue was that 30 minutes at the lowest possible heat did not come close to cooking the rice (I didn't pre-soak it). It took another 15 mins at medium heat to cook through.

  • westminstr on February 13, 2014

    I finally got around to making this recipe a couple of nights ago, and I absolutely loved it. I caramelized the onions ahead of time, over the weekend, to streamline the prep for weeknight cooking. Otherwise I made the recipe as written, except that I substituted currants for barberries and omitted the dill and used only three cloves, which was plenty. I did have an issue with some of the rice being still a bit crunchy at the end of the cooking time. Thinking it over, some of the grains of rice were not covered with liquid at the beginning (the chicken pieces displaced them) and those were the ones that didn't cook through properly.Next time I will add a bit of extra water and make sure that all grains of rice are thoroughly submerged. I skipped the yogurt topping because we were serving it with a dish that included yogurt, but it sounds really good. Next time I will include it

  • okcook on January 07, 2017

    Rayburn, regarding your sticking chicken skin. Perhaps you are moving the chicken pieces before they are ready to be moved. Leave them alone until they can be moved without sticking. Patience. Moderate heat will work and make sure they are dried properly before frying. Perhaps a glass of wine to sip on while waiting could help!

  • vinochic on March 04, 2013

    Really enjoyed the dish, and very easy to make. Loved the barberries and all the fresh herbs.

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    This was rich and aromatic comfort food. I used ingredients on hand, boneless skinless chicken breasts, more parsley in place of cilantro, and currants instead of barberries. I made the caramelized onions in advance, and they needed way longer than the recipe direction of 10 minutes to cook. I also thought some of their rich sweetness was lost when cooking them the whole time with the rice, next time I might add them a bit later. I did have textural issues with the rice too but that may have been equipment error on my part (the burner was crooked and the rice therefore didn't cook evenly). Finally, watch the cloves- they were a strong flavor and next time I think I would halve the amount.

  • lorloff on March 20, 2018

    Fabulous dish, aromatic, fragrant my husband could not get enough of it. Getting the barberries was well worth it and makes the dish. Pomegranates were also in season so I added the seeds at the end before serving with the herbs. I doubled the amount of herbs and really browned the skin of the chicken thighs which made them really flavorful. I used Pakistani Basmati rice from Kalustans in NY which was perfect in the dish. Did not need and we did not add the yogurt. I doubled the onions and slowly caramelized them. Great recipe will definitely make this again.

  • twoyolks on May 23, 2014

    The rice is the star of this dish. The chicken is nice but doesn't pick up much of the spice flavorings.

  • ncollyer on September 07, 2013

    Wonderful recipe. Very aromatic with complex flavors. I used vidalia onions, which caramelized nicely. Barberries added a nice sweet and sour flavor.

  • sharifah on April 28, 2014

    Fabulous, comforting dish. Mildly spiced and yet full of flavour. I followed the recipe exactly; and as others have said, the onions takes a lot longer to caramelise, more like 30-40 minutes. I was a little worried that the rice may not cook but the additional 10 minutes of steaming them as he suggested cooked them perfectly. I think it's definitely worth hunting the barberries online as they added an unusual tang to the dish, currants won't replicate the same flavour.

  • Delys77 on November 26, 2012

    Pg 184 This was very reminiscent of an Indian biryani, mostly due to the clove and cinnamon, as well as the cardamom. I did enjoy it, but it was missing something. That was likely my fault as I forgot to buy barberries and I had no currants so there was a touch of tang missing to the rice. Overall this is a nice chicken and rice dish and will try it with the barberries and possibly a bit more herbs next time, as I suspect it might have the potential to be an excellent dish.

  • chawkins on October 22, 2013

    Tasty chicken and rice. It took me a lot more than 10 minutes to caramelize the onion, I used currants and dried dill. Did not make the yogurt sauce, but after tasting the dish, realized that it would have been a good complement for the rice.

  • meggan on April 05, 2017

    Though I am skeptical of cinnamon in savory dishes this was good and not overpowering. We didn't have basmati so the rice came out a little mushy.

  • saladdays on April 15, 2014

    This is a great recipe. I have cooked it before with currants but this time used barberries and what a difference that made! It adds a real zing to the dish. The onions take a long time to cook and need to be watched very carefully as caramelised can quickly become charred. It may be worth cooking it in a low oven rather than on a hob. I use a Rayburn oven for slow cooking and it works very well for any slow cooked rice dish.

  • Astrid5555 on November 03, 2013

    Whole family liked it. Barberries and herbs added great flavor. Caramelizing the onions took close to 40 minutes, apart from that very quick and easy.

  • cadfael on March 04, 2014

    We really liked this dish. I used a little dried dill weed, the rest as written. Used currants. Cut up whole chicken.. next time try all thighs.

  • purpleshiny on May 28, 2013

    Very good comfort food. Made with currants, but will definitely be making again with barberries. Doable on a weeknight.

  • stockholm28 on May 25, 2014

    Rice was delicious. I made this in a large Dutch oven on the stove and that worked fine.

  • Rachaelsb on February 27, 2018

    Easy and quick to make...great, flavorful dish.

  • blepharisma on November 20, 2013

    I found that the skin on the chicken thighs made the dish a bit greasy. Next time, I'll try with skinless. Otherwise, I really like the dish!

  • KarinaFrancis on February 01, 2015

    Joining the chorus of praise for this dish. It's the perfect weeknight entertaining dish, it has wow factor and the cooking on the day can be pretty effortless. Following the advice of others I caramelized the onions a day ahead, it's worth the time investment. I will make it again and seek out barberries as I only had currants.

  • Lstillman on January 29, 2013

    I could not find barberries either, but did sprinkle pomegranate to finish. I would probably reduce the rice by 1/2 cup next time, since there was much more rice than there was chicken. I enjoyed this dish which reminded me of the way Jambalaya is made; very easy for a week night dinner

  • kmattingly on April 22, 2013

    Couldn't find barberries so used currants as suggested - reminiscent of Indian Moghlai Chicken dish I have cooked regularly for a number of years - delicious

  • hillsboroks on July 23, 2015

    We tried this last night for the first time and as everyone else says this dish is wonderful. I used barberries as suggested. We felt that without the fresh herbs and plain yogurt added at the end it would have been good but not great. The fresh herbs and yogurt take it over the top. I had problems getting the rice to cook properly but I think it was the pan I used and next time will use my LeCreuset braising pan with the good sealing lid. I also thought about just popping it into the oven for the final bit of cooking rather than finishing it on the stove top. Even with a longer cook time and added water to cook the rice which ended up making the rice a bit mushy when it finally did cook, it was delicious and my husband urged me to make it again.

  • lidia123 on January 25, 2017

    We absolutely love this dish!! I have made it countless times. I have tried it with barberries (as in the original recipe), but also with chopped dried cherries, dried cranberries and it works perfectly fine. I cook it in a cast iron skillet. One time I tried it in a copper vessel, but for some reason this recipe cooks better in cast iron in my opinion. I have a little bit of an issue with sticking rice right in the center of my skillet when I cook it on the top-stove. Very low heat alleviates the problem. I have cooked it in the oven also, which works fine too and eliminates the sticking rice issue. It's a very, very comforting dish!

  • stef on November 05, 2017

    Wow this was excellent. Used cranberries. The rice was so good. A repeat

  • MmeFleiss on February 25, 2017

    Presoak the rice an hour ahead to avoid crunchy rice.

  • sarahj22 on September 18, 2017

    Beautiful aromatic flavours and not too much hassle to make. I used skinless and boneless chicken thighs (rather than skin-on, bone-in), and both chicken and rice were cooked perfectly after the 30mins on the hob (which meant we could skip the last 10min step). I've had it both with and without the barberries - the dish is lovely either way but they do add an intriguing sweet/sour note and aren't nearly as obvious as most dried fruit in savoury dishes. I agree that the yogurt and fresh herbs elevate this, though I didn't bother adding oil to the yogurt. A very comforting dish.

