• Beebopalulu on December 03, 2019

  Pictures are beautiful and recipes are inspiring but suffer from a few flaws. Most recipes require a long shopping list and a special trip to the store; they are also quite involved and have numerous components for each recipe. These are mostly faults on my side. However, some of the recipes seem to be poorly tested or adapted for the home kitchen. So overall - great for inspiration, but a less practical book.

• IvyManning on September 13, 2012

  I love the look of this book, and the ideas, but as always it's best to follow your instincts in the kitchen. I made the roasted portobellos with Tallegio and was not thrilled. Ottolenghi doesn't remove the gills or stems from the mushrooms, so the dish tasted muddy. He also uses a vast quantity of sundried tomatoes, which overwhelmed everything else in the dish. The Tallegio was a nice touch, but that much of any strong cheese just overwhelms the nostrils! Recipe fail this time, though other recipes in this book did better.

• lisapopp on December 30, 2010

  I completely agree with the other comments- this may be the first book that I cook cover to cover. I received it for Christmas- 5 days ago- and have already tried 6 of the recipes, with 2 more planned for tomorrow. My only note would be that I cut out some of the butter and used a little less oil (because some of the amounts seemed outlandishly large for everyday eating) but everything still tasted divine. If I could eat the Ultimate Winter Couscous and Stuffed Onions every day I would.

• Nik on December 29, 2010

  This is my favorite cookbook of 2010! This summer I made the Green Gazpacho almost every week and the Barley and Pomegranate Salad became a staple on the holiday table - so pretty and a lovely chewy/crunchy contrast. I could eat my weight in Leek Fritters dipped the green, lemony sauce! I might just end up cooking everything in this book.

• Slynchie on June 22, 2010

  I love this book. For the first time in years I am cooking my way through each and every recipe. This has brought me back to a range of vegtables and pulses that I had sadly wandered away from (cauliflower, broad beans, lentils, broccoli). Luckily I have easy access to a wide range of the spices/veg used - living close to some great Turkish/Cypriot shops. Might be a bit irritating otherwise....

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Poached baby vegetables with caper mayonnaise

  • Margaretsmall on November 03, 2013

    I didn't like this at all. The vegetables took much longer to cook than suggested, and tasted mainly of lemon and olive oil. I didn't make the mayonnaise, that would have been too much oil for comfort.

  • StoicLoofah on January 19, 2018

    It was okay. Best part was the mayo for us. We had to cook the veggies longer than it called for, and the poaching liquid didn't impart much flavor.

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    Veggies a la Grecque! Beautiful. I use a home made eggless mayo but it would be just as easy to use my favourite vegan mayo from the local shops.

• Spicy Moroccan carrot salad

  • L.Nightshade on June 04, 2011

    We really liked this salad. I made it when I made the lamb and apricot tagine from AMFT, thought the salad was better than the entree. I used whole baby carrots instead of slices. I added the spices part way through the onion saute as I think that really releases their aromas. I served the yogurt on the side. This recipe is rather similar to the Moroccan carrot salad in the ENYT Cookbook, with less time needed for marinating. I liked them both.

  • michalow on November 03, 2012

    Very flexible recipe, delicious lots of ways. Haven't made it with preserved lemons yet, but used lime juice once and chopped fresh lemon another time. Both very tasty.

  • lhkelsey on July 21, 2014

    Super! A great way to use carrots from the garden. Kind of out of my comfort zone, and i loved it!

  • br22 on August 02, 2014

    Delicious. The contrast between the room temperature carrots and the cold yogurt is wonderful. The flavors blend together really nicely and it's visually beautiful, too.

  • Melanie on October 04, 2014

    I served this with the suggested freekeh pilaf - they worked well together and I appreciated the addition of yoghurt to this dish. There is a long list of ingredients but it is easy and worth making.

  • KarinaFrancis on November 02, 2014

    This was a nice side dish to serve with a tagine. I didn't have any preserved lemons, I think the dish missed them.

  • TippyCanoe on May 11, 2015

    Terrific. I had no preserved lemon so used a bit of grated rind. The spices were perfect.

  • SilverSage on May 11, 2015

    Fabulous! I also subbed out lemon zest for the preserved lemons, and I didn't have any green chiles, so I added a bit of harissa. Perfect foil for my tangine of short ribs, prunes, dates & olives.

  • Yildiz100 on September 07, 2015

    This was my first time using preserved lemon, and unfortunately, I don't think I care for it. If I make this recipe again, I'll sub something else salty, like olives or capers. I reduced the cloves by half because mine were freshly ground and very strong. Next time, I think I'd reduce the cinnamon a little as well. I tried this both hot and cold and I strongly preferred it warm. I am on the fence as to whether or not I would make this again.

  • ithyt on October 05, 2015

    6.15 660g. Had warm - delicious.

  • finebec on May 01, 2017

    Had the preserved lemons and used fresh carrots (with their green tops) yet I found it did not have the drama in the mouth of many of his other dishes. Will try again, this time with farmers market carrots when they become available as so many of you recommend it.

  • consortiumlibrary on May 22, 2017

    My current favorite carrot salad; the spices are well-balanced and exciting, without being over the top. It's excellent with grilled fresh halibut. Will definitely make again, as modified. With Yotam's recipes, including this one, we consistently prefer less cinnamon, more spice, and oil-cooked (vs water-cooked) vegetables. Used more green & yellow onions; jalapeño & red Fresno chiles; 1/4 tsp cinnamon; and parsley instead of cilantro (only because didn't have cilantro). After onion was caramelized, I stirred in raw julienned carrots and cooked 2 min over med high, until carrots were crunchy but not raw. Forgot yogurt! Next time...

  • stephengk on May 28, 2017

    Great side for a barbeque

  • Rutikazooty on December 28, 2017

    10 minutes for cooking carrots does not leave them with crunch. Just a warning to check at 5. Based on reviews I used 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Nice blend of spices.

  • DKennedy on December 28, 2017

    Had this at Amy's when she hosted Mah jong. Excellent. I will want to make it for myself. She served it with another salad from the Red Rooster cookbook - also fabulous. See Rutikazooty's notes below.

  • StoicLoofah on March 24, 2018

    Nice side dish. Maybe a lot of work, but it does make a ton of carrots. Don't boil for 10 minutes. Check it from maybe 5 minutes

  • DePollepel on August 27, 2021

    nice

  • elysedc on June 16, 2022

    an all time favorite we go back to again and again. the mix of spices is so delicious.

  • apw2020 on January 21, 2025

    Great side dish, very easy and delicious!

  • mic_cherry on August 17, 2025

    This is great! Did 1/2 the recipe as it makes a lot, boiled the carrots for way less time to retain some bite.

  • chawkins on December 06, 2025

    Quite good, Made half of a recipe with garden carrots. Did not use yogurt.

  • domechef on December 30, 2025

    Very tasty and easy. Boiled the carrots for 6-7 minutes, didn't have green chilies so replaced it with about two teaspoons of Rose Harissa. Would make again for sure.

  • Schooffiecooks on March 25, 2026

    Made it with parsnips instead of carrots!

• Beetroot, orange and black olive salad

  • TippyCanoe on May 11, 2015

    Absolutely delicious. The combination of the citrus, olives, and the bitter treviso is incredible with the beets.

  • WFPLCleanEating on September 17, 2016

    This was a lovely salad - very pretty and fresh tasting. I don't think I have ever seen red chicory in the USA so I was going to use radicchio then couldn't find it (found it later in the wrong fridge drawer). But the salad was still great without it. Mix it up at the last minute so the beets don't stain the orange segments. - Jane

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    Yum! Takes a while to peel and segment the oranges. Half portion is a mice lunch with some hummus or lentils.

  • rmardel on July 02, 2025

    This was incredibly good. The sweet earthiness of the beets combined with the sweet orange and bitter chicory was addictive, and that floral hint of orange flower water simply elevated the experience. It was an entirely different flavor profile than the beet salads I normally make, and one I want to have again.

• Roasted parsnips and sweet potatoes with caper vinaigrette

  • ComeUndone on May 20, 2011

    One of my favourite way to enjoy parsnips. Incredible mix of flavours. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wscwong/5669866147/

  • Laura on December 01, 2011

    Pg. 16. This was really good, and even better on the morning of the second day for breakfast! And I'm looking forward to more leftovers for dinner tonight -- this does make an enormous quantity. It's quite a versatile recipe in that you can basically use any root vegetable in this dish. I did stick with the parsnips and sweet potatoes because I had a lot of both and needed to use them up. I really liked that none of the vegetables burned; the cooking times and temperature seemed to be about perfect. The amount of olive oil seemed excessive to me, so I did halve the amount that was tossed with the vegetables. In the future, I would add the garlic cloves separately. To cut down on fat, I might also skip the vinaigrette, although not the capers -- they're a really nice addition. I did not add the sesame seeds.

  • eselque on August 04, 2012

    I used cauliflower, yellow onions, and sungold tomatoes. The cauliflower only needed to roast for about 20 minutes, then another 10 with the tomatoes. It was delicious.

  • TrishaCP on June 27, 2013

    This works exactly as advertised in perking up roasted veg with the acid hit of the vinaigrette. Really wonderful dish.

  • Rutabaga on March 30, 2014

    This combination of rich roasted vegetables and lemony vinaigrette was incredible. While we aren't big fans of sweet potatoes (except as fries or tempura), I decided to try it with the vegetables as written in the recipe, and both my husband and I loved it. Getting to squeeze the soft roasted garlic on top is definitely a bonus. This would also look gorgeous as a holiday vegetable dish, and the vegetables are very appropriate for winter.

  • raybun on January 31, 2017

    Another rave review here. We loved this, and the capers managed to go unnoticed by the suspicious 9 year old. I added a small squash that needed eating to the mix. I will bookmark this recipe in my 'favourites' file.

  • eliza on January 31, 2017

    A nice mix of veggies, capers, and sharp/sweet dressing. I used less oil. Liked it.

  • twoyolks on February 09, 2017

    This is just roasted vegetables with a caper-heavy dressing. I don't think the vinaigrette really added that much and the selection of vegetables was merely fine.

  • finebec on May 02, 2017

    My first impression was of a good simple recipe made unusual by the addition of the garlic heads. Then I made it in a Cuisinart roasting pan and became something else again, something excellent. I would however swap the parsnips for another vegetable. They are an acquired taste. And one member of my family has just not acquired It.

  • stephengk on May 28, 2017

    Served with fried halloumi. The sweetness of the dish worked well with sharp tangy cheese. Have subbed carrots for sweet potatoes.

  • Jane on June 06, 2017

    I followed the recipe exactly as I always like to do that the first time I make a recipe (though like other reviewers I used less oil). I wouldn't leave the skin on the sweet potatoes again unless they were a thin-skinned variety. I had to remove the skins off the wedges as they were inedible. It's definitely the dressing that makes this more interesting. I added half a finely chopped preserved lemon as I thought that went well with the capers. I like stephengk's idea of serving this with halloumi.

  • KarinaFrancis on December 25, 2017

    This was a hit at the Christmas table, especially with the silver fox who has just “discovered” sweet potato. I used white and gold sweet potato and left out the parsnips, and agree with previous reviewers, the dressing really makes it. Next time I’ll use a bigger pan so the veg really roast. We had leftovers last night as a salad on a bed of rocket. (Photo)

  • StoicLoofah on January 13, 2018

    Really enjoyed this recipe. I think it was my first time cooking with parsnips, and I liked them. I made it on a baking sheet with my silpat down, but there was a ton of liquid that came off of it and ran everywhere. Next time, I think I might try turning on convection to see if it crisps up the vegetables differently

  • bernalgirl on January 19, 2020

    Added roasted chickpeas. Delicious!

  • sarahkalsbeek on February 10, 2020

    The dressing was really delicious! I used sweet potatoes only - a white variety of sweet potato that I think are harder than their orange cousins, so they needed a lot longer to cook, plus I overcrowded the pan with them, so they cooked unevenly. So that didn't turn out great for me, but I could see how this recipe would be very delicious if you didn't make those mistakes!

  • meginyeg on December 07, 2020

    This was simple and delicious. We will definitely be having it again.

  • mademoisielle on February 02, 2021

    A standard winter recipe in my house! Also works well with other veg or potato... and some halloumi if I’m feeling fancy.

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    Magnificent! no, really, Magnificent! It is not just any roast vegetables – this is an Ottolenghi dish, one that takes a common dish and makes it extraordinary. It is a favourite - the note in the cookbook says “Magnificent” which is pencilled in the margin. It takes sweet potatoes and parsnips and roasts them with garlic and (later) some cherry tomatoes, before dressing them with a tangy vinaigrette that is both sweet and sour, full of capers for a saltiness. It’s the perfect dish for any festival, celebration, Sunday lunch, or any day of the week.

  • DePollepel on August 27, 2021

    delicious, serve with chicken or sausages. bake parsnips at the same time.

  • Darja on September 26, 2023

    This recipe is phenomenal. The capers dressing is delicious, although at first, I was skeptical about the strange-sounding mix of ingredients. I recommend not overcrowding the baking dish to make sure everything bakes evenly and is dry.

  • HarlanH on April 15, 2026

    Great ingredients, but questionable technique. After more than the specified time in the oven, most of the veggies were still not fully roasted. Try 400F or 425F with convection, not 375F. Also, as someone else suggested, better to peel the sweet potatoes unless they're really small ones.

• Two-potato vindaloo

  • ldtrieb on April 23, 2015

    Love this, used canned tomatoes and did not have a red pepper, used pepper vinegar at the table. Garnished with cilantro. No other notes yet but some rated this 3 stars, I would make it 4 if I knew how!

  • debkellie on July 14, 2021

    Felt like a vegetarian curry and had the ingredients for this one on hand. I didn't add the sugar (given other folks comments). I guess sweetness would depend on the quality/variety/ripeness of the red peppers and sweet potato.. this was quite sweet. I'd like a little more heat for the vindaloo tag.. but I admit I used a mix of hot & sweet paprika just in case! It seemed very mild despite leaving the red chilli seeds in the mix! I'd give it another go but ramp up the heat, and maybe try a white sweet potato...

  • Astrid5555 on May 04, 2020

    Takes quite some time, had to substitute dried curry leaves for fresh, yellow mustard seeds for brown ones, dried chiles for fresh red chiles and did not have fenugreek seeds. Too sweet for the boys, would not add the caster sugar if I were to make it again, ok for us adults, but quite time-consuming to make.

