• KatieK1 on October 27, 2022

  I have this book out from the library and I have to say up front that the typeface is ridiculously small (could it be 4 pt.?). When I buy it, I'm going for the ebook instead. The sample of the ebook on amazon is eminently readable.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Miso butter butternut gnocchi

  • Apollonia on October 27, 2023

    I tend to like things less rich than many cookbook authors, so based on that preference and the other reviewers, I cut the butter & oil by about half in the squash roast and skipped the za'atar butter and just sprinkled some on instead. It was still extremely rich and very delicious. We really loved the freshness of the salsa against the squash. Will make again!

  • Astrid5555 on January 13, 2023

    Delicious, even my veggie averse teenagers happily finished their plates. Needs the salsa to cut throught the richness of the sauce. As mentioned by the other reviewer the za’atar butter overdoes it a little, maybe adding za’atar only without any butter does the trick?

  • Pimlicocook on December 13, 2022

    An unusual combination of flavours anchored by a rich, smooth butternut squash sauce and layered with tangy fresh tomato and a drizzle of zaatar butter (which I felt I overdid a little and made the dish a little heavy). I only had brown rice miso (rather than white) but I think it worked fine. A different way to use butternut squash; would make again.

  • Hansyhobs on October 14, 2023

    I made this to finish up a jar of rose harissa (you can use a lot more than the recipe states). It's a great recipe, very tasty and rich. I used an onion squash. I agree with the others about the zatar butter, I don't think it's that necessary, but it's very tasty and I used the leftover butter to cook scrambled eggs the following day.

• Giant cheese on toast with spring onion, honey and Urfa butter

  • MollyB on August 13, 2022

    This was very good but very rich. Make it when you're really in the mood for melty cheese! I used the heavy cream available in the US, not double cream - I might use a little more yogurt and a little less cream next time, as it was a bit runny when it started to melt. (The stuff that dripped off the edge of the bread crisped up in the pan and was a nice snack for the cook!)

• Sweet and sour celery salad

  • MollyB on August 18, 2022

    Great salad! I had some mature celery in my CSA box this week, and this was the perfect way to use it. I served it alongside grilled pork chops and farro, and that was a nice blend of flavors. I'd definitely recommend adding the optional ricotta - it offset the pretty assertive flavors in the rest of the dish.

  • KarinaFrancis on August 29, 2022

    I’d never thought to char celery but glad I tried this. It’s a great salad and very versatile. I agree with MollyB the ricotta is needed to give it balance

• Oyster mushroom noodles with caramelised caraway onions

  • Astrid5555 on October 15, 2022

    Delicious, the caraway seeds made for an interesting flavor profile.

• Mango and cheese salad with jalapeño and lime

  • Senkimekia on February 26, 2023

    This was good, I would make it again and try different cheeses.

• Plantains with Scotch bonnet, garam masala and lime

  • Senkimekia on February 26, 2023

    This was very good, sweet with a spicy kick. The garam masala made for a nice spice choice and I enjoyed the cinnamon undernotes. I did not have scotch bonnet chilies so I replaced with bird’s eye chilies. A nice preparation of plantains, I would make this again.

  • KarinaFrancis on November 10, 2022

    I’m not sure that what I bought were plantains because they were very sweet and soft….like bananas that took 2 weeks to ripen. The end result was pretty good and nicely spiced but I’m not sure I’ll try again

  • ellwell on March 12, 2023

    I had some frighteningly black plantains when I got home from a trip which of course were perfect in this dish! I thought the sweet/spicy flavor of this dish was outstanding. No leftovers! it was almost a dessert.

• Piri piri tofu over crispy crispy orzo

  • Senkimekia on February 26, 2023

    This was very good but as we cooked our way through other recipes I realized it’s not as spectacular as some of the other recipes in this book. It is very easy to cook though, great for a weeknight dinner. We used tofu but if I were to make it again I would go with shrimp instead.

  • hbakke on September 15, 2023

    I used the full tablespoon of piri piri seasoning and it was almost too spicy. I doubled the spinach and could have probably used even more for my preference. Overall this was a nice, easy dinner that I would make again. My orzo also did not get crispy.

  • rachelblair on August 24, 2022

    The flavour of this is great and I really enjoyed it even though it didn't turn out perfect. My orzo didn't get crispy, just stuck to the bottom of my pot and it ended up a bit liquidy. Also I'm not a big fan of silken tofu (I'm a texture person) so I'd probably use a slightly firmer kind next time, I don't think it would make a big difference to the overall dish.