  • raybun on January 05, 2017

    Fabulous dish! So glad people take the time to write notes as I often filter by 'buzz' when choosing recipes. I had the afternoon off so started the prep early, and am glad I did as it did take longer than stated. I was literally giddy with excitement when I finally managed to track down barberries and followed the recipe to the letter, using my le creuset braiser. The only annoying thing is when I sear chicken in it the skin always sticks and comes off, rather than browning despite using a lower temperature. If anyone has a remedy to this I'm all ears...

  • tmitra on May 04, 2016

    See discussion at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/dining/recipe-lab-video-chat-on-jerusalem.html (and recipe online at http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014925-chicken-with-caramelized-onion-and-cardamom-rice).

  • clcorbi on March 06, 2017

    Absolutely delicious and comforting. I pre-soaked the rice for a few hours before cooking and ended up with perfectly cooked rice. I caramelized the onions in advance as I knew there was no way they'd be golden brown in 10 minutes, and by the time I was ready to cook this for dinner, everything went really quickly. I also omitted the barberries as neither of us really enjoy fruit in savory foods, and I used ground spices rather than whole. The final result was extremely good, but next time I'd do a couple of things differently to get a perfect result: I'd up the amount of caramelized onion by using 3 onions rather than 2, I'd use 1.5t of salt in the rice mixture rather than just 1t, and I'd also rub some salt into the chicken thighs before sautéeing them. The yogurt here is a really nice addition. This is a recipe that will be repeated.

• Saffron chicken & herb salad

  • WFPLCleanEating on November 13, 2015

    The orange flavor from the sauce does dominate even slightly overpowering the flavors of mint, basil and cilantro. But still a very delicious salad. This is a good one for a buffet as it's very easy to scale up. - Jane

  • Bradley on August 02, 2015

    This dish was simply stunning and is one of the best dishes i have eaten this year (2015). Well worth making.

  • adelina on April 02, 2016

    This was an interesting salad to make but it did stand out on my Easter table. I served it over bed of lettuce. I added some additional herbs since I had them such as dill, tarragon. I added slices of radish for color and crunch. I cut the bitterness of the dressing with added lemon juice,oil,honey and salt. My guest loved it very much.

  • SACarlson on March 22, 2014

    This wonderful recipe is also available on the Ottolenghi website: http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/saffron-chicken-and-herb-salad-shop

  • Margaretsmall on April 07, 2014

    Bought the book to see what all the excitement is about. This is my first recipe, served yesterday for a lunch with friends. Added some lettuce to the salad. Delicious.

  • dinnermints on September 11, 2016

    Excellent flavor, and my guests loved it. Next time I'd try making the orange sauce ahead of time.

  • twoyolks on February 02, 2016

    I didn't find the orange flavor to be overpowering but it nicely complimented the other flavors. My major complaint was that the chicken was a bit dry. I'd consider brining the chicken in the future. Despite not usually liking fennel, it worked really well here. The flavor worked well and the crunch was nice.

  • Delys77 on January 28, 2013

    Pg. 188 This is a delicious chicken salad that has tonnes of orange flavour from the dressing, a bit of heat the offset it, and the savoury deliciousness of grilled chicken. All of this is set off by the crunch and unexpected flavour of the fennel and herbs. Definitely a repeatable dish that would be an excellent lunch on a hot day.

  • mcvl on August 09, 2013

    Oh. My. Gosh. This is insanely delicious. I had to leave out the chile and garlic because I was serving it to */those/* kinds of people, but it was insanely delicious anyway, and next time I make it I'll be sure I'm able to make it as written. One essential change, however. There's no way my food processor will turn that small an amount of orange essence into a paste. Instead of pureeing it, I cut it up quite small and used it all. I'm pretty sure I like the dish better my way, with strong little hits of orange instead of an overall orange veil.

  • mcvl on August 12, 2013

    Further: We decided to make this one of our official company dishes for a while, so I made up a big batch of the saffron orange relish (rather than puree, see my note from the 9th of August). I cut up five oranges, two into sixteenths, three into eighths, and pulsed them to an uneven mixture in my food processor, then cooked them with the saffron, honey, and vinegar (and salt). I cooked them for only about twenty minutes, so they still had lots of texture. A great success the first night, and now I have four more portions in the refrigerator ready to make four more goes of the salad.

  • Laura on June 20, 2014

    Pg. 188. Love,, love, loved this! While it takes a bit of time to make the orange syrup -- mine needed more than the hour to reduce to the proper amount -- it is otherwise super simple and quick. I pureed the syrup in my Vita-Mix and it turned into an absolutely lovely light orange silky puree that was really aromatic. I substituted thinly sliced celery for the fennel as I just don't care for raw fennel. Also used a jalapeno in place of the red chile because I couldn't find red chiles. Otherwise, I followed the directions exactly. I served this with the chicken on top of the salad as a light dinner entree and it was perfect. Two of us consumed all of the salad, but there is chicken leftover for lunch. And the remaining orange puree? Planning to use that to sauce fish fillets for dinner tonight.

• Chicken sofrito

  • jaelsne on May 27, 2014

    This dish turned out very well. We found the spices to be very engaging--I followed the recipe exactly, which meant using a light hand. The taste of the resulting sauce was complex and not at all overpowering, despite the fact that the recipe calls for 25 cloves of garlic. The slow cooking made the chicken to turn out perfectly moist, and the potatoes were to die for! I served it with a simple vegetable (steamed broccoli) for a satisfying meal.

  • TrishaCP on December 30, 2013

    The potatoes are the true star of this dish- only small amounts of paprika and lemon, plus garlic and chicken juices, really make them tasty. I used only dark meat chicken (thigh/leg pieces), so it wasn't dry, but it wasn't special either.

  • twoyolks on October 07, 2013

    The potatoes absorbed a lot of flavor and were excellent. The chicken itself was pretty dry and flavorless.

  • Jojobuch on July 16, 2017

    Great, flavorful dish! I used chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken, which worked very well.

  • Rutabaga on April 09, 2014

    When I made this dish, the chicken turned out moist and succulent, and the potatoes were perfectly roasted and well flavored from the lemon , garlic, and oil. Even my husband, who prefers his chicken boneless, aged that this was worth dealing with the bones; not that that was difficult, as the meat practically fell off on its own.

  • ithyt on November 02, 2015

    10.15 Scrummy - fried potatoes - delish just be careful when returning to the pan so that they don't burn.

  • anya_sf on May 30, 2017

    I used chicken legs, which ended up extremely moist and tender. I wouldn't try this with chicken breast. The flavors end up quite mild. I served it with the wild & basmati rice with chick peas, which is super flavorful, so extra seasoning wasn't needed, but with a milder accompaniment, I might up the spice or add herbs. I used less potato (since we had it with rice) and did not fry the potatoes and garlic. I had tons of liquid (I think lots of rendered fat from the skin), so there was no danger of burning. The potatoes and garlic got infused by the chicken and spice flavors. They were very good, although of course I can't say how that compares to the fried version. My version was extremely easy to make and I would definitely make it again.

  • Livia on June 23, 2018

    Tried this with a while chicken but ended up being very bland. Will try again with only legs and thighs

• Kofta b'siniyah

  • stef on January 01, 2018

    Used half lamb,half veal. Yes a little more salt is needed otherwise delicious and quick to make. Will make again

  • paulabee on July 09, 2016

    liked these; will make again, at which point I will add more salt (perhaps sprinkling salt on the outside of the meant before searing). I would also slightly increase herbs. I served with a tahini-heavy hummus, which worked well.

  • Barb_N on March 24, 2014

    I have made this a couple times- I skimped on the spices the first time being put off by such large quantities. Trust the chef- it seems like a lot of spice but it is just right.

  • twoyolks on February 08, 2016

    I omitted the pine nuts (per family preferences) but these were very flavorful and very good. I'd consider cooking them on the grill in the future to improve the flavor.