  • JLDuck on June 18, 2022

    It does take some time to prepare, however the final result is excellent. Consider once it is in the pot, it's done! I matched it with stir fried spinach.

  • Kduncan on September 28, 2020

    Takes a long time to prep, and then a longer time to cook. Used all the fresh ingredients except the curry leaves (where I used dried). I did not add the sugar, and overall we found this pretty good. Lots of leftovers which is one of the reasons we cooked it.

  • patioweather on April 09, 2018

    A good bit of work but we thought it well worth it.

  • allisonsemele on November 11, 2020

    This smelled amazing while cooking, but it takes a long time and I found it overall too sweet. Makes a ton but we didn't get through the leftovers.

  • Anea25 on August 24, 2023

    Great recipe. It was a hit with people who love depths of flavours but not spicy.

  • London_Mummy on November 25, 2025

    I made this to eat tomorrow so probably the flavours will mellow: right now it is too sweet unless I add a lot more chilli. I was curious about this recipe because, since we know how to cook Indian food, we are snobbish about Indian restaurants & have never tasted the famous British Vindaloo. Its historic origins are supposed to be in Portugal via Goa. Anyway, these days I'm always seeking a new spice blend in a recipe, just to get a change, so this met the objectives, with its unusual flavours. I had to substitute a yellow pepper for the red pepper, which would have looked better. For fun, on another day, I might try this recipe using a readymade peri peri spice blend, which would make the recipe quick & simple, in homage to its Portuguese origins.

  • roma_pg8lm5 on May 03, 2026

    Love this curry. Have made many times. Sometimes I reduce sauce at end more than stated time.

• Caramelized garlic tart

  • Emily Hope on November 18, 2010

    This was absolutely delicious. As I recall, I found the instructions for caramelizing the garlic a bit confusing--I ended up cooking it for longer than the recipe says to get the rawness out, and didn't really end up with any sauce as they say there will be. Nevertheless, a pretty spectacular veg entree and worth the effort (and calories). Served for a dinner party with starter of Deb Madison's sungold soup, side of long-roasted tomatoes and peppers (a good match), an arugula/fennel/walnut salad, and David Lebovitz's ginger cake.

  • mfto on August 08, 2011

    p 38 US - the online recipe at the Guardian is slightly different from the one in US edition - Martha Stewart has the recipe at http://www.marthastewart.com/344169/caramelized-garlic-tart along with a video of Chef Ottolenghi making the tart.

  • oddkitchen on January 07, 2013

    I couldn't agree more with Emily Hope's note: a spectacular veg entree that's worth the effort and calories. Our tastebuds lobbied hard to convince us to eat the whole thing in one sitting (thankfully, we resisted -- and enjoyed leftovers for the next day's lunch).

  • RosieB on May 14, 2015

    I have made this tart three times now. It is so delicious. There are a lot of garlic cloves to peel but I used the method of cutting both ends off and then shaking them in a bottle. They were done in no time. I used the purple garlic which caramelised beautifully but did not give me much syrup. I made it recently for a lunch served with an Ottolenghi salad of french beans, mange tout and hazelnuts. My guests went back for seconds! They all loved it.

  • debkellie on March 17, 2015

    I used some great new season garlic which had giant cloves (size of a shallot). It caramelised beautifully and was just the right texture, but the puff pastry case seems a little redundant, adding nothing other than flakiness (and extra fat). Next time I'll substitute a sour cream shortcrust, yes there will be a next time.

  • London_Mummy on October 10, 2025

    This very rich, gorgeous tart has been our vegetarian Christmas dinner centrepiece for many years. Fortunately, it became a tradition that the children would peel all the garlic for me, because it is a laborious recipe.

  • London_Mummy on December 25, 2025

    Everyone loves this tart. Even the people on a low-fat diet, on a high-protein mission, or who usually dislike garlic, make an exception for it. I always have to simmer the garlic longer than the recipe says & I always have to add 3 tbs of caster sugar to achieve caramelisation.

  • cecilia_4eimgd on January 25, 2026

    Not a fan of super goaty cheese so swapped one for mozzarella. I also added chipotle chilli flakes. Water in garlic syrup took longer than expected to boil out. I might add a 4th head of garlic next time.

  • sophie_lfm61y on April 06, 2026

    Pretty good, but not sure it would be a repeat. As others noted the caramelizagion of the garlic took a bit longer, I also had to add a bit more water/sugar/balsamic to achieve proper caramelization and some kind of syrup - that being said the garlic was delicious. The puff pastry in the tart shell wasn’t that successful to me, maybe I rolled it too thin but it didn’t get the color I was hoping for. The filling cooked, but was still so liquidy when I cut into it, didn’t hold together at all. Willing to say this was probably my error though (used a smaller tart pan and still the amounted goat cheese). Also needed more salt. Next time I’d probably just make a quiche with the caramelized garlic and goat cheese, along with a pie crust instead of the puff pastry.

  • mallorie_7djucm on May 08, 2026

    This tasted amazing! Everyone loved it and it’s even good as leftovers.

  • myriaderf on August 23, 2020

    I do believe this recipe is worth the effort (but maybe only occasionally...)! It is much easier if you can get your hands on pre-peeled garlic, saves a lot of time.

  • DePollepel on August 27, 2021

    very special flavour, like a quiche with salad

  • Schooffiecooks on December 31, 2025

    One of my favorites from Plenty!

  • Shelmar on September 05, 2019

    Takes a long time (peeling garlic), but tastes really good. Good enough that we remade it (with an extra head of garlic) the next week.

  • TechSkirt on December 26, 2018

    Took this to a Christmas gathering and it was a huge hit. Well worth the effort - I think I've made this 6 or 7 times and each time it has been great. Caramelizing the garlic takes a bit longer than in the directions and I've learned through several rounds of it to cut the garlic into smaller 'slices' for it to work well. As others have mentioned it's too rich and time consuming for an everyday meal but for a special occasion this is perfect.

  • MilduraSO on May 16, 2020

    This is really rich but works well with a salad on the side. I absolutely love the caramelised garlic and have since used them for other recipes. To peel the garlic quickly I throw the cloves in a large lidded metal bowl and shake like a crazy woman for about 20-30 seconds.

  • heidi_ijgwa2 on May 31, 2026

    Lot of work, but incredible flavor. This tart fresh from the oven while pastry was still crisp and cheese melty made me swoon…. It was also delicious a day or two later eaten cold. Would absolutely make again (and again). It is very rich.

  • raybun on June 18, 2017

    A great tart for summer and picnics. Paired with a salad it's a substantial meal. Easy to make ahead too.

  • KaraCooks on February 14, 2020

    This tart is divine!!! I didn't change a thing and just pure deliciousness.

  • finebec on May 02, 2017

    Made the recipe from the Guardian original version with Caramelized squash and got kudos. The grown-up kids named it the best dish they ever had. Definitely big bang for the buck. Agree with earlier comments that the richness makes it go a long way in terms of the number of portions.

  • pattyatbryce on January 14, 2019

    Amazing dish. Definitely one to make annually.

  • MmeFleiss on January 14, 2015

    Spectacular, but very rich. You really can only eat a little at a time. The random mouthfuls of caramelized garlic was always a pleasant surprise.

  • coryelizabeth on June 06, 2017

    Hate to be the contrarian here, but I thought this was just okay. The tart is quite rich -- almost too rich -- and the garlic fades into the background. This recipe is also quite time-consuming: it took a ton of work to peel the garlic alone. A nice dish, but not for when you're very hungry (it's too rich to eat much in one sitting) or want a simple dinner.

  • e_ballad on July 18, 2018

    I’d agree that this is a very nice tart, but wow, what a lot of faffing about to get there. I had similar issues with caramelisation as mentioned by other reviewers. Whilst we enjoyed it, it’s doubtful that this will get a repeat outing at our place.

  • Rutabaga on November 09, 2014

    Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I found this tart in need of some tweaks to reach its full potential. The garlic cloves I had were very large, and even cut in half they didn't all caramelize fully. To get them like in the book photo, sautee them until nicely browned before adding water for the second time. The tart was also incredibly rich, and while my three-year-old loved it, I found it a little much. Maybe half-and-half, or even whole milk, could be substituted for the heavy cream? As noted in the directions, I tore both cheeses into chunks, but it would be better to grate the hard cheese, as the chunks did not melt into the filling. Due to time constraints, I had to cut into the tart while it was still fairly hot, which meant the filling was practically liquid. I also used just one large duck egg, and baked it in a nine inch pie plate rather than a tart pan, which may have affected the set. I used pie pastry instead of puff pastry, which was a reasonable substitute.

• Sweet potato wedges with lemongrass and crème fraîche

  • L.Nightshade on May 22, 2011

    The dipping sauce can be made while roasting, but I made it early to let the flavors mix and mingle a bit. 3/4 cup creme fraiche is combined with 1/2 lemongrass stalk, very finely chopped, zest and juice of two limes, one inch of ginger, grated, and 1/2 tsp fine sea salt. I chopped the lemongrass VERY finely but it still felt gritty in the sauce. So I put the completed sauce into a tumbler and hit it with an immersion blender. Perfect. Tasty and oh so fragrant! When the potatoes are done (and cooled a bit) they are sprinkled with a diced red chile and 1 cup of cilantro. The dipping sauce is served on the side. This was an easy, tasty dish, nice for an appetizer or a side. It's quite colorful on the plate as well. The recipe for the dipping sauce makes quite a bit.

  • ellabee on March 19, 2013

    p.26. Maybe it's because I used the option (mentioned in the recipe) of mashing the chopped lemongrass with salt in a mortar, but the result was a bit too salty for my taste, and I didn't even use full recommended amount; next time barest pinch. Still delicious, and will make again. The roasted sweet potatoes are excellent with or without the dip as a side to a Thai yellow curry. The amount of dip in the recipe would suffice for about twice the number of potato wedges. At 400F, the sweet potatoes took more like 40 minutes to brown; would go with 425F next time. Online link: http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/sweet-potato-wedges-with-lemongrass-creme-fraiche-shop

  • TrishaCP on April 19, 2017

    These were delicious. I peeled the potatoes in spite of the direction not to do so (personal preferences) and cut them as indicated. I needed about 5 additional minutes of cooking time to get them the color that I wanted. I agree that blitzing the lemongrass is the way to go. I didn't add salt to the dipping sauce, just to the potatoes, and I was happy with that choice. I did sprinkle on additional chile flakes because my fresh chile was quite mild.

  • slouj on February 25, 2022

    Made this sauce to accompany some roasted squash that I had to hand and it was absolutely fabulous. Adore the balance of fragrance and tang across the sweet veg.

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    The creme fraiche dressing was a bit heavy, I thought. Next time I might replace the creme fraiche with some thick yoghurt. A great Xmas dish too.

  • amandabs on January 28, 2026

    The crème fraiche did not have a strong lemongrass flavor

  • DePollepel on August 27, 2021

    delicious, also suitable as a snack

  • chezmaryb on December 07, 2020

    The sauce! So good. Needed a bit of extra lemongrass and definitely better made ahead so the flavors can mingle.

  • Tyelperion on February 19, 2013

    I read the note below and grated the lemongrass and the ginger on a microplane grater which worked really well too. Delicious combination of the cool tangy dip and the caramelised sweet potato wedges - we didn't have any fresh chili in the house so left out the sprinkling at the end and didn't miss it.

  • Yildiz100 on November 06, 2018

    I am undecided on this recipe. I felt the sauce was missing something, and the lemongrass was overwhelmed by the lime, yet I couldn't stop eating this, so I guess this will be repeated at least once. Based on the other reviews I made a half recipe of sauce and blended the lemongrass with the lime juice in the blender for a smooth texture. Amount of sauce was good and texture was smooth enough. I also cut the wedges in half length wise, making twice as many, and they still took longer than indicated to cook. Next time, I will add more lemongrass and I will include chili in the sauce. Chilis scattered over the potatoes mostly stayed on the plate and failed to add that spicy kick. Salted to taste, not according to recipe. Did find that adequate salt in the sauce was quite important.

  • ksg518 on January 10, 2020

    We loved this. We used lemongrass paste since we couldn't find fresh lemongrass so the blending was not an issue. We had to tinker with the proportions some for the sauce (a little more ginger and lemongrass) but in the end the sauce was great. We did peel the sweet potatoes but next time probably won't so they can be eaten like fries instead of with a fork. This sauce would be good on all sorts of roasted root vegetables.

  • agoicoe on March 01, 2018

    I made this and it was tasty. I am not absolutely crazy about sweet potatoes, but the dipping sauce is fantastic. I would make this again, but perhaps roast something more than sweet potatoes.

  • Frenchfoodie on April 10, 2017

    Unexpectedly lovely. Dipping sauce roughly double the quantity needed for the potatoes but lovely over accompanying rocket and cucumber too. Blitzed the lemongrass in my powerful mini dry/wet grinder and it was lovely and smooth. Didn't use salt in hope baby would like, she didn't but we didn't miss it either.

• Jerusalem artichokes with manouri and basil oil

  • amraub on January 29, 2012

    Makes a lot of oil. Substituted goat cheese for manouri.

  • meggan on November 21, 2012

    This has been a hit in the past. Everyone loves fried cheese! I used haloumi.

  • oddkitchen on January 19, 2013

    Good, but not great. The 5 elements of the salad take multiple steps each to make; you will need about 2 hrs. from start to finish, and you'll produce a lot of dirty dishes along the way. I might make this again in a truncated form (roast tomatoes in oven alongside artichokes; simple vinaigrette; no endive; chop the sliced cheese into chunks before frying).

  • DePollepel on August 27, 2021

    fall side dish, or meal salad

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    Pottering in the kitchen, I had a little more time so brought together this recipe. Simple to make, it takes just a little time as you roast the artichokes, make the charred tomatoes, blend up the basil oil and grill the halloumi. It appears a random combination of ingredients, but it is not so. A perfect combo of bitter, sour, sweet, crispy, crunchy, soft and creamy. Sometimes bitter greens are not available, so I substitute nasturtium leaves which are always plentiful here. And some rocket leaves. Fantastic. I use Greek haloumi and grate a little lemon rind over final dish. Pesto can be used for the basil oil, but it is sharper and tangier.

  • Margret on May 03, 2026

    Added cannellini beans instead of the fried cheese.