  • rhb on December 14, 2022

    This is almost a pantry meal and is pretty good. We used 2 t of piri piri and it was pretty spicy. It was too smoky for my husband for a main dish, he said he'd eat it again but with something else that is not smoky. I didn't have some of the ingredients so I substituted: Israeli couscous, firm tofu, and 1 1/2 t of Cheat's Lemon Preserves (Ottolenghi Test Kitchen). I also used 5 oz of spinach. I used a non-stick skillet; the couscous got sticky/chewy and slightly crispy. It's a bit stodgy but that was okay...very filling. It really needed the extras for serving and then some...we also served it with some lime pickled onions, sour cream, yogurt, and Cheat's Preserved Lemon. The pickled onions made a big difference.

• Charred gem lettuce two ways: tuna crema

  • Senkimekia on February 26, 2023

    This was good, probably not a repeat (very few recipes make the repeat list) but we enjoyed it. There were 2 versions of the recipe, we went with the tuna crema version.

• Prawn lasagne with habanero oil

  • Senkimekia on February 26, 2023

    Wow, the flavor in this is unreal. If someone handed me a plate of this I actually would not guess there was shrimp in it at first. The flavors are strong in a delightful way and this is definitely going to be a repeat in our house.

  • VineTomato on December 22, 2022

    Totally divine. Kept the whole habanero in, just chopped it up and we loved it. Can't wait to make this again.

  • Frenchfoodie on July 01, 2023

    Delicious, deeply flavoured, rich and satisfying.

  • ellwell on March 21, 2023

    This was good. I guess I was expecting to be more “wowed” because of all the hype I have heard about this recipe. My husband said “give it a good review” . I thought the consistency of the shrimp was a little weird and we kept wondering if we would have preferred it with sausage.

• Duck with Mexicorn sauce and spring onion salsa

  • Senkimekia on February 26, 2023

    Absolutely outstanding. All those flavors, this is a rich and satisfying dinner and is one of the best recipes we have made in a while. I never used pickled green peppercorns before, it’s a lovely ingredient I am glad to have discovered. We will definitely be making this again - excellent for company or a special dinner without being overly fussy.

  • jfleissn on January 29, 2023

    This is a wow recipe—a must-try for fans of this cookbook! I had trouble imagining how all the flavors would work together, but the sauce is incredible and the salsa a brilliant complement. We left out the habanero and used dried green peppercorns, as we couldn’t find the pickled ones. Marinated the duck about 3 hrs. My husband did have to turn the heat up a little bit to brown the duck skin, though she says to fry it at a very low temperature.

• Sheet-pan sausages and charred citrus

  • meggan on September 27, 2022

    Nice and easy meal - I did not add the chickpeas but I will next time.

  • KarinaFrancis on July 18, 2022

    What a fantastic start to my dive into this book. Perfect for a weeknight, punchy flavours and pretty colours. I love the sweet zingyness of the charred citrus. The chickpeas are necessary to make it a complete meal.

• Chicken with pineapple and 'nduja

  • meggan on September 15, 2022

    I had poor quality chicken (that sounds gross as I write it) but this was still good. I would marinate in the paste a little longer and maybe use boneless to speed it up. As suggested, I blow torched the pineapple to caramelize; it was fun.

  • KarinaFrancis on September 22, 2022

    This was delicious, the combination of chicken and pineapple is a winner for me, the 'nduja adds porky goodness. Very low fuss, although I should have got the blowtorch out for the pineapple

  • rachelblair on September 13, 2022

    This was delicious! I wish that I had a bigger cast iron pan so that I could double the recipe because I would have loved a second helping or leftovers. I saw that on Ixta's Instagram she had a video of the recipe where she said that if she was to write the recipe now she would use pineapple juice instead of broth so that's what I used and it was delicious.

  • Celia88 on May 30, 2023

    I think this was quite a small portion, it served us as two instead of four. But the recipe is absolutely delicious, will definitely make again.

• Roast chicken curry with crispy curry leaves

  • Dinovino on April 26, 2023

    Loved it so tasty

  • KarinaFrancis on October 26, 2022

    I have to confess the Silver Fox liked this much more than I did, I’m just not a fan of curry powder (which is what he loved about it) My curry didn’t evaporate too much which meant I could shred the leftover chicken and have an old school curry for dinner the next night. I probably won’t make it again but I will try using mayonnaise marinade again

  • joneshayley on June 29, 2023

    Made with a pack of thighs, this was delicious. Deeply flavoured sauce (although quite thin)and juicy tender chicken with crispy skin. I think the Mayo in the marinade made for the crispness in the skin to be that much more pronounced than usual thigh in sauce recipes. I did add a handful of spinach to the sauce for a veg element and it did not at all detract. I’ll make this again.