  • Delys77 on January 31, 2013

    Pg. 195 Easy to prepare and quite flavourful, although I would up the salt in the kofta a bit. I found the tahini sauce a touch bitter, but so I would go with a little less tahini next time and a bit more lemon to jazz it up a bit. The recipe has good bones and would be very good stuffed in a pita with greek salad.

  • TrishaCP on July 27, 2013

    Pretty simple to put together and with good flavor. Nice to not have to use eggs as a binder, but I would probably skip the pine nuts next time- didn't like the texture or flavor here. I agree that the tahini sauce is bitter and definitely benefits from more lemon juice.

  • mcvl on August 11, 2013

    Made as a flat meatloaf rather than patties, baked the sauce on top of the loaf for the last five minutes. I love the bitterness of the tahini sauce, and I love the flavor and texture of the pine nuts. V. easy, v. good.

• Beef meatballs with broad beans & lemon

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    Fairly intensive labor-wise, but the payoff is an incredibly light tasting meatball. The lemon and herbs do a lot to brighten the dish. I haven't had favas with the skins on before, and because they are so expensive where I live (purchased from farmer's market and frozen during the summer)- I just shelled them all. For some reason, I also ended up with significantly more sauce than I was supposed to, so I just reduced it down some. Served with the Basmati Rice and Orzo as suggested.

  • Jane on January 14, 2013

    My dish had a lot more sauce and did not look as enticing as the picture. He says you want a lot of sauce but the picture really just looks like a glaze. I served it with the Basmati rice and orzo on p.103 so plenty of sauce was necessary. I used frozen fava beans so didn't shell half of them as I was running short of time. I think the greenness of the shelled beans in the picture definitely helped the visual appeal. But it tasted great. I loved the lemony, herby sauce and the meatballs had good texture and taste (I also used all beef). The amount of breadcrumbs seemed far too much when I was making the meatball mixture but it worked out fine. I liked the spice levels but my daughter thought it was far too heavy on the cumin (not a big fan). There is cumin in the baharat spice mix plus another tablespoon of ground cumin, which I had freshly ground, so I suppose that is quite a lot. This was quite a time-consuming dish when it was all done in one night. Worth it though!

  • Breadcrumbs on January 11, 2013

    p. 196 - Lovely lemony dish. I made these modifications: • I didn’t have any ground lamb so I just used beef. • I Baked meatballs for 35mins at 375 vs frying • I was sad that I had to use canned favas (hence their grayish colour) • I purchased my Baharat spice mix and I found the flavours to be quite balanced and reminiscent of Asian Five-Spice Powder. The meat mixture smelled amazing as I was tossing everything together. My sous chef (golden retriever) agreed! We loved everything about this dish. The meatballs were juicy, tender and beautifully seasoned. The sauce was delicious; we especially enjoyed the subtle tang from the lemon juice. I’m sure I could have finished off all the sauce by myself, in a cup!! I served this atop the Saffron Rice with Barberries (p. 195) and thought the dishes paired well together with the tang of the barberries mirroring that of the lemon in the meatball dish. Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/884302#7817560

  • Delys77 on January 02, 2013

    Pg. 196 Another classic comfort food from the master Ottolenghi. Admittedly it is a very different kind of comfort food than I am used to, with it's lovely combination of lamb and beef, with the earthy fava and just a hint of citrus, but it screams comfort food all the same. Very tasty dish as written, but I would make a few small changes. I would count down the onion by about 1/3 and I would pair back the cloves in the spice mix by about half as it was a bit strong for some of those who tried the meatballs. Otherwise a very tasty dish for fall or winter.

  • twoyolks on June 28, 2014

    The sauce was quite good but the meatballs themselves were too bready (I used the weight measurement). I'm not sure what the unshelled fava beans add. I would've preferred them shelled.

  • saladdays on January 25, 2014

    Work out how long you think you may need to cook this and then add another half an hour! A labour intensive recipe but worth the effort. I used beef mince only and found I couldn't mix all the onion in. If I made it again I would put the onion in the food processor rather than just chop it by hand. It would help the meatballs to stick together. The first time I have used Baharat spice and loved it. I have always felt life is too short to skin broad beans but it was certainly worth it for this dish.

  • purpleshiny on May 28, 2013

    Loved this dish. The only fava beans I could find were already steamed, so I didn't get the beautiful green color either. I thought the spices were beautifully balanced. From what I've read, the Baharat mix can vary considerably depending on who makes it (our Middle Eastern grocery literally labeled theirs as "Mixed Spices" - we had to ask to find it). Ours is more like a 5 spice powder (at least, that's how it smells). I simmered my meatballs for about 5 minutes at the end to reduce the sauce - once I did that, my sauce and meatballs looked exactly like the picture. Agree on reducing the onions slighly - I used half of what I would term a medium-large onion and it was almost too much. Subbed taragon for mint for the finishing herbs as my garden mint isn't tall enough yet to supply the meatballs and the sauce. Would make that substitution again.

  • Silverscreensuppers on August 09, 2016

    Love, love, love this recipe. I thought these were divine. Agree that it's labour intensive, but it's worth it.

  • cultus.girl on November 27, 2018

    Outstanding dish full of flavour. I agree time consuming however well worth the effort. I make it when we have our broad bean crop and because we pick the beans while the pods are young, I don’t bother peeling half. Just the larger ones if any.

• Lamb meatballs with barberries, yoghurt & herbs

  • JLDuck on December 14, 2018

    Miracle the final result looked like the publicity shot. A rare event. The dish is excellent. I used cranberries with excellent results. It takes some time so you need to start preparing some hours before as the cooking time alone is roughly two hours. I accompanied the dish with couscous.

  • paulabee on December 02, 2015

    This is one of my favorite Ottolenghi recipes- complex flavors; totally delicious. I try to make it when I have really good homemade stock on hand, as there's a fair amount of stock in the sauce.

  • raybun on January 13, 2017

    Following the high praise for this dish, we loved it! Very interesting flavours, and I left the figs in. The fresh herbs (I used all 4) and yogurt really added a necessary contrast with the strong flavoured meatballs. I followed ldtrieb's suggestion and served it with the kosheri from Ottolenghi the cookbook.

  • WFPLCleanEating on October 29, 2015

    Fantastic dish! The combination of flavors was perfect. (RS-K)

  • mondraussie on February 14, 2016

    superb!

  • ldtrieb on May 01, 2014

    We loved this one, Used about 1/2 the amount of oil and that seemed fine. Didn't have mint and forgot to put the garlic in the meatballs but added it to the sauce instead. My little figs were quite dry so cooking made them perfect to eat with the rest of the sauce. We served it with Kosheri (rice and lentils with tomato sauce) from Ottolenghi p85. I would think Cherries as a sub for barberries would be far too sweet.

  • Melanie on September 09, 2013

    Yet another Ottolenghi winner. I only used fresh parsley and mint (not the full mix of herbs suggested due to the small quantities required) as that was all I had at hand but it tasted delicious. The recipe suggests that you can remove the figs when serving but I left them in and don't see the point of removing.

  • twoyolks on December 22, 2015

    The barberries really help to lighten the meatballs. The sauce and yogurt complement them very well.

  • TrishaCP on April 19, 2016

    I didn't have the full amount of time to braise the meatballs, so my sauce was thin but this was still a wonderful meal. I didn't have all of the herbs for the topping either, so went with mint and dill. I have been a barberry skeptic in the past, but they are truly delicious little pops of sourness here. They offset the heavy, gamey lamb flavor very nicely.

• Turkey & zucchini burgers with spring onion & cumin

  • TrishaCP on June 29, 2013

    Oh so good. As others have mentioned, this mix is very wet but works out ok in the end. (I did squeeze the water from the zucchini and I am really glad that I did because it was still very wet.) I wanted to bake these rather than frying them, and found I needed about 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven, but this will vary depending upon the size (I had about 15 meatballs). I made my sauce all yogurt, subbing in equal measure for the sour cream.