• Black pepper tofu

  • meggan on April 04, 2012

    This recipe is unbelievably good. It is pretty peppery but you can always reduce the amount. The cornstarch fried tofu has a lot of other applications too.

  • TrishaCP on June 27, 2013

    This was pretty great. I halved the recipe, and used 2 Fresno peppers, de-seeded as the chiles, and the recipe could have used a tad bit more heat. I finely ground my pepper and that worked for us. I also skipped the butter for much less peanut oil for the aromatics, with just about a teaspoon at the end for some flavor. Since I've been obsessed with Malaysian food and therefore cooking a lot of it, I actually had all of the soy sauces on hand and they did contribute a wonderful depth of flavor to the sauce. (Sounds like from others that the dish works without them though.) Finally, maybe the best part of the dish was the wonderful pieces of garlic, which basically caramelize and get really sweet and tasty.

  • Bloominanglophile on July 09, 2016

    My daughter and I loved this dish, but my husband didn't dig the amount of pepper in the recipe--might take it down to 3 Tbsp. next time I make it.

  • chawkins on April 02, 2013

    Excellent with significantly reduced amount of butter. I halved the recipe, and used the specified amount for everything with the exception of the butter and the fresh red chiles. Instead of the suggested 5 1/2 tablespoon of butter, I only used 1 tbs and in place of the 4 mild fresh red chiles, I used two very hot dried ones, would have been better if I only used one. Surprisingly, deep frying the corn starch dusted tofu cubes did not produce a lot of splatter

  • MaryCunningham86 on April 26, 2014

    My favourite tofu recipe, and one I cook again and again. I love how spicy it is, and leaving the peppercorns slightly coarse gives the sauce a nice texture. Like other notes, I use nowhere near the amount of butter specified in the recipe, and add a little peanut oil. I also lightly steam vegetables (broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, snow peas, cabbage - whatever I have really) and add that at the end along with the tofu.

  • sarahkalsbeek on July 14, 2018

    Made this with about 8 T butter instead of full amount, and fewer chiles and pepper and it was still amazing!

  • Alfazed on August 09, 2015

    Extremely good! Recipe calls for a stupefying amount of butter; sadly it was not as good with less. Something about the fat coating the tongue makes the pepper really work, so I am working on other replacements for butter. I like to add eggplant (cooked like the tofu in a little corn starch), and red bell peppers for color.

  • Barb_N on August 21, 2014

    The technique for tossing the tofu in cornstarch (cornflour) before sautéing changed my life- it is the only way I do it now. That said I much prefer other sauces to this pepper which is admittedly not my thing.

  • Zosia on April 16, 2016

    Even made with half the chiles and pepper, this is a fiery hot dish and I felt that the lovely caramel flavours of the sauce were overwhelmed by the level of heat. Like some others, I replaced all of the butter with just a few tbsp of oil.

  • oddkitchen on January 18, 2013

    I made this with about 5 Tbsp olive oil instead of the called-for 11 Tbsp butter and thought it was fine. If you don't have light or sweet soy, don't sub with regular "dark" -- the saltiness will be unpalatable.

  • VineTomato on June 10, 2017

    Brilliant recipe. If you are not convinced by tofu, try this.

  • lorloff on May 22, 2022

    This was great. Made this with Maruso Taiwanese black bean soy sauce which worked great. Since their is a dairy allergy in the house I liked the idea of using flavorful peanut oil instead of butter and it was great. My only suggestion is that next time I will grind the pepper more thoroughly rather than just crushing it. We like spicy but also reduced the amounts of chiles. I agree this is highly recommended and the approach to to tofu would work great with other sauces as well.

  • aargle on June 10, 2020

    This was really good despite the chilies I used being too hot. I also halved the butter but I do think using the full amount would produce a superior result however I just can’t bring myself to do that. I added some steamed bok choy towards the end which worked really well.

  • meginyeg on February 01, 2020

    Loved the tofu and the flavours. It was a bit too peppery for us so I will decrease the amount next time. Definitely will make again.

  • emusro on January 03, 2023

    Reduced the pepper significantly to around ~2 tbsp, and it was plenty peppery. Used a jalapeno instead of a red chile as that's what I had. Very tasty! I'm curious to try reducing the amount of butter next time.

  • sonyarr on November 25, 2022

    Very good! The full amount of pepper was too spicy, reduced by half and also used way less butter. Still excellent.

  • MarciK on July 22, 2020

    I couldn’t find an acceptable sweet soy sauce, so I reduced light soy sauce, brown sugar, and an anise pod. I also ran out of corn starch so half the tofu was coated in flour instead. It seemed those in the flour didn’t brown as well, but in the end I couldn’t tell the difference. The grocery store has spicier peppers, so I used just 1 (for a half batch). The final product was better than any Chinese dish I’ve had in any Chinese restaurant, although a little more work than driving to the restaurant and ordering. I’d make this dish if I want a casual dinner with friends and wanted to impress. Non-tofu lovers could be converted.

  • Lnbrittain on January 09, 2022

    Divine. And I reduced the pepper and chiles to match my husband and my taste. I was surprised at how mild the black pepper was in the dish, but I used a small fraction, coarsely crushed. Used the regular low sodium soy sauce that I have and reduced the butter by half, replacing some with olive oil.

  • christineakiyoshi on December 26, 2024

    This calls for a lot of black peppercorns! I liked it very much but would be good paired with another veggie dish. 4 stars.

  • chezmaryb on February 13, 2021

    Completely forgot the butter and that was fine. I used one Fresno chili because I'm a wimp and it was still spicy with all the pepper

  • StephEpices on August 10, 2019

    I didn't have tofu so used paneer and it I liked it a lot. I would reduce the pepper a touch next time for my family.

  • Apepin on April 19, 2022

    This is the best way I've ever cooked tofu. Next time I will add some kind of green veg, green beans maybe, too coat with the sauce. We loved the intense black pepper flavor. I didn't use all the butter and didn't miss it. I also used fewer chilis and it was plenty spicy. I didn't even try to feed this to the kids.

  • sbackman on March 11, 2024

    Good but backed off considerably on the red chilies. Probably won’t make this one again.

  • annettle on January 13, 2021

    This recipe deserves its fame - it's wonderful. I've made it several times now, and regularly get requests for another round. I reduce the butter and black pepper by 1/3rd and it's still rich and spicy. I've also made it with cubes of chicken (cooked exactly the same way as the tofu) for non-vegetarian family members and they report that is excellent too.

  • DePollepel on August 27, 2021

    use less chili peppers, was a bit too hot

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    Nice. Uses a lot of oil. But I prefer simply deep fried tofu sprinkled with salt. There is a point half way through this recipe that would be good without the rest.

  • rhb on January 22, 2023

    Fantastic dish! I fried the tofu in batches in a 3-quart pot and made the rest in a large skillet at the same time. I used less oil this way and it was quicker. 3 T peppercorns were enough for us.

  • vegabond2016 on July 02, 2025

    Delicious. However, I will follow other users' suggestions next time and use less black pepper and/or chili; it was a bit spicy for me.

  • pengdonna on February 04, 2024

    Very rich dish so each person's portion will need to be small and not a recurring every day dish

  • Mascher on May 01, 2024

    Like many others we find this s much better when you cut the amount of black peppercorns in half. This is one of my husband’s favorites.

  • prkrgrant on February 16, 2025

    A slap across the face with flavor. We keep the pepper as written but lay off the veg quite a bit. Especially if not served with rice, it's a lot of shallot and peppers in the recipe as called for.

  • nlehrer on January 23, 2026

    I was skeptical at the quantities (so much pepper?? TThe shallots?? The garlic??) but decided to go along with it, other than doing half butter half oil instead of full butter. Was delicious, and I added some brussel sprouts while I was frying the tofu. Would probably use 1/2-2/3 the amount of pepper next time, and less coarse of a grind. Decided to be rustic and whimsical and leave the roots on the green onions, but the family was not pleased.

  • helen_o71x3v on February 09, 2026

    Yes but use less pepper

  • JLINN321 on March 18, 2026

    On the recommendation of previous people who made this dish I cut down on the black pepper and red peppers (mine were spicy). I also used low sodium tamari and cut the sweet soy sauce down by 1 tablespoon. Used avocado oil instead of butter to make it vegan. I added asparagus to the dish and served it over rice.

  • pixie_brsj1p on May 29, 2026

    Delicious recipe, so much flavour

• Leek fritters

  • michalow on April 30, 2012

    calls for self-rising flour

  • Delys77 on November 07, 2012

    Pg. 36 The sauce that he recommends as an accompaniment is absolutely delicious and would go very well with any number cut veggies. The fritters are also very tasty, with the distinct flavour of leek and shallot, the extra crispy bits made me think of onion rings. Also, the seasoning is just right, with several interesting spices. My only challenge was they they were a little doughy in the middle. This might be the result of having them sit in the warming drawer, being slightly underdone, or just too big. I think next time I will make them a bit thinner, leave them to cook a little longer, and keep warm on a rack in the oven so that they hopefully stay crispier.

  • ellabee on January 22, 2014

    p.36. Very good. Looking forward to trying the sauce with mint in addition to cilantro and parsley. I just used one large egg, separated, beating the yolk well before combining with the other batter ingredients (also, like others, didn't bother with the self-rising flour). To make these less of an undertaking, do more than half the work a day ahead: get the vegetables cooked and mixed with the spices, and mix up the sauce. Then the day of it's more or less like making pancakes. Update: Leftover sauce is outstanding as garnish for roasted red pepper-tomato soup; the soup brings out the cilantro and tones down the garlic.

  • aargle on June 10, 2020

    I have just made these for the second time and again they are equally delicious. I made them smaller, which for me works better. They are somewhat more time consuming to prepare than your average fritter but not at all complicated and in my mind worth the extra effort.

  • FJT on April 07, 2023

    Why did I wait so long to make these?! They are a lot of work, but absolutely delicious. Will make again when I will try to prep some of the recipe ahead of time.

  • Melanie on September 27, 2013

    Very tasty. I would have been happy to eat all of the fritters myself! I substituted mint as I didn't have any fresh parsley at hand. Instead of blending the dipping sauce I chopped the ingredients finely. Use 1tsp baking powder.

  • michalow on June 23, 2013

    Fantastic. I dramatically reduced the fat (about 3 Tbs. olive oil + 2.5 Tbs butter, plus the oil to fry), added an extra egg white, and was happy with the results. I made them smaller than recommended, and they cooked through nicely, fluffy in the middle, crispy on the outside. I subbed mint for the cilantro in the sauce and served with curried chickpeas. Lovely.

  • michalow on August 13, 2023

    Because it is August and zucchinis abound, I added some grated to zucchini to my most recent batch of these fritters. It mingled well with the other flavors and gave the fritters a slightly more substantial feel.

  • annapanna on March 01, 2013

    I didn't use self-rising flour as I didn't have any, and there is already a tablespoon of baking powder in the recipe. I don't think that made any difference. It takes quite some time to prepare these and I am not sure they looked like all the work that went into them. They were pretty good though, especially the sauce, which is actually quick to make. One could also make them much smaller to share with a larger group of people.

  • helenevans on February 09, 2014

    Love this recipe. Have taken it as a vegetarian main meal to dinner parties and it really impressed. The flavours are great and the sauce really makes it

  • adelina on April 23, 2020

    This was a great treat with the refreshing yogurt sauce. I think I will double the batter next time.

  • StoicLoofah on January 21, 2018

    Delicious. I got 3 leeks weighing ~1.3 lbs untrimmed and ended up with 9 oz trimmed, so I had to substitute an onion to make up the difference. Make sure you have enough. You can halve the sauce and still have plenty. I also used an immersion blender to make that, which seemed to work fine. Make sure that the oil is hot before you put your first fritters in

  • ElianeW on January 19, 2018

    I love these. Could eat all on my own easily. Which would be really bad obviously. So delicious.

  • lholtzman on February 23, 2024

    Don’t skip the sauce. It’s sooooo good and easy to put together. It can definitely be made in advance. Instead of a red chili I used a mini red bell pepper. It works well if you don’t want it to have any heat.

  • carmenzelda on March 01, 2024

    The ingredients list is missing things- egg, flour, etc. Not clear how to report this…

  • stephcoelho on June 21, 2020

    Loved the combination of spices. I was really pleasantly surprised by these

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    Fabulous fritters. I made them egg-free, of course, using a mix of chickpea flour, cream and eno. The yoghurt sauce is an inspired accompaniment.

  • dogo on May 26, 2025

    Nie fritters, quite a lot of work to prepare. Definitely make the sauce, it make's the dish.

• Sweet potato cakes

  • FJT on January 03, 2013

    So simple to make and extremely tasty. Thought I'd overdone the chilli, but the yoghurt-based sauce was extremely good at counteracting it and a crisp green salad provided texture. This was a real crowd pleaser!

  • Breadcrumbs on April 19, 2015

    p. 32 - The recipe was ok but not at all remarkable. YO notes he's modified the original recipe he tasted at a small cafe in Tel Aviv. Perhaps I'd have preferred the version that caused him to fall in love with the dish but this one was pretty bland IMHO. I used 3 Thai bird chilis in the mix and the heat was still muted by the sweetness of the potatoes. I think where this recipe disappoints is in its texture. When we think of potato cakes we tend to think of latkes or fritters that are nice and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. While you can get some nice caramelization on these cakes, they are still just mashed potatoes and there isn't enough flour (and no egg) in the recipe to give them a texture beyond that of mashed potatoes. The yogurt sauce was pretty plain as well. I wouldn't bother making these again. Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/781946?commentId=9529726#9529726

  • TrishaCP on March 27, 2020

    We loved these. I tend to prefer strong flavors so I was a bit wary of blandness due to all of the comments but I loved the flavors here. (Sweet potatoes and scallions are always great together.) I used a microwave to steam the sweet potatoes so this came together pretty quickly.

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    Fabulous! The sauce is fabulous too, and have used it with the Broad Bean Burgers on P194. Can use chives, also can use all sour cream.

  • tsp on September 23, 2023

    Made it tonight, I didn’t have spring onion but it was delicious anyway. I didn’t steam the potatoes, just peeled, cut into small pieces and boiled until tender. Left them in a colander for a while (20 min?). The sauce is very good even without coriander. I’d cook it again.