  • sassy_momma on February 27, 2023

    Made this recipe tonite, it was just ok. Nothing special.

• Black pepper pork steaks with pineapple and peppers

  • KarinaFrancis on February 14, 2023

    The flavours were so really good, pineapple and pork is always a winner. The only issue I have is the pork shoulder which turned out to be a bit chewy, I’ll try it again but will try pork fillet

  • Keith_P on October 01, 2022

    Recipe calls for small piquant padron type peppers not sweet bell peppers.

• Lamb loins with ajvar and miso butter

  • KarinaFrancis on September 24, 2022

    Another outstanding recipe from this book! The ajvar and miso butter were flavour bombs and the whole dish comes together beautifully. The only change I made was to use pork fillet instead of lamb. Definitely one to make again, but probably a better left for the weekend when you have a bit of time on your hands.

• Chiles rellenos with salsa roja risotto

  • KarinaFrancis on October 13, 2022

    This was a bit of a miss for me. It was tasty enough but a bit too cheesy (if that’s even possible) and didn’t quite pay back for the time investment

  • rachelblair on November 17, 2022

    Loved this! I don't think I had the right kind of peppers, they seemed bigger than romano peppers so I didn't use as many but it was still delicious. I would probably use poblanos next time which are easier to find where I live and Ixta mentions that poblanos are the traditional pepper for this dish in the head notes. It also kept surprisingly well, often stuffed peppers don't do well as leftovers.

  • Happykikkers on December 10, 2022

    We liked the paprika’s but weren’t really a fan of the rice. The taste was nice, maybe we should warm the rice a little more next time.

• Mackerel with charred corn and Calabrian chilli salsa

  • KarinaFrancis on August 06, 2022

    Ixta has a way with salsas! The salsa component blew me away, not super hot, but the flavour is bright and punchy! I butterflied the fish after watching a few YouTube tutorials, it’s not too hard. All in all, a great dish

• Charred red pepper tartare with crispy ginger dressing

  • KarinaFrancis on February 26, 2023

    Outstanding! I made the dressing and roasted the peppers the night before and marinated them for about an hour the following day. My ginger didn’t really crisp up, possibly because I cut it too thick. When the tahini, peppers and dressing all come together it’s so good. Will absolutely make again

• Charred gem lettuce two ways: dill roasted tomatoes

  • KarinaFrancis on October 26, 2022

    Charring lettuce, who knew it would be good? It was delicious but the star of the show are the tomatoes roasted with caraway and dill. I threw some asparagus in for the last 10 minutes to cook in the delicious oil.

• Mackerel udon

  • KarinaFrancis on December 21, 2022

    These were really tasty, the dressing really brought it all together. You could use tuna instead of mackerel (I probably will next time).

• Spiced lamb and aubergine ragout

  • KarinaFrancis on August 05, 2022

    I had my doubts about baking a ragout, but they were totally unfounded. I cooked the mix for 35 minutes to get the eggplant super soft and the mince with some crispy edges. The star of the show is the salsa, it’s divine, I had some leftover and it livened up my morning avo toast. I did make the soy cured eggs, but they aren’t a big contributor. Added bonus, my eggplant adverse beloved gave it a thumbs up

  • TinyCitiKitchen on July 19, 2023

    I didn't expect to love this as much as I do. And I NEVER expected my "super senior" mom to relish it! I serve it with soft flatbreads from a local bakery and it's wonderful. Make extra tomatoes and keep them in the refrig. I just had a super lunch of a piece of flatbread spread with olive paste, scattered with a few white anchovies, and topped with a couple of Tblsp of the tomatoes

• Kohlrabi with miso meunière

  • KarinaFrancis on November 04, 2022

    How to take a humble (and kinda ugly) vegetable and make it super luxurious and elegant! The kohlrabi steaks become soft on the inside with beautifully caramelised edges and the sauce is as simple as it is delicious. I had some butter leftover, think I’ll use it with some prawns.

  • rachelblair on August 24, 2022

    I've never known what to do with the kohlrabi in my CSA basket but now that I've tried this recipe I order extra, it's so good yet so simple!

  • ellwell on March 12, 2023

    This time I found some lovely large kohlrabi at the international store, so I decided to give it another go. the steaks appeared to shrivel and I was afraid they had dried out but they were still quite moist. I had never cooked kohlrabi--it kind of has a cauliflower taste. my husband was a bit put off by the edges, which were a little harder to cut through, so I think I would peel them next time. I only made 3 steaks and had extra butter sauce which I used to sauté some small chicken breasts. It was very good!