  • RosieB on October 13, 2012

    These were delicious. I served them with the mushroom and barley ragu from the original Ottolenghi cookbook and flat bread.

  • TippyCanoe on April 23, 2013

    Excellent. I am not a big fan of turkey burgers in general, but leave it to Ottolenghi and Tamimi to make them not only palatable but wonderful. We loved the sumac sauce (although I skipped the sour cream and just used yogurt). The cooking time worked perfectly for me and the burgers were moist and flavorful. These would be great for a party. Could make them in advance and warm them in the oven just before serving. I agree with Delys77 that as a main dish, this serves three (we three polished them off).

  • westminstr on June 27, 2013

    We also liked these burgers. Meat mixture very loose -- don't forget to wring out the zucchini before cooking. I baked them for ease/convenience, but I think frying as directed would be better if time permits. Loved the sauce, which I made entirely with greek yogurt (no sour cream).

  • westminstr on July 19, 2013

    Great burgers. My burger mix was very wet -- next time wring out the zucchini first. For ease of weeknight cooking, I decided to bake my burgers in the oven at 400. I checked at the 20 minute mark and they were not quite done and very pale, so I blasted them at 550 for another 5-10 minutes. This worked but if I had a little more time/fewer little ones underfoot I would fry the burgers. Both kids loved these burgers. For the sauce, I used 1 cup of greek yogurt and no sour cream, kept the other seasonings the same. Yummy sauce. We used some of it with the burgers, some to dress a kohlrabi salad, and still had some leftover.

  • westminstr on May 27, 2014

    Made these again and this time I divided the mixture into 8 burgers and cooked them entirely on the stove (no oven). This was easier and produced better results, I will be repeating this method.

  • Jane on January 28, 2013

    The mixture is rather loose - as Delys77 suggests it would be a good idea to wring excess moisture from the grated courgettes/zucchini before adding to the mixture. I baked them rather than frying them first and it didn't seem to matter that they were so loose, they came out the oven in excellent shape. I liked them but for me the sauce really made the dish. I can see making the creamy sumac sauce to go with lots of things, actually I'd eat it on its own! I served it with couscous with tomato and onion on p.129.

  • Cheri on November 21, 2015

    Very tasty! My mixture, as written, was also really wet. I had salted and rinsed, squeezed the zucchini, and still too wet. I did add a bit of breadcrumbs, which worked very well to hold the mix together. I made patties, pan fried to brown a bit and then finished in the oven. The sauce is a great compliment, and as previous reviewers have noted, makes plenty. Served with a big green salad and some naan bread to mop up the sauce.

  • j_h on June 19, 2018

    Made with chicken mince - could increase the cayenne next time. Squeezed the zucchini and would do so again. Served with roasted pumpkin and roasted broccoli - the sauce was outstanding with the broccoli.

  • chawkins on August 21, 2013

    Excellent burgers. I salted the zucchini and let it sit for about half an hour, then squeezed out all the liquid. the resulting mixture was not loose and I got eight 4-inch patties. Since today is the hottest day of the month and the patties held together well, I just pan fried them. Will be making these a few more times this summer as I have an abundance of zucchinis from the garden.

  • k.a.g on May 30, 2013

    Brilliant recipe. Cooked as instructed, the burgers were beautifully moist and full of vibrant flavours. I have to agree though that the sauce almost stole the show - I served the burgers with fresh wholemeal pita bread and I got totally stuck on the bread/sauce combo! I'll definitely be making the full recipe again, but I'm already thinking about whether I have enough sour cream left to make another batch of the sauce tonight... I agree that with a decent sized salad and bread this is a meal for no more than 4, definitely not 6.

  • annapanna on June 16, 2013

    These were very good. The mixture was a bit too watery ar first because I forgot to drain the zucchini, so I added a spoon of bread crumbs. I fried and baked as directed and the times were just right. The sauce was delicious,it would be great as a veggie dip too. I will definitely make these again.

  • sharifah on July 14, 2013

    I made this recipe without reading all the notes written on it, and fortunately I did squeeze the liquid out of the courgettes first, and thinking that Ottolenghi should've said this in his instructions. I changed the sauce as my OH is lactose intolerant, so I mixed soya yogurt and lactose free cream cheese - works well, very delicious. Excellent way of using turkey mince, very moist burgers. Will be making this again definitely

  • Delys77 on January 14, 2013

    Pg. 200 Delicious! The recipe would serve 4, but likely with a lot of sides. If you are making fewer dishes aim for it to serve closer to 3. The sauce is super tangy and delicious, and would work well with all sorts of poultry and veggies (dip). The turkey patties come together perfectly as instructed and yield a lovely little bite that is moist from the zucchini (remember to squeeze the zucchini out a bit) and has a touch of heat from the cayenne. You want to be able to taste the subtle flavour of the turkey, which you can, but you could consider upping the herbs a little.

  • Melanie on September 09, 2013

    Joining the chorus of success on this recipe. Made with chicken mince instead of turkey but tasted very good.

  • lilham on April 25, 2015

    I squeezed out as much liquid as I could from the courgette (without adding salt as my baby was having some too). I then let the mixture sat in the fridge overnight before shaping. The mixture was not too loose and easy to work with. I used turkey breast mince and found then a bit dry but Mr lilham thought they were perfect. The recipe made a lot of the sauce. I will halve the amount of sauce next time. edit: I had the leftover sauce with toasted pita bread, lovely.

  • Rutabaga on August 25, 2015

    I found these "burgers" to be delicately flavored and tender. They are a good mix-ahead meal; simply store the meat mixture and yogurt sauce in the fridge until ready to cook. While I multiplied the burger recipe by 1.5, I made the sauce recipe as written, and sure enough, there was still more than enough sauce. I did salt and drain the zucchini, but since the ones I used were very small, they didn't leach much water. The meat was very soft, but the burgers still held together well when cooked. I also just cooked them on the stovetop; finishing them in the oven just seems like extra work.

  • dinnermints on August 04, 2015

    Delish! I didn't squeeze out the zucchini at all, and that wasn't a problem - but then I didn't bother trying to shape patties; I just dropped them in the hot pans with a spoon and that worked out fine. I might try wringing the zucchini out some next time. I used ground white turkey meat as that's all the butcher had that day, so maybe the extra moisture was needed. Also, would definitely make the burger mix the night before for weeknight meals. This time I made 1.5 recipes (still used one egg), divided it into 9 servings, froze four of them, and am making two meals of the first 5 servings (four servings). Served over couscous, and the sauce is fantastic.

  • WFPLCleanEating on November 13, 2015

    Delicious! Not so interested in the sauce. The burgers are better without it. (Rachel S-K)

  • raybun on March 28, 2017

    We loved these, they were moist but not too wet as others have mentioned. I made six large burgers with the quantities specified and halved the sumac yogurt sauce and there was plenty for the adults (4).

  • anya_sf on May 14, 2017

    I made 3 enormous burgers, and omitted the cayenne since my son doesn't like spicy food. I shaped the patties ahead of time and refrigerated for a few hours. (I did not drain or squeeze the zucchini, but did use small zucchini without many seeds.) The burgers were loose textured, but I was able to get them into the pan OK. Once they cooked on one side, they were easy to flip over. I finished cooking them in the oven, per recipe instructions, just baking a bit longer since my burgers were extra large. I made half the sauce and there was a lot left over. We loved them! My husband said they tasted like lambburgers, probably due to the spices. We had them on buns with the sauce, lettuce, and tomato. Next time I might make them as meatballs in tomato sauce.