  • DePollepel on August 27, 2021

    very tasteful. bake hard, otherwise they are not crunchy on the outside

  • Schooffiecooks on March 25, 2026

    Not mashed the potatoes, just served as small pieces of the sweet potato.

  • StoicLoofah on July 15, 2018

    Used 3 tbsp of butter to make 1 cast iron pan's worth (exactly half of the recipe) and cooked it for 6 minutes a side, and they came out tasty and crispy. I used Chinese steamer trays to cook the sweet potatoes (took maybe 1/2 hour), and although I put them into a colander, no water came out over a half hour, so I just moved on with the recipe.

  • sonyarr on November 25, 2022

    These are great, very comforting!

  • bcransto on November 15, 2015

    I've made this 3 times. The first was 5 stars. Blown away. The second I tried to go more healthy with small amt of veg oil instead of butter and low fat greek yogurt. It was 3 stars. I made it again with the butter and full fat sauce and it was 4 stars, very good but lacked the magic of the first time. I agree with Breadcrumbs, this recipe needs to be tweaked and amped. It really shines if the cakes are fried crispy, following YO's tip to make sure the edges of the patties are very uneven. I recommend tasting the potato mixture, I bumped up the sweetness with a little sugar. Same for the sauce...needed more cilantro and a little more lemon for the tang.

  • ithyt on October 05, 2015

    9.15 Kids love - next time try with red kumara - orange went a bit mushy.

  • Barb_N on April 30, 2015

    These are very adaptable. I have made these twice in recent weeks- once as written, and once I added millet for some whole grain nutrition and body in place of the flour. As Breadcrumbs noted, these have a mild flavor unless you amp up the seasoning. The second time I added cumin, cayenne and coriander. I also gussied up the yogurt sauce.

• Roasted butternut squash with sweet spices, lime and green chilli

  • Jane on October 30, 2014

    About half way through making this I started to have doubts. There was a lot of cardamom on the butternut squash and I wondered how it would work with the sharp limes and the yogurt tahini sauce. I really shouldn't have doubted Mr Ottolenghi - he came through again with a wonderful combination of flavors that I could not created on my own. The longest part of the prep was getting all the seeds out of the cardamom pods and removing all the bits of the shells. But you must crush the seeds yourself - using ground cardamom would not work here. This didn't take anything like 2 hours - more like 40 minutes. As you can see from the photo, it's pretty with the orange squash and 3 different shades of green from the limes, thinly sliced green chile and cilantro/coriander.

  • Breadcrumbs on July 26, 2015

    Highly recommended by beetlebug on CH. Her review is here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/1012789?commentId=9657719#9657719

  • schambers on December 29, 2012

    My new favorite way to eat pumpkin. The freshly ground cardamom is important.

  • twoyolks on December 22, 2015

    I ended up using a delicata squash as it's what I had. I'd prefer to peel the squash in the future as the skin just made the texture unusual. The chiles seemed out of place as they provided occasional sharp heat.

  • Barb_N on October 02, 2014

    I played fast and loose with this recipe- subbing Kabocha for butternut squash, and skipping the chiles, cilantro and lime slices. I also sprinkled on the crispy chickpeas from Smitten Kitchen before adding the yogurt tahini sauce to make it more well rounded for the vegetarian in the house. Very nice flavors but still time consuming- even with the shortcuts it took me almost 2 hours to get dinner on the table.

  • dinnermints on April 12, 2015

    This was really delicious, and I found it to be a fairly quick recipe (for an Ottolenghi recipe, that is). I also used a kabocha squash = time saved not having to peel it. The sauce wasn't runny enough to pour; next time I'd add more water or would add some chicken broth. I served it as a main dish over a bed of red rice with some home-canned tuna on the side.

  • MsMonsoon on February 08, 2018

    Love all the ingredients but not sure I like them together. My butternut squash was still too crunchy despite lots of extra time in the oven. That, plus the jarring spice combo, didn't make for an appetizing experience. If making again, use regular yogurt instead of Greek (no need to thin it with water). Wasn’t substantial enough for a meal but maybe with rice.

  • StoicLoofah on January 28, 2018

    Wasn't a fan. The butternut squash was still pretty crunchy even with an extra 5 minutes of cooking, and I didn't think the spices, limes, chile, and sauce melded together very well. I would also recommend peeling it ahead of time.

  • Yildiz100 on April 29, 2018

    I peeled the squash before roasting and didn't really watch the time, just roasted to my liking. I also omitted the cilantro. It was a lot of cardamom and I enjoyed it on the squash but the process of grinding it was so overwhelmingly fragrant (never knew cardamom could be so like menthol) thay it almost put me off the dish. Next time around I would probably use a teaspoon of already podded seeds which would at least make the process faster. The final dish was really delicious in any case. The lime pieces are absolutely essential to cut the richness of the rest.

  • KarinaFrancis on July 08, 2022

    Delicious and relatively easy. The flavours work well together and it’s good in a wrap with some feta for lunch the next day

  • heidi_ijgwa2 on May 31, 2026

    The sauce makes the dish—don’t skip it. Serve the extra on the side; the recipe makes more than you will want to put on the dish. Definitely do not need 2/3 cup picked cilantro. Also do not need to grind cardamom by hand. Like many recipes from this book you can take shortcuts and get a close and still utterly delicious result with far less effort than the recipes suggest.

  • prkrgrant on February 16, 2025

    Very good! Definitely benefits from peeling the squash before roasting and just roasting until it's to your preferred texture rather than following the time suggestion exactly - and slicing the lime very thin. Can be plated very nicely too if you get your squash cuts right.

  • Bessp on January 25, 2025

    Delicious! I added about a 1/2 tbsp honey to the sauce. The salty lime bits were the star for me. We enjoyed this served with thinly sliced shallots and steak. Next time I will probably reduce the cardamom a bit, it was a little much for us. I also think some garlic grated into the sauce would work really well.

  • elysedc on June 16, 2022

    made without the chilies, much less cardamom (only had a few pods on hand and no way to grind them) and even STILL was absolutely scrumptious.

  • DePollepel on August 27, 2021

    delicious, cold or lukewarm

• Stuffed onions

  • chefdiane on December 12, 2019

    This was a good recipe! We put some pasta sauce over it - and served with salad and bread

  • rubytuby on August 23, 2015

    I didn't like this very much. I just thought it tasted strange and wasn't filling enough to make a meal.

  • StoicLoofah on March 26, 2018

    We loved this recipe. You can serve maybe 4 people with it. We only needed 3 onions for it.

• Shakshuka

  • Laura on October 29, 2014

    Pg. 87. Made this for dinner last night. As I do with all Ottolenghi recipes, I significantly reduced the amount of oil to about 1/4 cup and that was plenty and the finished dish was not at all oily. I also used canned tomatoes as I didn't have any fresh. Except for the time-consuming process of slicing the onions and peppers, this comes together very quickly and is quite simple. The biggest problem I had was that some eggs were a bit overcooked. The saffron seasoning was key -- it gave a wonderful flavor to the whole dish.

  • adrienneyoung on May 29, 2012

    This is utterly delicious. Oily, but delicious. Can also be served with sausages.

  • wcassity on October 03, 2019

    Delicious. Made with CSA tomatoes and red peppers. Added feta at the end.

  • darcie_b on September 29, 2016

    I added some feta but otherwise followed the recipe and found it to be quite delicious.

  • Tyelperion on February 19, 2013

    Agree that this was delicious but too oily (and we have a pretty high tolerance for oily food generally!) Next time I will at least halve the amount of olive oil called for, perhaps even reduce by 2/3.

  • stockholm28 on August 29, 2013

    Delicious. I've probably made this a dozen times. This recipe is great in the summer when tomatoes and peppers are abundant. I love the spicy sauce.

  • Rinshin on January 14, 2014

    Wonderful egg recipe full of bold flavors. I normally do not use the full amount of oil called for in recipes and I used less than half of oil and it worked just fine.

  • wester on February 04, 2019

    Even without the added sugar, this was a tad sweeter than I would have preferred. Otherwise good.

  • Totallywired on February 06, 2019

    Overloaded with peppers, this is out of balance and quite oily as others described. Look elsewhere.

  • meginyeg on September 17, 2021

    We loved this. I left out the saffron due to not having any and the cilantro due to taste but it was still delicious. I will make it again with the saffron next time.

  • LFL on May 15, 2021

    4 stars. My husband made this and added cubed firm tofu in place of eggs (we're vegan). Pretty sure he cut the salt to 2/3 or so. He must not have used high enough heat when he first put in the peppers and the onion because the peppers never reached that stewed stage and were bright colored (but soft enough) at the end . It was delicious but very oily. Will definitely cut down on oil if we make it again.

  • sarahawker on August 08, 2016

    Loved this for a low carb breakfast. Very flavorful. I did reduce the amount of oil to 1/4 cup and it was very good. I too overcooked the eggs the first time, next day I heated up 1/2 cup of the tomato mixture and immediately cracked an egg over the cold mixture, by the time all was heated I had a perfectly cooked egg, maintained a runny yolk.

  • mamacrumbcake on September 26, 2017

    This was quite easy and good but I think it would be ok to cut back a bit on the oil. Don't be afraid to salt this until it is seasoned well.

  • VineTomato on June 10, 2017

    One of the best shakshuka recipes I've made

  • cjross on September 07, 2020

    This is my favorite shakshuka recipe. I make it everytime it's my CSA's tomato and red pepper season. I follow the recipe as written. My 2.5 year old just tried it for the first time and declared "This food is super yummy! This is a special food!"

  • Rinshin on December 12, 2016

    Made this again. Like the last time, I reduced the amount of oil to half and cooked a little longer than the recipe instructions adding water occasionally to keep the saucy consistency. Instead of cayenne, I added aleppo pepper this time. Not traditional but served with cheesy polenta. I love this recipe.

  • Rachaelsb on November 10, 2019

    Have always wanted to try this...delicious . Agree with others, can use less oil but thought flavors of sauce were wonderful, Incredbibly filling. Still full 8 hours later!!

  • chawkins on October 17, 2024

    Made half a recipe in a single skillet using tomatoes and yellow peppers from the garden. Very good even though my eggs were a tad overcooked.

  • Bloominanglophile on June 17, 2024

    On a recent trip to D.C., it seemed like shakshuka was a popular option for breakfast. I relayed this to my husband, and he decided that he would like it for his Fathers' Day brunch. This recipe was, of course, different from the ones I had on my travels--chunkier with peppers, which also gave it some sweetness (I would eliminate the sugar if I make this again). A healthy, filling breakfast, especially with the Jerusalem bagels that I made to accompany it.

  • allisonsemele on July 24, 2021

    Half recipe with a small pinch of saffron, no sugar, and less oil. The saffron and thyme flavors are very nice in this.

  • lelito on November 18, 2020

    Flavoursome and absolutely excellent. I used less oil though. This goes straight into my "Favorite Recipes"!

  • Stephenn31 on April 20, 2025

    It was ok - I wouldn’t make it again there’s a lot better versions of this (including by Ottolenghi). I added some feta at the end which helped. The only thing I’d do again from this recipe is dry roast whole cumin seeds at the start.

  • Beebopalulu on December 02, 2019

    Really delicious. Best shakshuka recipe I have tried. May try reducing the oil next time though.

• Tamara's ratatouille

  • rodillagra on February 02, 2015

    http://www.flyingfourchette.com/2012/06/14/tamaras-ratatouille/

  • ComeUndone on August 21, 2011

    Good vegan main course with bold flavour purely drawn from the vegetable. Bonus is being able to use up so many items in the produce drawer in one go. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wscwong/6066256049/in/photostream/

  • Delys77 on February 04, 2012

    Pg 74 This recipe takes about 1.5 hours and involves a good deal of chopping and layering compared to other ratatouille recipes Ive tried. Overall the flavour was quite nice and it is quite healthy but the lack of herbs leaves it a little flat. Perhaps next time you could do a touch of thyme or basil to lift it a bit. The approach does yield lots of flavour from the vegetables.

  • astrobubble on November 18, 2013

    Its absolutely gorgeous, but if you are short on time you really can cut a few corners in the process and still end up with something gorgeous. Its bold and colourful. I made it at a dinner party and people still comment that it was the freshest ratatouille ever.

  • Tiganna on August 19, 2017

    A lot of chopping, but not too difficult and very tasty, even though I had to leave a few elements (squash, parsnip) out. I really liked the textures and overall taste. One to repeat.

  • Zephyrness on November 13, 2020

    This is amazing. You do want to do all the prep work up front, which makes it seem like a lot. I sort my veggies into bowls based on when they go in the pan, which makes it much easier. The quantities of veggies are flexible, though I have always made sure to have all the ingredients. There is nothing really unusual, and you could likely substitute in carrots or sweet potatoes. Trust the recipe and stick with just salt and pepper. The process produces terrific flavor.

  • Nichill on August 19, 2017

    We only really had the standard ratatouille ingredients, so I skipped the squash and beans. The method was great, straightforward, and produced delicious results on a weekday evening.

• Royal potato salad

  • SheilaS on June 26, 2017

    I loved this. So simple, just potatoes tossed with pesto and soft boiled eggs but so delicious!

  • FJT on June 22, 2019

    I wanted to like this more than I did! It was fine, but it won’t be repeated. Maybe I just like my potato salads a little unhealthier!!!

  • Lsblackburn1 on May 28, 2018

    This is one of my dinner party go-to’s. I double the amount of potatoes and keep the rest the same and it seems to work. I also skip the eggs. I know they’d make this even more delicious but I’m lazy and this is so easy to make ahead of time without them.

  • Brieforme on January 10, 2015

    Best pesto ever

  • Anea25 on September 26, 2023

    A hit Added some tarragon

• Crusted pumpkin wedges with soured cream

  • ellabee on December 25, 2013

    Couldn't be simpler; festive looking and delicious.

  • Rutabaga on March 30, 2014

    I made this with squash wedges because we had some squash that needed to be used and I had all the other ingredients on hand. We really liked the topping, but I feel the squash ended up a little overcooked for my taste. Perhaps I would have liked it better with the pumpkin, as listed in the recipe.

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    delicious!

  • pattyatbryce on October 14, 2019

    Good and easy.

  • Dannausc on December 16, 2018

    Quite good. My pumpkin loving cats liked it too!!

• Very full tart

  • mziech on August 31, 2012

    really nice vegetable tart, takes mote than 1.5 hours to make (baking the vegetables, blind baking the pastry, and finally baking the tart) but worth the effort. Sweet potato is very subtle, not too sweet. Recommended.