  • ellwell on November 08, 2022

    I could not find Kohlrabi, so I used the recommended celeriac. It was not that good. The celeriac had an interesting roasted flavor—very strong and it was interesting on its own, but I didn't think the sauce enhanced it at all. I’d be curious to know if the sauce works better with kohlrabi. Also, the recommended cooking method for the celeriac is to follow Ottolenghi’s method. If you do, definitely do NOT salt the “steaks” before you broil them— it was WAY too much salt.

• Ricotta dip with hot sauce butter pine nuts

  • KarinaFrancis on September 25, 2022

    Super easy and really good. Perfect for alfresco lunch, best with bread to soak up the delicious hot sauce topping.

• Tomato salad with tahini, ginger sauce, chilli oil and crumpet croutons

  • KarinaFrancis on September 20, 2022

    WOW!! Who knew crumpet croutons would be so awesome? I’ll definitely repurpose that idea! The salad is just cucumber and tomato but the dressing, chilli oil and croutons turn it into a showstopper.

• Skirt steak resting over tomatoes with black lime and maple butter

  • joneshayley on June 29, 2023

    I made this substituting the ghee for butter. It is wonderful. Taking a relatively cheap steak and elevating it to a show stopper. One I’ll definitely make again.

  • stepharama1 on October 27, 2022

    Wow - I will definitely make this again! Now I understand the hype over this book. The dish was streamlined to prepare and had fantastic layers of flavors - slightly sweet (maple syrup), hot (I added a little more chilli), citrusy (dried black limes -yum) and rich (from the ghee).

  • Io.veronicascott on January 24, 2023

    I liked it, but it didn't quite come together the way I envisioned

  • ellwell on November 01, 2022

    Ok everybody needs to stop what they’re doing and make this now! It took a fair amount of time to get the components together, but wow it was worth it! Cant wait to fight over the leftovers tomorrow. Served with the little gem salad (which was a lot of acid with the two combined but they were good together.

• Triple citrus tomato salad (or soup)

  • joneshayley on June 29, 2023

    I loved this salad, especially the ginger. It’s a new and surprising way to serve your best summer tomatos

• Fish poached in charred tomato broth

  • grindabod on August 29, 2023

    This is the quickest route to bouillabaisse vibes on a weeknight. Super flavourful in almost no time. The aïoli is well worth making! Be mindful about not overcooking the fish, it has already been marinated in citrus, so it barely needs any further cooking. I had smaller pieces and they only needed to simmer about 1 minute on each side.

• Porcini ragù

  • jfleissn on January 21, 2023

    Let me agree that the amount of cooking water called for here is way too much. The flavors were lovely but really got drowned out!

  • Pimlicocook on September 11, 2022

    This wasn't bad. It's certainly easy and quick, but I was somewhat indifferent to it (whereas I was really impressed by the lengthier, more complex Ottolenghi traybake ragu). I'll probably give it another go, given it uses ingredients I usually have on hand - and perhaps ease up a little on the pepper, as I felt that overwhelmed my dish a bit. I made a third of the recipe for one main portion.

  • OhhWhatsThisAllAbout on November 07, 2022

    Amazing recipe with great depth of flavour BUT adding 350g of the pasta cooking water would be far too much, just whatever clings to the noodles is fine. Easily serves 3 as a main.

• Chard rotolo

  • Mapi on October 31, 2023

    I simply loved this recipe!!! For health reasons I subbed the mascarpone in the filling with low-fat ricotta cheese: an easy tweak that took nothing from the incredible flavour. Also, as an Italian I'll never use butter in the tomato sauce, but only extra virgin olive oil. It's really delicious and not as difficult or time-consuming as it may look at first sight (in fact, it's faster than lasagne!), plus it looks stunning.

  • rachelblair on August 24, 2022

    I'm usually not a fan of chard, I find it too bitter and earthy but this recipe made a love it. It's surprisingly simple, I especially love the tomato sauce that is so quick and easy.

• Roasted cabbage with mango and harissa salsa

  • Pimlicocook on September 11, 2022

    An unexpected combination that was delicious - will definitely make this again. I made half the recipe as a light supper for one, but it would work beautifully with roast chicken, I think.