  • mamacrumbcake on December 09, 2018

    Delicious! As everyone mentioned, the mixture is loose but it was no problem forming the burgers. After cooking for two minutes on one side, they were beautifully browned and could be flipped without breaking. The sauce is a very nice complement. These would make a great sandwich stuffed into a pita with some sauce, cucumber, onion, and tomato,

  • babyfork on January 19, 2017

    Agree that meat & veg mixture is loose but I pan-fried first taking care to move them gently and finished in the oven. Worked out okay. The sumac sauce really completes the dish. My daughter wasn't sold until she tried the meatball with the sauce and then she ate them up. Served with some simply roasted butternut squash cubes dusted with Spicery's "Dusk" spice mixture (orange peel, black pepper, cardamom, Saigon cinnamon & galangal).

  • adelina on October 12, 2015

    I really loved this and here are my slight modifications: Added allspice Added more green onion Used more dry mint since had ran out of fresh Used more garlic. Used 2 courgettes Pan fried with a mixture of grapeseed oil and butter. I made roasted scalloped potatoes as a side and served it along the yogurt sauce and pita pockets.

• Braised eggs with lamb, tahini & sumac

  • anya_sf on May 29, 2017

    Loved this. Two of us ate the whole thing for dinner, with bread. Don't skip the yogurt sauce. The only change I would make is to use fewer nuts.

  • purpleshiny on May 28, 2013

    Wonderful dish. We used a pound of lamb the first time - that was definitely too much. I think this could go vegetarian nicely with tempeh in place of the lamb - will be trying that next time. The nuts add a wonderful texture and the flavors are beautifully balanced.

  • lmalter on November 28, 2012

    Preserved lemon substitution: I'd recommend lightly sauteeing for a minute or two a couple of seeded lemon slices in just a touch of light oil with some salt, then putting it in the oven (in the skillet) for ten to twelve minutes in a moderate oven, adding a pinch of salt and a tablespoon or two of water, to prevent the juices from getting too sticky. Then I'd chop it and use it with the pan juices. Preserved lemon has a somewhat more mellow, less acidic quality than fresh lemon, which is why I would not substitute fresh.

  • Barb_N on March 29, 2017

    Like most Ottolenghi recipes, a riot of flavors! I used my usual shakshuka pan but the lamb mixture was thin on the ground, not enough to braise eggs in. I added chopped kale and this solved the problem. I skipped the nuts since I didn't have the right kinds. I also upped the harissa and spices and thought about adding more preserved lemon. I liked this dish much more than shakshouka which has always been to soupy.

  • aargle on November 02, 2013

    This was delicious. Used 500grams lamb and also added a tin of chickpeas to cooked lamb. The whole family gave it a big thumbs up

  • kmattingly on April 22, 2013

    I wouldn't change anything in this dish - it was absolutely delightful.

  • twoyolks on August 21, 2014

    This is more braised lamb with eggs rather than eggs with lamb. The flavor of the lamb is much stronger than the flavor of the eggs. I would prefer more of an egg component and less of a meat component. Also, I don't think the nuts added much other than crunch.

  • meggan on February 10, 2013

    This was good but next time I will cut the pistachio and pine nut amounts in half and double the Harissa.

  • westminstr on September 02, 2014

    I loved this dish! Unfortunately the kids did not so I will have to wait a while before repeating. For next time, I would omit the tomatoes and toast the nuts ahead to simplify prep. Served with swiss chard sauteed with garlic, this was a great combo.

  • mcvl on February 06, 2013

    Omigosh, I made this for company last night and we ended up competing for who could lick the frying pan. This is delicious, delicious, delicious. I couldn't find shelled pistachios and wasn't up for shelling them myself, so used slivered almonds instead.

  • TrishaCP on December 28, 2014

    This is really delicious-perfect flavors all around. It is very savory and while lightened by the sumac, preserved lemon, tomatoes, and yogurt, the flavor would be too heavy for a light meal. I used 8 oz of ground lamb since that is what I had and it was plenty of meat.

• Slow cooked veal with prunes & leek

  • Breadcrumbs on January 25, 2014

    p. 206 – Fabulous and a refreshing change from my veal shank standard Osso Buco. This is a time-consuming dish, a dish that could have you dirtying every pan in the kitchen. I’m glad I read the recipe ahead as I re-used pans instead of hauling new ones out as I went along. Ottolenghi suggests that you check the veal as it cooks to ensure the sauce doesn’t cook away. I could understand this being an issue if the dish went into the oven uncovered but with a good tight seal, all the moisture is retained in the pan and not only did I have plenty of sauce, I actually wished it had reduced a bit. Though my sauce was much thinner than that in the book’s photograph, the flavours were well developed, rich and flavourful. The star-anise definitely shone through and paired beautifully with the sweet, orange-infused tomato broth. mr bc absolutely loved this and claimed to prefer it to Osso Buco. I’ll definitely make it again. Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/884302#8705267

  • tekobo on March 19, 2017

    Absolutely worth the effort. I split the work over two days. No problem with sauce thickness and taking the meat off the bone makes this a much more accessible dish than traditional osso bucco.

• Lamb shawarma

  • purpleshiny on January 28, 2018

    No lamb at the butcher, so used goat. The spices are amazing.

  • smtucker on January 02, 2014

    Fabulous! 7.5lb leg of lamb. Marinade as written, 20 hrs. Save the drippings for a jus to top the leftovers. Used: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/aug/31/yotam-ottolenghi-jerusalem-recipes-meat

  • Therese on October 19, 2016

    Great recipe. I added verjuice and tahini to the reduced juices for a sauce that was the bomb!

  • TrishaCP on May 01, 2017

    Very delicious. I had a 2 1/2 lb boneless leg, so reduced the cooking time to 60 minutes for pinkish lamb, rather than the well-cooked version in the recipe. (The last 20 minutes were at 375 degrees instead of 325- we cranked the temperature up because we needed to eat!) I marinated the lamb overnight and was really happy with that choice. Served with the tahini sauce, but nobody was really bothering with it. They just wanted lamb!

  • aargle on February 19, 2013

    Easy delicious, didn't marinate overnight just for a few hours. Didn't use fresh coriander as I didn't have any. served with cucumber salad and pumpkin with tahini dressing. Everybody raved

  • Melanie on July 10, 2017

    Slow cooked lamb with an amazing flavour! I opted for bone in shoulder.

• Pan-fried sea bream with harissa & rose

  • aargle on August 10, 2015

    This is a lovely fish dish despite my initial reservations. Next time I will make the Harissa from the book as my purchased Harissa was extremely spicy. I had to add water to sauce so there was enough to spoon over fish. Will definitely repeat as very easy.

  • Zosia on June 04, 2016

    We loved this dish. The sweet & sour sauce with a bit of heat from the harissa was a wonderful complement to the snapper I used without overwhelming it and the rose flavour from both water and petals was quite subtle. Since the fillets are fried first and then gently warmed in the completed sauce before serving, this would make an excellent dinner party dish with most of the work done in advance.

• Fish & caper kebabs with burnt aubergine & lemon pickle

  • JLDuck on September 14, 2016

    Mince rather than cut finely (unless you are a brilliant cutter!)

• Pan-fried mackerel with golden beetroot & orange salsa

  • Silverscreensuppers on August 09, 2016

    This was the first thing I made from Jerusalem and I LOVED IT. Really delicious. Jerusalem is now my favourite cookbook and I've made lots of other things, but I must revisit this recipe as I remember being utterly delighted by how yummy this was.

• Cod cakes in tomato sauce

  • WFPLCleanEating on October 31, 2015

    Lovely dish though I found the sauce too sweet - I'll skip the sugar next time. A timesaver is to chop the herbs in the processor with the breadcrumbs. I wouldn't use it for mincing the fish though as I like the texture of flakes of fish. I didn't like the idea of pouring water on the sauce and fishcakes so I mixed the water into the sauce before putting the fishcakes in. Next time I will plan further ahead and chill the cakes as that would maybe help for flipping them - some broke up. - Jane

  • raybun on April 25, 2017

    We loved this, child and all! I used a whole 800g can of San Marzano tomatoes as I didn't want a half can hanging around in the fridge, and I used vermouth instead of white wine. A real hit here and it went very well with his sweetcorn polenta. Can't wait for leftovers tomorrow!