  • michalow on January 01, 2013

    Plan ahead -- as noted by mziech, veggies must be roasted, onions caramelized, and crust made and blind baked. Several of these steps can be done a day ahead. I used half and half instead of cream; there's plenty of fat in this recipe already. Nice in a whole wheat (or part whole wheat crust). With all the effort, I thought this would be a one-time affair, but this is beautiful and delicious, and I'll do it again. Makes about six servings.

  • Rutabaga on September 06, 2014

    Wow! So delicious! And rich, considering the use of heavy cream, cheese, and the all-butter pastry crust I made. But because it is loaded with roasted vegetables, it still counts as healthful, right? I left out the sweet potato and filled the tart to the brim with the other vegetables. Perhaps the pie plate I used was a little small for the filling, which took at least 45 minutes to cook completely. The tart was so full prior to baking that the cream overflowed and ran down the underside of the crust, but if anything this probably contributed toward the tastiness of the finished dish. While roasting the veg and baking the crust take some time, they involve little effort and are easily done in advance.

  • Alro9 on March 28, 2014

    The roast vegetable to filling ratio is high. I made two tarts in the end. This was delicious though, despite the 3 stage prep.

  • thennek on August 22, 2013

    Time consuming but worth the effort as the result is delicious. The aubergine does not need this length of cooking and I would recommend peeling the skin after cooking.

  • caitmcg on October 31, 2015

    A fantastic tart, but needs to be baked in a deeper-than-standard tart pan, or perhaps a springform, or all the ingredients will not fit. I used evaporated milk in place of cream in the custard, and that worked fine.

  • clkandel on October 09, 2016

    I made this using puff pastry and baked it in an oblong dish. I also substituted butternut squash for the sweet potato. And since I didn't have ricotta on hand, I just used the feta. It came out delicious!

  • joneshayley on July 26, 2020

    As others have noted this is a long process, but not arduous, and well worth the end result. I added a drizzle of balsamic glaze which finished it perfectly.

  • Frenchfoodie on November 02, 2020

    Deliciousness in a pastry shell, takes a bit of advance planning but it is not complex and really looks stunning on the table. Great for those still warm autumn days.

  • JLDuck on December 02, 2017

    I increased the feta as I did not have ricotta. Worked a treat. A very delicious tart and as noted by others worth the time it takes to make.

  • Rutabaga on October 07, 2019

    I made this again in a 9-inch springform pan, which definitely worked better than a traditional pie dish. No overflow!

  • cecilia_4eimgd on January 05, 2026

    I am not the biggest fan of aubergines. Not sure they were needed. This took so long to make. I would buy chargrilled peppers instead of making them myself. Also chipotle chilli flakes added a nice smoky, spiciness.

  • Anea25 on August 14, 2024

    perfect for a pic nic or to take to work for an easy cold meal

  • shane.metzke on September 26, 2022

    Used cauliflower instead of aubergine. Added some garlic and red wine vinegar to the onions and used dried oregano in the custard as didn’t have any thyme. One capsicum was enough. Only need 100ml of cream too. Very happy with the results!

  • niconice on September 25, 2020

    Very nice - worth the time. I drizzled some parmesan over the tart before baking, which gave a nice salty and crispy top.

• Bánh xèo

  • TrishaCP on June 27, 2013

    This was very tasty- you can really just use this recipe as a jumping off point and add whatever vegetables and other stuffing you would like. Pay attention to the instructions on thinning the pancake batter again after mixing- I think I must have added another 1/2 cup of water and it was still a bit too thick. Also, I love enoki mushrooms, but raw enoki per the recipe didn't appeal to me, so I just grilled them for a bit.

  • rubytuby on August 23, 2015

    The sauce is fantastic and the flavor of all the fresh herbs combined was really nice but I didn't think it was worth the effort. This probably took me close to two hours with all the prepping of the veggies. The recipe says it serves 4 but I only had 3 people and it wasn't enough food. I would make the sauce again and put it on something else.

  • crandall57 on May 30, 2017

    The sauce is wonderful. The pancakes delicious. Loved this dish. It was great with all the vegetables, but we veered away from the vegetarian version. We cooked ground pork then added gochujang, sambal, fish sauce, soy sauce, and a little brown sugar. We put the ground pork in the pancake along with all the other recipe ingredients. Pretty tasty.

  • dinnermints on July 01, 2018

    The pancakes turned out a bit strange and took longer to cook than I thought they would. I tried adding more water to the batter per TrishaCP, and I think that helped, but they still didn't turn well. And smaller pancakes would've been easier to eat. I roasted the mushrooms (used cremini, couldn't find enoki). Ground pork per crandall57 would have been excellent, but I was pressed for time and added some baked tofu instead. If I made this again, I'd look up a different sauce that used fish sauce. It is very fresh-tasting.

  • julesamomof2 on August 19, 2017

    This took forever to make what with all the chopping and herb picking. I chose to use regular mushrooms and I sautéed them as that seemed more appealing to me. My pancakes were thicker than I think they were supposed to be, we could not fold them over without breaking them. All in all, a lot of work and nobody loved them. I may try a more authentic recipe next time.

• Stuffed portobello with melting Taleggio

  • trufflemutt on December 31, 2011

    I'd like to try this again using oven dried tomatoes in place of sun dried. The sun dried tomatoes available here were sharp and over powering when used in this dish.

  • Colleen01 on September 20, 2014

    This is absolutely delicious. The combination of taleggio & mushroom is amazing. I can't wait to make again

  • bching on June 11, 2016

    I agree that the sun dried tomatoes were too intense for this dish. Thanks to trufflemutt's note, I reduced the quantity and still found their taste and texture jarring. If I ever make this dish again, I might add some diced fresh tomato.

  • etcjm on August 28, 2021

    So useful to be able to look at notes ahead of making this recipe. I picked up some reduced Taleggio and then went hunting for a recipe - came up with this one. I bought deli oven dried tomatoes and used less than quoted. I also couldn't find tarragon so subbed parsley. I used more portobellos - can't imagine trying to fit that quanity of topping onto only 4 mushrooms! I really enjoyed it - leftovers were also lovely. For an ottolenghi recipe - altogether rather easy!

  • agfloyd on November 09, 2016

    Just a heads up that the online recipe linked here is different from the book's, which calls for onion rather than fennel and also calls for fresh tarragon.

  • DePollepel on August 27, 2021

    nice with a spicy melting cheese

  • billcranecos on June 16, 2021

    This was delicious. Lots of bold flavor and not a lot of effort to do. I used the full amount of sun dried tomato and I'd do it again.

• Courgette and cobnut salad

  • L.Nightshade on May 22, 2011

    Zucchini and Hazelnut in the US edition. Sliced zucchini is oiled and charred in a hot grill pan, then tossed with balsamic vinegar and cooled a bit. Then basil leaves, toasted hazelnuts and parmesan cheese are added. I chose not to add the additional olive oil at the end, and I completely forgot to add the hazelnut oil. Hazelnut oil would have added an extra layer of flavor, and I will add it next time, but the dish didn't suffer much by it's absence. We loved this. The tastes come out at room temperature, so it's easy to put together in advance of serving.

  • Melanie on October 04, 2014

    Easy and delicious (great summer flavours). I substituted hazelnuts for the cobnuts and simply used a fry pan for the zucchini.

  • Rutabaga on April 02, 2014

    This is a great, easy salad, just the right balance of flavors and textures, perfect for summer. I just use a standard frying pan as I have no grill pan. It may not look as pretty, but it does the trick.

  • lorloff on March 19, 2021

    This was delicious. We used fresh green basil because we did not have purple. The combination of hazelnuts and Hazelnut oil was superb. I decided to use the best balsamic we had the silver seal GIOVANNI CAVALLI SILVER SEAL ACETO BALSAMICO TRADIZIONALE DI REGGIO EMILIA. It was fantastic in this recipe. Used the indoor grill that is part of our stove top and nice peppery olive oil. This is a keeper.

  • anya_sf on July 19, 2018

    I only had green basil and substituted walnut oil for hazelnut oil. This salad was quick and easy to make, and the flavors were fantastic. Will make again.

  • Juli on February 25, 2017

    Delicious! So simple, yet super-complimentary flavours. I used hazelnuts, and didn't have any hazelnut oil, it was still fresh and delicious. A wonderful recipe to use lots of those courgettes out of the summer garden this year.

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    reasonable salad, but not very special. can be grilled day before. Fresh, with pasta

• Smoky frittata

  • L.Nightshade on June 04, 2011

    Cauliflower florets are blanched and then fried in a skillet until golden on one side. Then a mixture of eggs, creme fraiche, mustard, smoked paprika, chives, and cheeses are poured into the pan. The recipe calls for a mix of smoked scarmoza ("often called smoked mozzarella") and cheddar. Scarmoza was not available in my town, so I used a mix of smoked red cheddar and fresh mozzarella. This was a good frittata, but I would not be likely to serve it again for breakfast or brunch. But that is just me, as I don't really go for most of the brassicas in the morning. I'd love to try it with the scarmoza the recipe calls for, but I'd make it as a tapa, probably. Alternately, I'd make this for breakfast, using all the same ingredients but substituting potatoes for the cauliflower.

  • eselque on August 07, 2012

    Replaced cauliflower with broccoli.

  • Delys77 on February 04, 2012

    Pg 96 This is a delicious and different frittata. I used the smoked mozzarella and it was fabulous with the cauliflower. I added an egg as my cauli was large and served for lunch. The overall texture is good but cut the cauli into relatively small florets. I agree that it would be a great tapa or even main with a good salad, which would offset the richness.

  • twoyolks on October 02, 2014

    The cauliflower should definitely be in smaller pieces in the future. The taste was a bit reminiscent of a hot dog with cheese (the combination of the smokiness, paprika, and cheese flavors), but in a good way.

  • Colleen01 on September 21, 2014

    Absolutely delicious. Will definitely make again - though I will cut the cauliflower into smaller pieces next time.

  • wester on December 17, 2019

    I made this with smoked feta instead of scamorza, so that may have been why it turned out a bit dry. Good flavor. Better cold than warm.

  • michalow on November 29, 2023

    Among the many useful comments already here, I want to echo that I found reducing the cheese by half to be plenty. Also, like wester, I enjoyed this cold more than warm. I love Ottolenghi's cauliflower cake more, but this one is quick and easy.

  • Lepa on July 31, 2016

    Delicious. This is the dish I make when we entertain for brunch. The smoky taste almost tastes like ham!

  • kbrooks on November 09, 2024

    This was so easy and delicious. My husband is not a big fan of cauliflower and he loved it. I cut the cauliflower into medium florets rather than large and they filled the pan in one layer nicely. Didn't have scamorza, so used our local smoked Monterey Jack and extra sharp white cheddar. Also threw in some thinly sliced green onions with the chives.

  • anya_sf on October 08, 2020

    I had to substitute cream for creme fraiche and smoked gouda for scamorza. My cauliflower was rather large, so the frittata took an extra 15 minutes in the oven - there was more than one layer of cauliflower and the egg mixture did not cover it all, but it still worked in the end. Very tasty, would make again, but will also cut the cauliflower into smaller pieces (they didn't soften further after parboiling).

  • StoicLoofah on July 02, 2018

    Cut the cauliflower into small pieces. I think you can do most of the prep ahead of time if necessary up to everything in the frying pan.

  • dinnermints on June 30, 2022

    Great flavor, quite easy to put together. The review notes here were very helpful. I increased the eggs to 8 for 8 servings and increased most of the other ingredients accordingly. Also used Greek yogurt instead of crème fraiche, reduced smoked cheese to 4 oz and kept cheddar at 2 oz and olive oil at 2 T. I cut cauliflower in smaller pieces per the recommendations here, and steamed them in the microwave rather than boiling them in salt water. I then added salt to taste as the cauliflower was browning in the pan. Added 1/2 tsp salt to the eggs.

  • thekitchenchronicles on August 01, 2017

    This frittata is amazing- it's so smoky (smells like a barbecued potato chip) which actually makes it taste meaty and hearty. As others have said, you may have some leftover cauliflower so you can fit it all in a single layer. I wrote it up here: http://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2017/07/31/smoky-frittata/

  • Zosia on August 06, 2021

    I replaced the creme fraiche with yogurt and reduced the cheese by half for a less rich but still delicious frittata that family enjoyed.

  • ksg518 on December 07, 2024

    What a wonderful frittata! I used eight eggs so mine took a little longer in the oven to set. I also reduced the olive oil to maybe two teaspoons but with my nonstick pan that was plenty. A definite repeat.

  • clkandel on January 24, 2017

    I made this with garlic cheddar cheese, but the paprika still gave the dish a great smoky flavor. Adjust the amount of cauliflower based on ending up with a single layer for the size of the pan you'll use. Again, depending on your pan size, may need to adjust the number of eggs or add some cream or milk to the egg mixture.

  • Yildiz100 on March 10, 2018

    Really delicious. It needed about 4 extra minutes in the oven to set in the middle. Used 1/2 tsp table salt and it was just right. I replaced the chives with a bit of parsley for color. I had parsley on hand and I can never taste chives anyway. I used the scarmorza but would use smoked cheddar when I can't get my hands on the former. Cauliflower was a little hard for my taste but probably because I sauteed it for less than 5 minutes because one side was already nice and browned. Next time around try browning both sides to get the cauliflower more thoroughly cooked. Probably not a good idea to extend the parboiling time since the cauliflower might then fall apart during the sautee stage. This comes together surprisingly quickly and easily. Great entree for a weeknight.

  • Schooffiecooks on April 03, 2026

    Love frittatas!

  • chezmaryb on February 23, 2021

    Very rich and filling, with a little less guilt because it has a good amount of cauliflower

  • lholtzman on February 08, 2025

    This frittata is particularly good. I’m vegetarian and never ate pork when i did eat meat, but this seriously has a smoky meat flavor to it. The most annoying and time consuming part of this dish is having to blanch then sautée the cauliflower. You could get away with just sautéing IMO. You’ll save both time and a pot. The smoked mozzarella is definitely necessary, so seek it out.

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    delicious, with a fresh cucumber salad, as side dish or cold lunch

• Marinated pepper salad with pecorino

  • Astrid5555 on March 01, 2013

    This one is a keeper! Letting the peppers marinate overnight is key. Substituted arugula for watercress and added grilled prawns for a more festive starter.