  • Hansyhobs on January 30, 2023

    This was excellent (had with roast chicken). Was quite hot (I was using a very spicy harissa) so the yoghurt was welcomed. Would definitely make it again

  • rachelblair on August 24, 2022

    I never would have thought that cabbage, mango and harissa would go so well together but this recipe is great! My homemade harissa is pretty spicy so I didn't add the jalapeño on top. I also used a variety of pointed green cabbage since that's what I had on hand instead of savoy cabbage and it was great.

• Shrimp dumplings and creamed corn

  • CheesyKranskyLove on October 03, 2022

    Very tasty and surprisingly easy. I recommend cooking a little bit of the prawn ball mixture in order to season to taste. I used the full salt amount for the mixture and it ended up slightly too salty. No issue with the tomato & creamed corn components.

• Spicy ginger, tomato and sesame dip

  • reader1trees on September 23, 2022

    This was very easy to make, I used the food processor method given at the bottom of the page, and tasted delicious. I preferred the texture the following day because the sesame seeds had softened slightly while the jar was sitting in the fridge. Don't skip the tahini drizzle, it really makes it.

• Cheesy roasted aubergine with salsa roja

  • rachelblair on September 09, 2022

    Wow! I’m really not a fan of eggplant but this was great! My 3 eggplants weighed more than what the recipe called for but it wasn’t an issue. The salsa really makes this dish, so good! It also kept pretty okay as leftovers.

• TV fries

  • rachelblair on May 29, 2023

    The combination of ingredients sounds bizarre but this recipe is amazing and works in such a delightful way. It seems like a lot of components too but it’s actually super easy to throw together. It’s become a go-to Friday night meal to have when watching a movie.

• Brown butter curried corn bread

  • rachelblair on September 13, 2022

    This was so good and different than any other cornbread I've had. I loved the chunky texture and the spice. I took the seeds out of the chili since I was worried about how spicy it would be for my guests I was serving it to and I'm glad I did since it still had a good amount of heat. I was a bit unsure about what kind of pan to cook it in since at the top of the recipe it says to line and butter a cake pan but then at the end of the recipe it says to release from the pan like you would with a springform. I cooked it in my 3" high springform and I'm glad I did since I think my 2" high cake pan would have been a bit too shallow.

• Strawberry, cinnamon and chipotle chocolate layered cake

  • rachelblair on September 13, 2022

    So this tasted great but turned out a bit of a mess. My ganache was fully cooled as instructed in the recipe but I think I should have put it in the fridge for a bit to firm up further before layering it since it didn't set at all in the tin. Also I think I should have whipped the cream to stiff peaks instead of medium peaks as it says to do in the book because it really deflated in the tin. When I turned this out it pretty much fell apart when trying to slice it. It also barely fit into my standard loaf tin so I wasn't able to use all my cream and I had to trim the bottoms of the biscuits. I would make it again but I don't know if maybe a bit of freezing would help it stay together better.

• Peach and rooibos iced tea sorbet

  • Anea25 on July 18, 2023

    Made it with black tea instead of roïbos. Used an ice cream maker as I have one. Very very tasty! Will probably become à regular

• Banana, sesame and maple cake

  • ellwell on March 12, 2023

    I had some bananas that were destined to be either banana bread or something more interesting. I decided to try this recipe just to experiment. Full disclosure: I had to sub whole wheat flour for almond flour and vanilla for vanilla paste. The texture came out like most almond flour cakes and had soft banana slices which were islands of sweetness. The cake tasted heavily of the sesame flour that you grind from seeds and include in the batter. My husband liked it but I found myself longing for banana bread.

• Gem and herb salad with maple, lime and sesame dressing

  • ellwell on November 01, 2022

    This was a good salad with a wonderful dressing. Ixta did not specify the type of green chilis, so I cut up some Serrano. Using two would have been way too hot. I loved all the elements and it was well received. Served along with the skirt steak recipe.

• Caldo de feijão with spicy pine nut oil

  • rhb on December 14, 2022

    Loved this and so easy! To make it even easier, next time, I will just mash the beans with a potato masher. And I want to try it with some good quality dried beans cooked fresh.

• Brown butter sea bass with tangerine dipping sauce and lots of herbs

  • jvozoff on October 14, 2023

    For the flavor complexity, this was really easy to make. Healthy and delicious. Will make again.

• Butternut and sage lasagne gratin

  • hlange on November 07, 2023

    This was divine. I used delicata instead of butternut. Omitted the tomatoes since we have super picky eaters but still used tomato paste. Finished with a habanero flake salt I had on hand. The flavors were out of this world. Sweet from the squash, cheesy, slightly spiced from the nutmeg. It also froze well in individual servings. Absolutely will repeat and a real treat.