  • Chopchopchoppin on April 17, 2015

    Lovely flavours, doesn't take too long. Replaced white wine with white wine vinegar - tangy!

  • adelina on February 20, 2017

    Really loved the flavors but my cakes were too watery and were breaking. I might cut the onion in half next time. Also to save time, I will bake the cakes in the oven. The flavors otherwise were perfect. I just added a little sumac and Aleppo pepper to the cakes for some heat and tart and served over rice.

  • Zosia on September 30, 2018

    Family and I enjoyed the flavour of this dish but everyone thought the fish cakes were too soft. I omitted the sugar from the sauce and used the food processor to make the patty mixture.

  • jennyed on January 05, 2018

    We liked this. A good combination of mild fishcakes in a really tasty sauce. It's a good "plan-ahead" dish.

  • cjross on April 15, 2017

    Tasty. A little time intensive so won't make it too often but I would make it again. Letting the fish cakes sit in the fridge really helped them firm up.

  • mondraussie on November 23, 2014

    Fantastic flavours. Definitely will try a food processor to mince the fish next time!

  • FJT on April 21, 2017

    This was a very mild, but tasty dish. Nice, but I probably won't make it again as it didn't get much reaction from my family.

  • chefoncall on July 04, 2014

    This dish was very flavorful and a big hit with the family. Next time, I will use the food processor to mince the fish.

  • Delys77 on January 08, 2013

    Pg 225 This dish is an excellent way to introduce fish to people who don't particularly enjoy it. Cod is quite mild, and when paired with the herbs and the breadcrumbs the result is a very lovely texture, with a hint of fish and herb. No single flavour truly dominated the cake, it was perfectly balanced. The sauce with its slight spicy sweetness pairs very well with the cakes, just be careful to make sure you simmer it on a very low heat so that the sugar doesn't cause it to stick. Great meal.

  • mcvl on June 25, 2014

    Good. I would never make the dish as described -- I put all the ingredients for the dishcakes in the blender, then fried the cakes, then built the sauce around the frying cakes.

• Grilled fish skewers with hawayej & parsley

  • TrishaCP on August 04, 2013

    Really excellent meal and simple to prepare, once the hawayej (Yemeni spice rub) is made. The recipe calls for significant marinating time, but then notes one hour is sufficient if you need it to be- I did 2 hours and that seemed fine. I used monkfish, and it needed about 5 minutes on a charcoal grill- the meaty quality of this fish was delectable with this treatment. For the red chile flakes, I used Aleppo pepper, and it gave it a nice kick. There is no sauce with this recipe, but some type of minimally seasoned yogurt-cucumber mixture would be really good.

  • twoyolks on September 16, 2014

    The spice rub is good but has a tendency to overpower the flavor of this fish. I used halibut and, as the fish cooked, it started to fall apart on the skewers. In the future, I'd just grill filters instead. It would also work well as a sandwich.

  • hendrioso on December 29, 2014

    This dish definitely requires a firm fish that isn't too flaky. I used Mahi-Mahi which worked very well. Next time I will cut back on the salt though one teaspoon was a little too much, especially with the lemon juice in the marinade.

• Prawns, scallops & clams with tomato & feta

  • Foodycat on December 06, 2014

    I forgot to put the lemon in - it would have been a good addition but was still delicious without it. I used a bit less of everything and served it as a main meal for 2 people with some chunks of bread.

  • tmitra on January 24, 2017

    Good, even without the clams! Next time, I would chop or crumble the feta so that it melts a bit in the oven.

  • TrishaCP on November 13, 2013

    I made the variation that omits clams-whatever was lost from that omission didn't stop this from being a great dish. I really liked the hit of lemon from the zest in the tomato sauce- I thought it was sublime. Two things to mention-first, be careful when salting because of the feta- I used a very low salt and creamy feta, which was good as I could see this being potentially too salty for some if you use canned tomatoes (which I did). Also, if I made this again I would add the scallops first, and let them cook a bit prior to adding the prawns. Even though I followed the recipe's instructions on prepping the scallops, they just cooked much more slowly than the prawns.

  • JoanN on June 24, 2017

    Good idea to crumble the feta. Also, instead of putting the dish in the oven next time, I think I'll try putting it under the broiler for a minute or two. Want to make note that this dish was perfect for scallops that had been in the freezer too long. They weren't attractive enough to sauté, but braised in the tomato sauce they were wonderfully sweet and tender.

  • westminstr on March 25, 2013

    Made this using rosemary instead of oregano and cod (cut into chunks) instead of prawns. Very good, though I think I would have preferred the flavor of oreganp. Made the clams and sauce ahead, which made for a speedy meal prep at dinnertime. Loved the feta with tomatoes and fish.

  • TonyInSeattle on July 31, 2017

    The quality of the prawns makes all the difference here. I wait for spot prawn season here in Seattle. Also, I give the shrimp shells a little saute in the oil to flavor it, then I remove the shells and continue with the recipe.

• Salmon steaks in chraimeh sauce

  • mfeldman51 on January 12, 2013

    This is delicious.

  • RosieB on June 15, 2016

    Delicious! I didnt read the recipe properly and missed the first step of flouring and frying the fish. I dont believe the dish suffered as a result. I also ommitted the fresh chilli so it was not too hot and used less oil. One of the tastiest sauces I have made. I served the fish warm and it was perfectly cooked after sitting for 15 minutes while I cooked rice.

  • mcvl on April 23, 2014

    I made a deconstructed version of this dish, just plopping the ingredients into the pan without turning them into a paste. No flour, no sugar (we don't do carbs). As made, it was delicious, and I'm sure it would be even better if I followed the recipe as written.

  • adelina on October 25, 2015

    I really loved it and so did the family! I followed the recipe exactly but made very slight modification. I added allspice to the sauce and thought it helped balance out the flavors. I felt that the oil was a little too much and will cut down in half on the next try.

  • PiaOC on November 14, 2014

    Used snapper cutlets but otherwise followed the recipe. Thought it may have been too hot but the addition of lemon juice and sugar balanced the heat. A delicious meal served with beans and rice. Mopped up the sauce with bread.

  • yassoma on August 15, 2016

    I was pleasantly surprised by this dish, I absolutely loved it. It's so strongly flavored though that I wouldn't recommend serving it with anything but plain white rice to soak up all that amazing sauce!

  • mgwalter on October 26, 2014

    Really nice change of pace for a protein that we prepare almost weekly. I think our cayenne was quite strong as we hold up to heat well, but this was pretty darn hot despite our skipping the green pepper. I recommend you start with half of the ingredients that bring on the heat, then taste and adjust prior to adding the salmon. Good stuff, easy to make and we will make it again.

• Marinated sweet & sour fish

  • meggan on May 17, 2017

    The sauce was good but as it turns out, I am not a fan of pollock. Maybe try this with snapper or something more flavorful.

• Red pepper & baked egg galettes

  • Pangur Ban on October 29, 2012

    Delicious. A little chilli might be nice added to the other spices, and perhaps a little lemon juice to freshen up the flavours before baking. Didn't have feta, but tried one with hard goats cheese instead, and it was very tasty.

  • Rutabaga on April 09, 2014

    Since my husband doesn't like eggs, I substituted feta as suggested in the recipe. In retrospect, I should have added the feta later in the baking process, just like the recipe states to do with the eggs. I added the feta from the beginning, which meant that it really dried out. Don't skimp on the cheese if you are using it, either; I would be more generous next time. There will be a next time; this is a great recipe now that I've learned from my mistakes.

• Herb pie

  • Rutabaga on April 05, 2014

    This dish was a nice variation on spanakopita. I couldn't get anari cheese, nor did I have the suggested substitution, ricotta, on hand, so substituted goat cheese (chèvre), which worked well. I also left out the celery. Going for a rustic look with the phyllo pastry also means you can work fast and not worry about rips and tears.