  • Melanie on November 05, 2014

    Another winner. This was great to prepare in advance to take to a friend's house for last minute assembly (don't mix everything until the last minute). I made a few substitutions based on what was on hand - baby spinach for watercress and parmesan for pecorino. Will make this again.

  • Bloominanglophile on October 03, 2014

    As luck would have it, the store that ALWAYS has watercress didn't have it when I needed it--so I subbed baby spinach, which worked just fine. Everything else was according to the recipe, except I probably used a bit less pecorino than stated (I just shaved it until it looked like enough on the salads). This is delicious, and paired nicely with Mushroom and Herb Polenta, which he recommends.

  • Colleen01 on September 20, 2014

    Now my favourite salad of all time. I substituted parmesan for percorino (as that's what I had in the fridge). The recipe states that it serves 2 as a starter but I found it easily served 3

  • KarinaFrancis on December 25, 2017

    I really liked this even though I subbed rocket for watercress. I also think I was a bit mean with the pecorino, next time I’ll add more. Was a good Christmas recipe because it could be made ahead and assembled last minute. I’ll make this again. (Photo)

• Surprise Tatin

  • eliza on February 11, 2018

    Quite good and very easy to make. I used a combo of potatoes and eggplant in mine along with the tomatoes, onions and cheese. I had to reduce the amount of cheese substantially since about 30 g was all I had. I imagine it would be very rich with all the cheese, but we found the reduced amount to be enough. Mine turned out of the pan perfectly, much to my surprise! I did find the sweetness to be a bit too pronounced for me so would probably reduce the sugar in future.

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    The style of Ottolenghi’s vegetarian dishes is layered flavours created by layered elements. No other recipe shows that as much as this dish. I have to admit that the pie is both tasty and visually amazing. We've made it many times, especially for Xmas. Wonderful and spectacular.

  • DePollepel on August 27, 2021

    wonderful dish! can be made with colored potatoes and colored tomatoes as well

  • MilduraSO on October 25, 2021

    Everyone should try this at least once. I was so impressed by how wonderful it tasted. It takes a while to cook but most of it is hands off. I put the onions on right after the tomatoes and cooked them low and slow. Besides that, I followed the recipe exactly. It pairs perfectly with a salad dressed with a sharp French vinaigrette.

  • Shelmar on September 05, 2019

    Good.

  • Laurag29 on December 19, 2020

    Added more tomatoes. This was so good. Sweet, earthy, onions, tomatoes, just brilliant. Make ahead friendly.

  • Alro9 on April 21, 2014

    Very good, different take on tart tatin. I have previously tried Beet and onion versions as savoury versions of the usual apple, but this was better, mellow flavoured and delicious. I used a soft goats cheese because it was what I happened to have in the fridge and served it with a broccoli, courgette and raddish salad with a tahini dressing.

  • cadfael on March 04, 2014

    Beautiful presentation! I substituted half old cheddar for half the goat cheese because my hubby doesn't care for an overly strong goat cheese flavour. But it wasn't strong and next time I will use the entire amount Tasty

  • Rutabaga on March 30, 2014

    Wow! This was tasty, and easier that I thought it would be, due to the upside-down way of putting it together so that the tart bakes with the pastry on top. You can also prepare it in advance, then pop it in the oven when ready, making it a great dinner party option. I wouldn't make it too often, only because it also happens to be very rich.

• Stuffed cabbage

  • elisarose on January 05, 2013

    I made this as directed and unfortunately the wine in the sauce overwhelmed all the other flavors. The filling was tasty before I stuffed it into the cabbage leaves.

  • Dauniika on June 05, 2014

    This was a very involved and drawn out recipe for an underwhelming end result. The filling was yummy pre-baking but the baking process kind of ruined it.

  • pie4u on August 10, 2020

    I have made this recipe a few of times (about to make it again with my homegrown savoy cabbage), and we really enjoy it each time. I grew up eating traditional stuffed (with meat) cabbage, and this is a lovely more delicate version. Note the photo form the Guardian is not this recipe as this one does not have tomatoes.

  • adelina on August 02, 2024

    family really loved this! I cut down on the wine and substituted lemon juice

• Mixed vegetable paella

  • Melanie on September 27, 2013

    Very tasty, make this one again.

  • Delys77 on January 27, 2012

    The overall flavour of this dish is very nice with a bit of heat and a nice smokiness, and the addition of the sherry gives it a slight sweetness that works very well. It is very healthful and works very well as a vegetarian main. There are a few tweaks required however. Firstly the rice took closer to 30 minutes, which might have been due to the early addition of salt, either way maybe salt the dish at the end and give it a bit more time. Also the olives didn't really work, so maybe rinse them first to remove some salt or perhaps leave them out.

  • bloodking on September 07, 2013

    I love to serve this for dinner parties. I like to "oven-dry" the tomatoes according to the recipe on p.222 for this recipe too.

  • annapanna on February 17, 2013

    We really liked this. I didn't have paella rice so I put Carnaroli instead, which is the one I usually use for risotto. I thought 20 min was enough, it probably really depends on what type of rice you use. Also, as broad beans are out of season I used dry ones I had bought in Italy. They are very practical because the shell is already removed before drying them, they are called "Fave spezzate". I soaked them overnight and cooked them for 15 min before adding them to the paella. Finally, I couldn't find smoked paprika at our shop, so I put a little dried chipotle,. I'll try to get hold of some real Spanish paprika for next time, as I think we will make this again.

  • caitmcg on October 31, 2015

    This is a pretty great dish that has been a crowd pleaser. I've made a few ingredient switches due to availability or preference: Frozen artichoke hearts in place of jarred, roasted piquillo peppers in place of red peppers, frozen edamame in place of broad beans. I've made it with Italian rices (arborio or carnaroli) in place of Spanish, and that's worked fine.

  • MollyB on July 01, 2024

    Very tasty recipe. I loved the fennel, peppers, and artichokes in it. I do agree, however that the liquid/rice ratio and cook time is off. I thought it was just being at 5000 ft altitude, but it sounds like others have had a similar issue. I strongly recommend using the Aneto brand paella valenciana base in place of the broth, using the rice/liquid ratio from the Aneto box. I did that, cooked it longer than the recipe said, and otherwise kept ingredients the same, and we loved it. Sliced cooked chorizo is a nice addition, added at the same time as the tomatoes.

  • FJT on August 30, 2019

    Very nice, although next time I must remember to get the sweet smoked paprika out of the cupboard , not the hot one - with the cayenne that was really too much heat for paella! I used sosayi's suggestion of cooking it in the oven; 180 C for 20 minutes was perfect.

  • stephengk on May 28, 2017

    Perfect on its own but also makes excellent starch/veg side for meats/fish.

  • JLDuck on October 05, 2017

    Fabulous recipe. I cooked the rice a little longer and it worked.

  • adelina on August 30, 2015

    I really liked it but the kids were not really into it. My husband wished there was meat in the paella. So I'm not sure if I'll stick with vegetarian for the next time.

  • lajaxon on May 10, 2016

    This recipe has been a success multiple times for dinner guests who aren't vegetarian...very flavorful and easy to make!

  • sosayi on October 06, 2017

    Can't believe I haven't reviewed this! It's my go-to Paella recipe. Balance of spices and flavors is just perfect. I do routinely make adjustments, though. I use a jar of canned whole tomatoes (not fresh) and frozen edamame (not broad beans). I also regularly add chicken (sauteed and mixed in) and/or shrimp (nestled on top), as well as lemon wedges wedges (also nestled on top, they get molten and fabulous by the end). And, the biggest change, as I feel the rest are minor, is that rather than cooking it stove-top for the whole time, I finish it in a 350-400 degree oven once the liquid is added. Cooks in the same amount of time, but it seems to cook more evenly this way.

  • anya_sf on April 12, 2017

    This was disappointing. I used calasparra rice, which called for 4 parts water to 1 part rice on the package. First I tried the method in this recipe (2 parts water), but had to add a lot more before the rice was tender and it took an extra 15-20 minutes to cook. Pouring boiling water over the fava beans did not work either - had to actually boil them. Flavor was OK in the end, but we ended up adding some chorizo on top.

  • luluf on October 17, 2017

    I read Sosayi's note and decided to try this. We were staying at a beach house that had a double sized old electric frypan which turned out to be the perfect way to cook this. It was delicious and my vegetarian adult kids loved it. I used frozen edamame beans and jarred artichoke hearts and put the lemons in with the other ingredients at the end with the frying pan lid on.

  • slouj on May 18, 2025

    Followed advice on here and oven baked. 20mins at 180 once stock was added and simmering. Texture was perfect! Fantastic flavours with a pleasing warmth from the cayenne. A really nice recipe.

  • clkandel on August 24, 2020

    I'm very surprised at the high rating and positive comments. I didn't think this recipe worked for multiple reasons. The rice is not cooked in the time specified, nor were the tomatoes warm (even though they started at room temperature) after the 10 minutes. Overall, it lacks depth of flavor and it didn't develop the nice crust that paellas have.

  • julesamomof2 on September 19, 2020

    I made this for my vegan friend and we loved it. Little heavy on the cayenne so I would cut back on that next time but other than that, I would call this just about perfect.

  • ruth115 on March 07, 2020

    Delicious. mine needed a little longer cooking and slightly more liquid.

  • VineTomato on June 10, 2017

    Amazing dinner party dish if you have vegan or vegetarian guests. Have made this several times and it is always very well received. Make sure to shell the broad beans, that makes a big difference.

  • imaluckyducky on January 10, 2020

    Excellent flavor and one of my go-to dishes for helping people come over to the dark side of vegetables. I tend to add more artichokes and olives. Will make again.

  • stephcoelho on June 21, 2020

    The long ingredient list was intimidating and there's a lot of prep involved (slicing, dicing, etc.) but it's well worth it. Super tasty. I've made this multiple times and each time I need to cook the rice longer than directed.

  • Evginneken on September 17, 2021

    Recipe directions worked for me in terms of cooking times and rice consistency (but no crust, as noted in other reviews). Paella rice worked much better than risotto rice. I substituted cayenne pepper for spicy smoked paprika powder.

  • MilduraSO on May 16, 2020

    This is the dish I come back to the most often in this book. It has featured regularly in our menu plan for several years. I used to think there was no such thing as vegetarian paella but this converted me. Bonus points for introducing me to fennel which was a revelation (though I did have to go to youtube to figure out how to prepare it!).

  • lholtzman on July 01, 2025

    I really love this recipe, but it’s way too spicy. In the future I would reduce the cayenne to 1/8 or use a milder chili pepper. My frozen favas were shelled so I skipped the step of pouring boiling water over them.

  • NoaBC on May 22, 2020

    Very good but could do with less oil and cayenne. Takes a lot longer than 10 minutes at the end too - factor in an extra 20.

  • tsp on September 24, 2023

    It was a nice dish but next time I’d cook the tomatoes in advance because they were not cooked at all and I’d put it all in the oven as suggested in the comments. I’ve used the Spanish paella rice and frozen beans that I boiled until cooked. I liked it more in the evening, reheated and a bit crunchy.

  • valderaa on May 12, 2025

    I rarely repeat recipes but this is a favorite, made many times. So good.

  • annie_6swuo4 on April 12, 2026

    I made this for 12 people, have done it before for 2/4 but had an Easter family gathering and as there a few vegan/vegetarian members I decided on this. I added chickpeas for some protein and it went down great with everyone. I did roast some chicken separately along with some chorizo and prawns. Served it with a simple salad. Would make this again for a crowd.

  • Stephenn31 on August 26, 2025

    This was OK. I can see it being a good way to use up random veg. The rice did take more liquid and more time to cook, even to the point of having the rice al dente and not just crunchy uncooked. But a great way to have a lot of olive oil and veg.

• Mushroom lasagne

  • dvajefink on August 27, 2011

    Love this recipe. If you love mushrooms this will be a favorite in your house!Definitely a special occasion meal, very high in fat.

  • Brieforme on January 23, 2015

    Amazing but very rich and definitely not a quick meal. Also rather expensive with all that cheese and mushrooms. A special occasion dish.

  • caitmcg on February 02, 2019

    This is a decadent and delicious lasagne, perfect for serving to guests. Adding the porcini soaking liquid to the béchamel is ingenious and adds so much flavor. I added a bit of sautéed minced garlic to the mushroom mixture, and some wilted spinach with the ricotta layers. Like many lasagnes, it was even better reheated the next day.

  • FJT on September 13, 2015

    Delicious! I paired this with Ottolenghi's tomato and pomegranate salad from Plenty More and that cut nicely through the richness. Not quick but I prepped this the day before my dinner party and just had to make the salad on the day.

  • meggan on October 15, 2021

    Mega-rich. Everyone loved it but my 7 yo. Oh well, you can't win them all.

  • StephEpices on October 27, 2019

    So decadent! Great for a crowd. Takes double the time to cook in the oven.

  • victoria_tk8akz on April 01, 2026

    Delicious. A lot of work but totally worth it for a special occasion or dinner party.

  • helen_o71x3v on February 09, 2026

    Not cheesy enough

  • Bwolfe2 on January 28, 2017

    This is quite delicious but almost three hours from prep to table. We thought it to be the sort of entree that could be served at a party to meat eaters without any complaints. Other reviews state that doing the prep the day before is helpful to reduce the time. I didn't make the fourth layer of noodles rather spread the sauces and mushrooms more liberally between three layers. This is worthy of making again.

• Broccolini and sweet sesame salad

  • michalow on January 04, 2013

    mangetout = snow pea

  • LouiseStaley on October 15, 2012

    This is truly spectacular. Tender crisp greens with a creamy dairy free dressing. This is definately a keeper.

  • eliza on July 19, 2016

    I liked this salad and it's a great way to use beans and snow peas from the garden. The dressing is nice, however I do like my own tahini dressing better (adapted from The Cook's Garden book), so I will continue to make that dressing for this salad. I omitted the nigella seeds.

  • lorloff on April 27, 2025

    I thought this was great. We made this with only Broccolini from the farmers market. The sesame sauce was perfect. As recommended by other’s we reduced the honey a bit; used sourwood honey and it was great. The dressing is really delicious. We are going to try it on grilled asparagus tonight.

  • oddkitchen on January 13, 2013

    Delectable. Addictive sweet/savory vegan dressing. Recipe is also on the Guardian site. Groundnut oil=peanut oil

  • Yildiz100 on February 08, 2015

    I loved the texture, but he dressing was just a bit sweet for my taste.

  • Nik on July 11, 2021

    A delicious, crunchy salad doused in a fabulous creamy sauce. I used market-fresh broccolini (roughly chopped after blanching) and mangetout.

  • damjih on June 21, 2022

    I thought it was just ok, and not significantly better than just eating this mix of veggies with butter and lemon, but I guess maybe the point is to not eat the same flavours all the time, ha

  • purrviciouz on September 03, 2020

    I can't think of any vegetables that this sauce wouldn't be great on. I think white miso might be a nice addition to add a little salt as i found myself reaching for the salt shaker.

  • clcorbi on May 18, 2017

    I didn't end up loving this salad as much as everyone else, but it was due to a serious user error--I used broccoli rabe rather than broccolini, and the bitter flavor just doesn't work well here. I'd be willing to give this another try with the correct veggie. I also think asparagus could be really nice here. I will note that the dressing turned out quite thick for me--I thinned it out with a bit of sesame oil, which was nice.

  • rmorse on August 11, 2019

    The dressing for this salad is amazing, and it is a delicious change.

  • JLDuck on December 31, 2019

    As noted by others the dressing is fabulous. I used asparagus and beans. Worked a treat.

  • lajaxon on May 10, 2016

    Nice way to have a lot of tasty greens with a different and very flavorful sauce/dressing. I used less honey than suggested.

  • KarinaFrancis on September 26, 2017

    Loved it! I felt healthy and virtuous with every bite. Easy to make on a weeknight and its really delicious too. I added some roast chicken to make it a meal. Totally agree with the previous reviewer who suggested asparagus would be nice too, I think this will be on high rotation over summer

  • VineTomato on May 06, 2019

    Great salad and a lovely dressing. An enjoyable way to get the greens in!

  • robin_gemtnj on May 17, 2026

    We loved the sauce though ate so used to sesame sauces that add a touch of sesame oil for a flavor boost, so we will add 1/2 tsp next time. We are also not as big of fans of blanched broccoli texture so will char the broccoli next time with the same sauce.

  • Hiker010 on January 10, 2026

    Made Jan 2019 -- not great Weird combo of Nigella seeds + Whole Foods tahini (pretty bitter) Used only 3/4 cup cilantro -- more wouldn't have helped 3 minutes too long to blanch thin haricot vert

  • fscassim on June 21, 2020

    Wow, what a dressing! I just steam the veggies and serve the dressing on the side. Similar to the traditional Japanese sesame miso sauce, but pairs much better with green beans, snow peas and broccoli. Yotam is making me enjoy veggies that I never did before.

• Garlic soup and harissa

  • Delys77 on May 27, 2013

    Pg. 46 Comes together easily and is one of the better garlic soups I have had. The flavour or garlic is definitely present but the herbs and shallots make for a very nuanced soup. I would repeat.

  • Yildiz100 on February 08, 2015

    This has a really fantastic flavor, but this is a very light soup. I think I will probably reserve it for when I am not feeling well and don't have much of an appetite. It's probably the best thing I can imagine eating when you have a cold.

• Beetroot, yoghurt and preserved lemon relish

  • DePollepel on August 27, 2021

    Delicious, many unique flavors and a little sweet. Serve with BBQ, speck or spicy meat.

  • jenniebakes on October 17, 2018

    Overall I enjoyed this dish, but I think my preserved lemons were possibly a bit off. It's not a familiar ingredient for me, and it tasted a bit like furniture polish! I did use the pressure cooker (Instant Pot) to cook the beets as it's much faster.

• Parsnip dumplings in broth

  • raybun on May 14, 2017

    This is the first Ottolenghi recipe I haven't loved . I was definitely underwhelmed by this dish that I followed to the letter. It was too mild for me and I felt the texture of the dumplings was off. The broth smelt fantastic but didn't have much flavour either ?? I'm really surprised! Nothing a fresh baguette and a lump of Roquefort couldn't fix...

  • finebec on May 01, 2017

    Outstanding, both broth and the dumplings. Found the following things made a difference: skimming off the oil in the beginning; using the fresh as possible celery root

• Seasonal tempura

  • Ganga108 on January 19, 2022

    2022: We used this batter to make Sage Leaves in Batter (Diane Holuigue's The French Kitchen), and tempura eggplant and zucchini. The perfect snack or pre-dinner nibble for tonight's hot Summer evening, with a glass of something refreshing, eating French-style, watching the sunset. We've also served this dish with a bright summery salad and called it Lunch.

  • pamacea on February 25, 2026

    Not a fan of this tempura batter—the wheat flour has too much ‘gum’ to it. Batter recipes made with rice flour are much more appetizing and give you the light tempura texture we know and love.

  • Ganga108 on August 23, 2021

    2021: Wonderful! Easy to make.

• Fried leeks

  • finebec on May 02, 2017

    The leeks that I find it in my market, a Whole Foods in an American University town, do not lend themselves to this recipe. Too much dirt to cut in the way he asks. Does anyone have a technique they would like to share to get around this?

  • finebec on May 02, 2017

    The red pepper sauce, however, is a outstanding addition to my condiment made by myself collection. Keeps for several week sin the fridge. Probably would keep longer if it would last that long. Has increased the number of salad eaters in our family exponentially. Whilst I have your attention, let me recommend the pepper sauce for the pecorino salad in this book, which works for us the same way.

• Mushroom ragout with poached duck egg

  • beeah on March 04, 2013

    Absolutely worth the effort.

  • rubytuby on August 23, 2015

    It's very heavy on mushroom flavor, which is great if you love mushrooms, but not so great if they're not your favorite

  • Ganga108 on September 14, 2025

    Am simplifying this recipe to use pre-prepared stock from the freezer, and a tomato passata base rather than sour cream.

  • luluf on June 17, 2021

    Lovely, but a lot of steps and in Australia, extremely expensive for the dried porcini and mixed mushrooms. My husband asked me to remember it so we can have it again soon.

  • Dannausc on December 16, 2018

    Quite a few steps. Good and hearty but probably not worth a repeat. I could have done without the truffle oil.

• 'Mixed grill' with parsley oil

  • rubytuby on August 23, 2015

    Surprisingly delicious for just being vegetables and parsley pesto. You can really use any veggies, doesn't need to be what's listed in the recipe.

  • elysedc on June 17, 2022

    The parsley pesto can go on anything and is absolutely delicious. Have made this multiple times, using whatever vegetables were in season.

• Stuffed courgettes

  • Rutabaga on March 30, 2014

    I think this recipe would be pretty good. I say "would" because I over cooked mine, making the zucchini waterlogged and mushy. The filling was still good, but I think part of the difficulty was that I used some old long-grain rice that I needed to finish, and it took too long for the rice to cook.

  • Donnakay on March 28, 2013

    courgettes = zucchini

  • Stevington_gourmet on July 12, 2025

    This recipe works slightly better with larger courgettes or marrows. To add a Far Eastern twist, stuff with ginger, pork mince, soy sauce and spring onions, then bake for about an hour. The water from the marrow or squash drains away and it is then delicious with rice or potatoes.

  • JLDuck on December 16, 2017

    I partially (5 mins) cooked the rice so there were no unwanted gritty bits. I also used very fresh courgettes which may help reduce the mushiness effect. It was very tasty.

• Scrambled smoky duck eggs on sourdough

  • Rutabaga on November 11, 2014

    Delicious! This is a simple recipe with lots of flavor that is easily adaptable. I used chives instead of green onion, a couple of very ripe yellow tomatoes, and one canned chipotle in adobo instead of rehydrating dried ones. As I do with chicken eggs, I added some milk to the duck eggs before scrambling them, but found their texture to be exceptionally soft and creamy, so perhaps this was unnecessary. And while I love cheese, it's nice to find a hearty, filling egg dish that doesn't rely on it.

  • L.Nightshade on June 02, 2020

    We got some duck eggs from down the road, and I had just baked a loaf of sourdough, so this dish was fated to be. I subbed chipotles in adobo for the dried chipotles called for, and subbed yogurt for the sour cream, as those items were what I had on hand. I had to convince Mr. Nightshade to have this for dinner, as he's not a breakfast-for-dinner guy, but he found it completely satisfying, and we both found it delicious!

  • Dannausc on December 16, 2018

    Fairly easy and quite good. I would definitely make it again. I used three varieties of dried chiles.

• Broccoli and Gorgonzola pie

  • Rutabaga on March 30, 2014

    Rich and filling, with the mustard giving it just a little kick to offset the cream, this tart is a fun way to pair broccoli and blue cheese. My filling turned out a little runny, but maybe I just needed to let it set longer before cutting into it.

  • eatdrinkstagger on October 19, 2020

    Learnt this via Nigel Slater, but be prepared to add more butter to the leeks as they tend to get very thirsty when being sautéed; also agree with the user who says maybe half the mustard - the recipe calls for an amount that cuts through the cheesiness of a blue cheese (?!).

  • john628556 on December 28, 2019

    Like other recipes in Plenty, this is a good one that benefits from a lot of revision. 1. The top complaint about this recipe is that it's too heavy. Consider replacing the cream with half-and-half. 2. The second complaint is that the leek mixture is too watery. So skip the water and simmer the mixture until it becomes thick. 3. Use 3/4 pound puff pastry for the pie shell, 1/2 pound for the lid. If you use less for the lid -- and you use an all-butter puff pastry -- the lid is likely to crack apart as it cooks. 4. Skip the chives, salt, and pepper. The gorgonzola and mustard are already salty; more salt isn't needed here. And in a dense pie like this, you won't notice that it's gone. 5. Reduce the tarragon and mustard by half. 6. Use 4 oz. gorgonzola. The recipe calls for 7 oz., but you'll have trouble fitting so much it into the pie. 7. Dry the broccoli before adding it to the pie. Too much moisture in the pie mixture may cause the lid to crack apart as it cooks.

  • breck_x0p0c8 on May 12, 2026

    Made with fresh mozzarella and grated pecorino. Next time will thicken the leek mixture more. Overall, delicious and would do again with cauliflower.

  • shewolffe on April 04, 2017

    I'm not very disciplined at following recipes so ended up adapting this recipe a bit. I had no tarragon, so just omitted it, and it tasted lovely. I didn't measure any ingredients, but used what seemed about the right amount for the long thin tart tray I wanted to use. It included a couple of leeks and about 3/4 of a large head of broccoli. I whisked up a couple of eggs with some rich creamy milk and poured this over the top of the leeks, broccoli, gorgonzola before topping the pie with strips of pastry (I didn't have quite enough to make a pretty top). The final result was absolutely delicious - eaten hot on the first outing and then at room temperature for lunch the next day. As expected, really good combinations of flavours from Ottolenghi.

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on March 05, 2017

    Delicious. Thanks to the previous review I didn't add water to the leeks. Also made an open pie top to let steam come out during baking. Pie turned out wonderful and without soggy bottom!

  • StoicLoofah on October 07, 2018

    I used a 9 inch pie pan, and it came out very watery. I don't know if those are related. Next time, I might try a 9x13.

• Cabbage kohlrabi salad

  • Egle.L on November 05, 2012

    http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/ottolenghis-cabbage-and-kohlrabi-salad/

  • lholtzman on September 25, 2025

    This is a crunchy and refreshing raw salad. The lemon adds brightness while the cherries cut the acidity. And type of sprout will work. I used radish sprouts instead of alfalfa.

  • elysedc on June 17, 2022

    this one was fine, nothing special. It was a good way to use up ingredients, but nothing worth going out of your way to put together. It did, however, persuade me to use more raw kohlrabi in my cooking.

• Sweet winter slaw

  • oddkitchen on December 30, 2012

    Terrific blend of flavors; slightly finicky preparation. The caramelized macadamia nuts make the dish. Be warned that the recipe as written produced an enormous quantity of food, serving 8 people two side-dish-sized servings.

  • mcvl on February 20, 2022

    Having not one of the slaw ingredients called for, I made a completely different salad and used this recipe solely for the dressing, which is divine.

  • Astrid5555 on December 26, 2017

    Took this to my mum‘s for boxing day lunch. Despite leaving out the macadamia nuts due to allergies and substituting oranges for the other fruit, since this is what I had on hand, this was one of the best slaws I have had in a long time. Highly recommended!

  • Schooffiecooks on January 09, 2026

    Had to make a few changes because I didn't have mango, papaya, savoy cabbage and lemon grass. Used apple, blood orange and paprika instead. Left the lemongrass out of the dressing. And used the roasted nuts from Falastin instead of the macadamia nuts. Together just a little bit too spicy with the nuts, and a little bit too sour because my bloodorange wasn't really sweet so I added some extra maple syrup to the salad. Still a very nice salad.

  • domechef on February 24, 2025

    The dressing is ace, and the nuts add a genius touch.

  • lizabetina on January 01, 2018

    Lots of chopping and prep but worth it. You can play around with the ingredients and it still works - I don’t put quite as much mango and papaya in as the recipe asks for. The caramelised macadamia nuts are amazing, and very tempting just on their own too!

  • hillsboroks on February 12, 2016

    Fun blend of flavors that really put pizazz into coleslaw. Easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner but pretty and unusual enough to serve at a company dinner. I couldn't find macadamia nuts so subbed in pecans and they worked really well. I also subbed kiwi fruit for the papaya and their flavor melded well with everything else. Just as odd kitchen mentioned this makes a big bowl of slaw but I am looking forward to the leftover slaw in my lunch tomorrow.

  • clkandel on March 15, 2022

    Great flavors. Love the dressing. Didn't have a papaya so used a kiwi as someone else suggested and it was great.

  • imaluckyducky on January 10, 2020

    This is excellent, as others have stated. Used peanuts instead of macadamia nuts and was a good subs. This makes A LOT of food, and this slaw absolutely does not keep well more than 24 hours.

• Savoy cabbage and Parmesan skin soup

  • Rutabaga on December 09, 2014

    This is a good way to make use of Parmesan rinds. Aside from the savoy cabbage, the remaining ingredients are ones many will likely already have on hand. Because I had a collection of rinds to use, I added 9 ounces of rind to the stock rather than only three. This gave the soup a definite Parmesan flavor, enough that I decided not to grate any additional on top. Since I was out of caraway, I used nigella seeds instead, and I substituted homemade chicken stock for the vegetable stock. The texture is very appealing when left a little rough and loose.