  • e_ballad on October 04, 2017

    A great dish, with a good hit of herbs against the creamy saltiness of the cheeses. The textural component of the celery was divisive in our household. Was this better than our ‘go-to’ spanakopita? Not quite, so accordingly, this might not be a high-rotation recipe at our place.

  • Lsblackburn1 on September 17, 2018

    Nice variation on spanakopita. Different but not weird different. I like the celery!

• Acharuli khachapuri

  • Rutabaga on March 06, 2017

    My family wasn't as into these I had hoped. That was primarily because ricotta was the dominant cheese in the filling, and neither my husband nor five-year-old are particularly fond of ricotta. I would try it again with goat cheese in place of the ricotta, or maybe just try mixing it up with any other variety of cheeses we tend to have on hand. The one-year-old really enjoyed it, and everyone agreed the bread itself was good and this could be a fun alternative to pizza or a good handheld snack on the go.

• Mutabbaq

  • Laurendmck on May 30, 2015

    Yes, Tippycanoe, I should have read this before baking it! I made both the dairy version and the nut version (the nut version is in the intro paragraph). My first experience with phyllo, and I found it tricky, but I don't think a few wrinkles and tears will make a difference. The lemon syrup is lovely too.

  • TippyCanoe on April 23, 2013

    A show stopper! This dessert was incredibly easy to make (especially if you can find, as I did, fresh filo) and absolutely wowed my book group. I highly recommend this and will certainly make it again. (Watch the cooking time closely and begin checking early. Mine was done on the early side of the cooking time.)

• Semolina, coconut & marmalade cake

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    I am not too familiar with Middle Eastern syrup cakes, but the orange flower water clearly grounds it in this region and I know this as a common dessert. A lot else going on here besides the orange, including nutty coconut - with the syrup and flavors this becomes quite a rich cake and really cries out for tea or coffee to offset the sweetness. A few execution issues- for example, why can't I use the batter to make one instead of two cakes since they didn't even halfway fill my loaf pans? And my syrup didn't absorb throughout my cake- shouldn't I be doing something to increase absorption (such as poking holes in the baked cake with toothpicks to let the syrup seep in) rather than just slathering syrup on cake? I guess I am still on the fence with this recipe. If I make this again, I think I will review more traditional semolina cake recipes first to see if I can learn any helpful techniques before making another batch.

  • Rutabaga on November 13, 2014

    This cake has a wonderfully moist, yet light and almost crumbly texture. I did not find it to be overly sweet, and I'm saying that as someone who doesn't like very sugary desserts. The bitter marmalade really balances the flavor, as does topping the cake with plain whole milk yogurt. My husband found the flavor a little pungent, something the rest of us adults didn't really get, so your enjoyment of the cake may hinge on how much you enjoy marmalade. The cakes keep very well for several days.

  • JoBills on September 29, 2014

    Great easy recipe, fantastic cake, and the addition of some yogurt with orange-flower water makes it truly stellar.

  • hillsboroks on March 12, 2014

    I made this exactly per the recipe with the addition of 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Since it called for unsalted butter and no salt I thought it might be a bit blah without salt. The cake is very moist, sweet and wonderfully flavored. When I tasted the cake by itself it was almost too sweet but served with a bit of yogurt it was amazing. I think it really requires the tang of the yogurt to offset the sweetness of the cake. I used some mango orange yogurt I had on hand for the quick taste but purchased some plain Greek yogurt to which I will add a few drops of orange flower water per the recipe before serving it with the cake to guests tonight. I used a small silicone pastry brush to brush the syrup on right after the cakes came out of the oven and had no problem with it soaking in evenly. I let the cakes cool completely before wrapping them in foil, left them to sit overnight and did not taste them until the following morning.

  • TigClarke on January 09, 2014

    Unlike the previous reviewer I did not find this cake overly sweet. I used quite traditional, thick cut marmalade that has a rather bitter flavour and the finished cake was dense and firm, but very moist, and had quite a bittersweet quality almost like it had been made with grapefruit, which I loved, but then I don't have a terribly sweet tooth. I would say it's not for everybody though.

  • Silverscreensuppers on August 09, 2016

    Love this cake and have made it many, many times. Always turns out perfectly, not too sweet and lasts for AGES wrapped in foil. Another winner from Jerusalem, what a fab cookbook!

• Set yoghurt pudding with poached peaches

  • Silverscreensuppers on August 09, 2016

    A friend of mine made this for me and it was so delicious I had one for dinner and one for my breakfast with some raspberries. I made them for a dinner party a few months later and they were again very, very nice. Recommended.

• Cardamom rice pudding with pistachios & rose water

  • Penchantforproduce on June 10, 2017

    Only used 100g rice, used basmatti. Use short grain next time. Omitted butter. Used full amount of cardamom. Infuse for 24+ hours. Used a combo of simple syrup and condensed milk instead of just condensed milk. Skipped the syrup.

  • mfeldman51 on January 12, 2013

    I think I would use less rice next time--1/2 cup rather than the scant 2/3 called for. This pudding is not too sweet, and the idea of the rose water honey syrup is a nice one--don't omit.

  • Hellyloves2cook on October 22, 2012

    Pg 270 - This is delicious- the inclusion of the spices and honey just elevated this to rice pudding heaven.it is very rich and has a fantastic aroma. A definite 'will do again' recipe. Prob not good for those who are weight conscious!

• Muhallabieh

  • Astrid5555 on September 02, 2016

    This is a very quick, easy and delicious recipe. Desiccated coconut and pistachios give this puddingy panna cotta-like dessert some crunch, while the bay leave syrup elevates this dish to something really special. A definite must cook for a Middle Eastern meal!

• Spice cookies

  • FJT on February 25, 2017

    Great recipe! I did make some substitutions just because of what I had in the pantry, but nothing too major: marsala for brandy, raisins for currants and extra lemon zest for orange zest. I also mixed these by hand as I don't have a stand mixer; it looked like an impossible job at one point, but it did all come together in the end. I have to admit that when I tasted these fairly soon after they came out of the oven I didn't really like them and had a hard time finishing just one cookie ... but they've mellowed overnight and now I'm a fan.

  • Melanie on February 15, 2015

    Delicious! Made a double batch for Christmas. Will definitely make again, fantastic mix of flavours.

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    I made these as part of my Christmas cookie assortment, and they are so delicious. A bit more involved than most cookies, and definitely read the recipe ahead because you need to rest the batter, soak currants in brandy, etc. A good quality not too sweet chocolate is a must (I used a 62% Spanish chocolate)- and I just did a fine chop rather than grating (which sounded too time consuming and messy to me). I don't like huge Christmas cookies, so I made these a smaller size than called for- my cookie balls were about a tablespoon in size and I baked them for the shortest time in the suggested range- I think 11 minutes. That was fine with the glaze and chocolate adding moistness. One quibble with the recipe-it called for half an egg. Maybe that was the result of converting between British and American versions of the book (I have the US version), but I hate that type of waste.

  • DeborahBluhm on December 25, 2014

    So good! And totally worth the extra effort. I used big juicy dried sour cherries that I bought online from his webstore instead of sultanas, and soaked them overnight in kirsch. They were absolutely delicious!

  • raybun on October 07, 2016

    Absolutely delicious! The house smelt of Christmas while they were baking. I used raisins instead of currants and a mix of chocolate chips and cocoa nibs as I didn't have any cooking chocolate left. I used a small egg instead of 1/2 a medium egg and they were perfect. I expected them to flatten a little in the oven but they kept their round shape. Disappeared very quickly...

  • tmitra on August 13, 2017

    I like the texture of these, but as you can guess from the recipe, they are hardly spice cookies. For me, chocolate and lemon are the dominant flavors. I prefer true spice cookies, so I would not repeat these, as they are time-consuming (especially grating the chocolate, as TrishaCP anticipated below).

  • laurenlangston on December 18, 2016

    These taste gorgeous. These notes are after following a double batch of the recipe to the letter, by weight instead of volume when the option was given (with exception, noted below). The dough is so stiff that it scared my KitchenAid a little when I made the double batch. I used nocino instead of brandy to soak the currants since that's what I had on hand and it was delicious; I might even use 25% more booze next time to reach more of the currants and to add just a little more moisture to the dough. I did hit some problems at the end: 1 tablespoon glaze per cookie won't stretch to the whole batch; 2 teaspoons will do it. He says to make glaze while cookies are "still warm" but if you pour it while the cookies are too warm it'll thin out from the heat of the cookie and won't look a thing like the photo.

  • Livia on June 24, 2018

    Complete disaster. Didn't taste right and overly sweet and sadly had to throw the batch away :(

• Tahini cookies

  • purrviciouz on April 23, 2018

    These were delicious and I'd make them again. Next time, just barely press down with the fork before baking because I preferred the thicker cookies. They were not too sweet and pretty light.

  • WFPLCleanEating on November 16, 2015

    I felt these were overbaked at the minimum time suggested - 15 minutes. If I make them again (and I'm not sure I will) I would start checking after 12 minutes. So it's hard to give a decent review as the overbaking made the flavor and texture not great. - Jane

• Clementine & almond syrup cake

  • e_ballad on April 25, 2017

    Made using the orange variation instead of the clementines, this was very easy & very tasty. I would suggest perhaps checking from 30 mins on, as I checked at 40 mins & it was a touch too dark. I also didn't use the optional chocolate icing & I'm not sure that it would have needed it, given how great it was without it.

  • Zosia on January 24, 2016

    This was a lovely cake, moist and quite light despite its dense appearance, flavoured with almonds and citrus. It was delicious the day it was baked but the texture was better the next day once the syrup had had a chance to redistribute. I omitted the optional chocolate icing, reduced the sugar in the cake by 50g and baked it in a 9" quiche pan (it was as pretty as it was delicious)

  • thekitchenchronicles on November 03, 2014

    http://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2014/01/11/clementine-almond-syrup-cake/

  • stockholm28 on December 31, 2013

    This was a lovely cake and you can easily make it a day or two ahead. I followed the books suggestion and iced the day of serving. It is delicious with the dark chocolate icing, but it would also be good without it. I used Bob's red mill almond meal for the ground almonds.

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    I made this without the frosting- I am a bit biased because I love baking with ground almonds (which I found to be the dominant flavor) but this tastes divine. You may want to adjust the temp and cooking times. My oven can run hot, so I pulled it out at 40 minutes (after checking at 30 minutes) and the sides would have burned with another minute in. However, the texture of the cake was perfect. I did go ahead and poke holes in the cake to let the syrup better absorb.

  • PFP on March 27, 2013

    This was really lovely. I made it for Passover, substituting 75g matzoh cake meal for the 100 g of all purpose flour. Next time I would make it with regular matzoh meal as it was quite dense -- with all the syrup it was almost pudding like. In any event, people liked it very much. However, at our Seders there are so many desserts -- at least 5 or 6 -- that people only take small tastes so one of these cakes could easily serve 15-18 people thin slices. The flavor was delicious and although the texture was dense and pudding-like it was a hit.

  • jaxstar84 on April 26, 2013

    I totally forgot to add the flour - it was still a gorgeous cake. It was dense without being too claggy and the lemon really lifts the cake away from being too sweet. I fresh and zingy cake which would end a meal beautifully or be a great addition to an afternoon tea!

  • anniemac on December 20, 2017

    This is indeed a lovely cake. I did not ice it, but served it with a bit of whipped cream and candied orange peel. As Zosia said, it was better the next day, and also good for a day or so after that (it's a big cake!) I would reduce the sugar in the cake a bit next time as the syrup provides enough sweetness for my taste.

• Tahini sauce

  • twoyolks on July 31, 2017

    The tahini sauce was nice but it was a bit too bland. It probably needed more garlic and more lemon juice.

  • TrishaCP on May 01, 2017

    Made to go with the lamb shawarma, but nobody really touched it, passing it over for harissa and yogurt. I thought it tasted good- but I added lemon juice to taste (I thought it needed more).

• Yoghurt with cucumber

  • TippyCanoe on April 23, 2013

    Good basic recipe for a cucumber, yogurt salad. I liked the use of both fresh and dried mint and the addition of cayenne. I served this with fava bean kuku (p. 39) and it really added to the flavor of that dish.

  • twoyolks on September 16, 2014

    This works really well as a side to any kind of spicy food. The yogurt provides cooling for the heat.

  • clcorbi on April 28, 2017

    Yum. I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did, but man, is this a tasty condiment. I omitted the dried mint (simply because I didn't have any), and added a bit more fresh mint to compensate, but I imagine this would be good with fresh cilantro as well. Will be repeated.

• Baharat

  • Rutabaga on October 31, 2016

    This spice mix gave great flavor to the freekeh soup with meatballs. I don't have much left over, but imagine it would be sprinkled over popcorn.

  • Astrid5555 on September 03, 2016

    Great spice mix, used for the tabbouleh salad. As per TrishaCP's suggestion cut down on the cloves, worked out perfectly.

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    I really enjoyed this spice blend (in the beef meatballs recipe and as a rub for grilled chicken), but it is quite heavy on cloves, and if you are not the biggest fan, you may want to consider using less in the mix.

• Harissa

  • radhablack on September 13, 2017

    try with arbol chili like Harley Farm's

  • Boffcat on February 25, 2017

    I increased the number of chillies to four, but even so the harissa wasn't particularly hot. It's quite good, but I would only make it again in preference to using shop-bought harissa to be able to avoid added salt and sugar (as I'm cooking for a baby).

• Zhoug

  • sosayi on May 16, 2018

    Delicious, spicy and herbal condiment. I used frozen, hot, hatch chiles (only chile I had on hand) and quite loved this. It was fabulous with the Lamb and Cannellini Bean Soup.

  • blepharisma on October 20, 2013

    I think this turned out a little too watery - possibly due to the type of green chile I used. Would hold off on adding the extra water until you know the consistency of the other ingredients. Otherwise, very flavourful. A fun condiment to have on hand.

  • twoyolks on July 31, 2017

    This is really spicy when made with jalapeños. I'd remove the seeds in the future.

• Pilpelchuma

  • Astrid5555 on May 21, 2017

    Amazing flavors! Since I did not have any ground cayenne pepper I substituted ground Pasilla chiles and I also reduced the paprika by half. We even used it as a pesto substitute with pasta for dinner because we loved it so much!

  • radishseed on February 25, 2014

    This is a wonderful, complex, smoky, and very hot chile-garlic sauce.

  • Rutabaga on May 14, 2014

    Amazing depth of flavor! This has become a favorite of mine to stir into anything that needs a little heat and spice. I've had it in the fridge for months (a little goes a long way), and it keeps very well. This morning I enjoyed some mixed with fried rice and egg for a delicious wake-up call.

• Labneh

  • radishseed on February 25, 2014

    I love the mix of cow's and goat's milk yogurts in this labneh, which tastes like a mild, spreadable goat cheese.

• Preserved lemons

  • rionafaith on October 23, 2016

    Omitted the rosemary, used 1 bird's eye chili. I've only used these in one dish so far (a Moroccan chicken dish from All About Braising, indexed with notes here), but that turned out well! Looking forward to using them in other things.

• Quick pickled lemons

  • rionafaith on September 28, 2016

    Awesome flavor. These are great on top of steak or other rich meats. Next time I would cut the lemons into quarters before slicing, or even smaller, to make the pieces more bite-sized.

• Food52

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  Sure, the ingredient lists may be long (and full of spices...), and the cooking techniques may seem unfamiliar, but the recipes are almost all easy to put together once you've assembled your pantry.

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