  • Laura on December 30, 2015

    Pg. 104. This was ok, but nothing special. I couldn't find Savoy cabbage, so used Napa cabbage instead. I pureed the soup in my VitaMix to a 'nubby' consistency and added the grated parmesan. The sauteed cabbage and red pepper added texture to the soup. I wouldn't make it again.

  • joneshayley on November 11, 2019

    My favourite brassica soup. The richness achieved through the Parmesan rinds is brilliant, so much more than the sum of its parts. I blitzed it completely smooth and velvety

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    perfect dish!

  • luke_i8msqc on January 22, 2026

    We make this often. Extremely tasty, quick and easy.

• Brussels sprouts and tofu

  • Jane on April 12, 2014

    This a recipe I could easily have passed by but I happened to have Brussels and tofu to use and up came this recipe in my search. It was surprisingly good and I will definitely make it again - next time with the mushrooms which I didn't have. It did use a lot of oil so I halved it and I thought it was fine. I didn't add all the marinade at the end as my chilli sauce was quite hot (I didn't use sweet sauce as I'm trying to cut out sugar - I also skipped the maple syrup). Even with my changes I thought this was a really good, healthy dinner.

  • Cheri on March 09, 2015

    We liked this, it surely is comfort food for us. Also used Trader Joe's sweet chili sauce in the marinade. Tofu pressed and then marinated for 24 hours. Don't think it needed that long in the marinade. I felt the texture of the tofu could have been firmer, overall and agree with cilantrolime, may try baking next time. Also did not include mushrooms this time (didn't have them), but I'm sure they would be a nice add. Overall liked the flavor palate Cut down on oil quantity. Served over steamed basmati rice. Filling and satisfying. Will make again.

  • Zosia on January 15, 2018

    This is as delicious as everyone else has said but does call for far too much oil. I dry fried the tofu first and then used only about 3tbsp oil to cook the other ingredients. I had only dried shiitake mushrooms which were a little rubbery in this but they did add good flavour.

  • ksg518 on March 28, 2019

    This was wonderful. Thanks to all the previous comments, I used about half the oil Ottolenghi calls for. I almost felt he wrote the recipe for a regular pan and then switched to non-stick without reducing the oil. I doubled the tofu just to use up what I had. Like others, my tofu didn't crisp up the way I would like, so I may try baking next time. But it was still great!

  • KIGirl on May 28, 2020

    Following the advice of the wonderful EYB members below I reduced the oil quantity for my non-stick pan. I also substituted: * kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) for the soy/maple syrup, and * fried tofu puffs for the tofu, which did absorb the sauce nicely as well as turning a nice shade of brown, and * button mushrooms for the shiitake. Great tasty recipe, which will be added to my vegan highlights repertoire.

  • babyfork on January 17, 2024

    I'm just starting to cook with tofu and since I love Brussels sprouts, I decided to give this a try. The link takes you the recipe as published in The Guardian. I used this for my shopping list when I was out. That version just says "chilli sauce" not "sweet chile sauce" as it does in the cookbook. So I decided not to buy any when I was at the store because I had sriracha and chili crisp at home. Anyway, I ended up using Yellowbird Organic Lime, Date & Garlic Sriracha for the chili sauce. I added a 1/2 tbsp more of maple syrup (actually a 1/2 tbsp of smoked maple syrup and a tablespoon of Runamok Pineapple Upside-down maple syrup) since I didn't use the sweet chile sauce specified. I roasted my sprouts in the oven while I prepped and cooked the shiitakes and scallions to streamline things a bit. This was tasty and I might serve this over brown rice next time.

  • Hannaha100 on January 03, 2019

    Cheated by using marinated tofu but would like to try from scratch one day. Love this method for Brussels. Whole family ate although M wouldn't touch mushroom.

  • meginyeg on November 05, 2021

    This was delicious. Everything worked beautifully together.

  • clcorbi on November 18, 2016

    Very good. I didn't give the tofu enough time to get crispy because we were impatient to eat--won't make that mistake again. This is a lovely stirfry, the brussels sprouts are phenomenal.

  • urmami on August 22, 2016

    I love this recipe and make it at least a few times every fall and winter. To cut down on oil, mess, and time, I use the extra-firm tofu from Trader Joe's, which (as promised) is so firm it hardly requires any draining, and don't fry it - just cut into cubes and stir in at the end. The sprouts have enough crunch and the sprouts enough flavor to make up for crispy fried tofu edges. I think the mushroom funk is pretty important to the dish, but it's not necessary to use shiitakes; I generally use whatever kind happen to be on hand (usually cremini) and they do the job just fine.

  • Bwolfe2 on February 26, 2017

    This is easy, quick and delicious!!! One of the best tofu recipes I've tried.

  • Churchim808 on March 01, 2024

    I thought this was delicious. Like others, I used a whole tub of tofu. I doubled the marinade but ended up not adding it all at the end. I just couldn’t bring myself to use the full amount of sesame oil in the marinade so halved that but used the full amounts of oil to cook the sprouts, mushrooms and tofu.

  • oddkitchen on January 19, 2013

    Quick, easy, very flavorful and tasty. It does use a lot of oil, which I believe could be reduced. Most of the cooking is done in one pan, making cleanup relatively easy. Good for a weeknight meal, and the leftovers are also quite nice.

  • cilantrolime on August 22, 2014

    I used sweet chili sauce from Trader Joe's. It's not very important. It was very tasty and relatively easy, but frying marinated tofu makes a lot of mess. Maybe I'll try baking the tofu next time.

  • rubytuby on August 23, 2015

    I love this dish. It's very flavorful and the brussels sprouts are delicious. The recipe calls for 5 oz of firm tofu. I use a normal-sized package of extra firm tofu, which is 14 oz, and then double the amount of the first five ingredients for the sauce. I don't think it would be enough food with just 5 oz of tofu

  • jaelsne on December 01, 2017

    Absolutely delicious-as others have mentioned, it uses a lot of oil. I'll cut back next time.

  • lorloff on August 19, 2021

    This was phenomenal. I used a whole package of firm tofu and increased the sauce slightly. I had delicious fresh shiitake mushrooms and scallions from the farmers market and it all worked perfectly. I cooked it in a large French carbon steel pan large enough to cook the Brussels sprouts and the tofu on one batch which reduced the oil needed. The tofu browned perfectly. Will definitely make again.

  • Astrid5555 on November 22, 2021

    I have been meaning to cook this dish for ages, and I am so glad I finally did. Actually quite quick to make (not counting trimming the sprouts) for an Ottolenghi recipe from Plenty. Great marinade, will definitely go into our regular winter dinner rotation.

  • meggan on September 02, 2020

    So good!

  • Chefjames1 on December 08, 2025

    Great! Roasted it all together at 425 with a bit of oil instead of frying.

  • SylvanMoon on January 20, 2026

    Made this as per the recipe, but as I don't especially like hot, I used a tsp of chili oil in the marinade. I only added part of the marinade to the dish, but used the rest as a dipping sauce for mock duck tofu skin parcels. It was a lovely meal, served with rice. The flavours in the dish, although relatively simple, were very tasty and a different way to have brussel sprouts.

  • emily_s3aq5g on March 19, 2026

    Roasted in the oven like another review suggested. The leftovers were delicious after the tofu sucked up the sauce!

  • amystar on January 19, 2022

    This didn’t wow me. but funnily enough i couldn’t stop eating it. it was just a friendly stir fry. probably won’t make it again.

  • jaxcap on October 06, 2023

    This was excellent- the flavor of the marinaded tofu was really good. Like others, I used less oil (like 1/4 of what it said) and everything still got pretty crisp.

  • Ganga108 on August 24, 2023

    I was looking forward to this dish, and it was Ok but not what I expect from Ottolenghi. However, the marinade/sauce is great and I will use that again. I'd love to do the recipe with steamed bok choi rather than pan fried sprouts - I love tofu, shiitake and bok choi together. UPDATE: The brussels sprouts and tofu taste even better the next day! I recommend making enough for leftovers. I can now imagine the dish made with broccoli or broccolini.

  • Pimlicocook on January 15, 2026

    Essentially a stir-fry, cooked in stages, with a lovely smokey depth of flavour. Used 2x tofu and could have made more for my tofu-loving, vegetarian boyfriend. Sliced spring onions around 2cm and felt that worked well with other veg size and texture. Served with brown rice. Would make again.

• Saffron cauliflower

  • trufflemutt on December 31, 2011

    Tried this recipe for Christmas dinner. It was a bland and uninspiring use of cauliflower.

  • monicahorridge on January 16, 2014

    I used about half the amount of saffron, and added some za'atar. It was lovely! Made plenty and I had it in wraps all week. The onions in particular were delicious.

  • lorloff on September 06, 2020

    This was nicely flavored and easy to do but not as flavorful as many of Ottolenghi’s other recipes. Serving it with a tahini sauce improved the flavor a lot.

  • thennek on July 05, 2013

    Disappointing. Oven temperature too high? Sultanas burnt. Suggest lower temp for shorter time add sultanas half way.

  • rainfields on January 08, 2014

    Tasted a lot better after a day. Mellowed out the saffron soapy taste, red onion cuts out the sweetness of sultanas. Delicious, good alternate to roasted cauliflower

  • stephengk on May 28, 2017

    Maybe the way I prepared it but was bitter tasting

  • Darja on September 26, 2023

    it was meh... the cauliflower tasted like it was boiled, not roasted. I feel like saffron is wasted in this recipe.

  • Gilbatron on April 16, 2025

    My first and only ottolenghi disappointment :(

• Aubergine with buttermilk sauce

  • mziech on November 10, 2011

    made this a few times for guests. easy recipe, can be prepared in advance, and guests are always impressed, recommended

  • Astrid5555 on May 05, 2016

    Lovely recipe for company, great presentation, got rave reviews!!

  • mzgourmand on April 28, 2018

    I feel out of step as well: I found this recipe somewhat bland too. Worse, I've made it twice and had it also at a friend's and the eggplant itself the recipe's method using never resembles the picture. I make a lot of eggplant-based recipes and am able to achieve a lovely, melting eggplant texture, just not with this recipe, even when substantially extending cooking times. My spouse, however, did enjoy the dish.

  • Boffcat on February 18, 2017

    I feel a bit out of step with my fellow reviewers, as I have to confess I found this a little bland!

  • pattyatbryce on January 16, 2019

    We loved this one.

  • Plumberful on February 02, 2024

    Made this for the first time tonight and we loved it! My eggplant was meltingly soft and buttery. I did use good Aleppo pepper, while roasting and I made the sauce with homemade Crème Fraîche. I also added lemon zest to the sauce. Will make this again.

  • MarciK on August 06, 2019

    I suspect my recipe had the Celsius oven temperature instead of the conversion to Fahrenheit. I will try cooking at 350 degrees next time.

  • Rutabaga on March 30, 2014

    What a beautiful presentation, and it tastes good, too. Do use large eggplants; I chose smaller ones, as that's normally what I prefer, but after roasting them this way there just wasn't enough flesh left, so in this case bigger is better.

  • LayDi1 on May 03, 2016

    I only use Greek yoghurt instead of the buttermilk so it is less liquid. Great recipe: easy, very tasty and beautiful!

  • prkrgrant on February 16, 2025

    Not quite there. The presentation is nice but a bit bland. I think smoking the eggplant and/or working on the sauce a bit would really benefit the dish but not something I plan on making again

  • Schooffiecooks on March 27, 2026

    It looks great but we didn't like it. This Asian aubergine was way to soft after the cooking time, and no fan of the buttermilk sauce too.

  • billcranecos on June 21, 2021

    Made this for the first time. I was skeptical of how this would turn out but my wife loved it. Will definitely repeat.

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    nice dish but like the other aubergine recipe much better. make sure to grill long enough

• Soba noodles with aubergine and mango

  • bgood on November 09, 2011

    Make sure soba are al dente, they go soft very quickly

  • monicahorridge on July 23, 2013

    Very very tasty, perfect for a lunchbox. It was quite fiddly, though, and took longer to cook than I was expecting. In future I'd make it for dinner with extra left over for lunch.

  • vinochic on February 23, 2012

    Good recipe. I used less oil though, and next time i will probably cut back on the sugar just a bit.

  • cilantrolime on July 06, 2014

    Tasty and interesting. Probably my current favorite noodle salad. Not very healthy though, as the fried eggplants soak up a lot of oil.

  • pistachiopeas on May 25, 2015

    I really love this recipe but everything seemed a bit "wet."

  • TrishaCP on August 13, 2017

    Interesting treatment for soba noodles, but a bit too time-consuming to prepare without the usual Ottolenghi taste payoff (in my opinion). I also roasted the eggplant to lighten the calorie load (maybe that's why I'm not as thrilled by this one!).

  • yellowbird531 on August 20, 2018

    I did my eggplant in the oven on 450 for about 15 minutes. Saved time and mess and was delicious!

  • ChelseaP on August 05, 2021

    Was a bit of a faff to fry all the eggplant but worth it in the end. Absolutely delicious!

  • chezmaryb on February 21, 2021

    Worth the hype. A rare make again recipe for me

  • Agaillard on August 02, 2023

    Loved it, especially the sauce! I used 1/4 noodles also and half an aubergine, half a mango... but made the whole sauce serving ... also didn't use tofu... I otherwise followed the recipe exactly and am really glad i stumbled upon it ... Gorgeous, healthy, full of vitamines and delicious

  • Agaillard on April 23, 2025

    Made again with the original version (no tofu). I made the recipe exactly just halved the quantities. This was lovely and healthy. I was lucky both times with the soba, as it was perfectly al dente (and I didn't know to be careful!). I liked the mango association and for me the grilled eggplant provided enough crunch. Probably could do with peanuts or similar. I will make again, simple and good.

  • mjes on September 10, 2021

    This is a salad I will gladly remake. Make sure the mango is ripeand adjust the sugar accordingly. The quantities on the herbs are needed.

  • finebec on May 01, 2017

    To save time and calories I roasted the aubergine, using the method on page 114 of the American Ed., Eggplant tricolore. I recognize I lost the crunch quality that he likes in his dishes. Mango was a Tommy Atkins mango, from South America that I carefully ripen myself using the paper bag and Apple method. It been declared the best dish yet out of this cookbook by my family.

  • LFL on August 23, 2020

    3.5 stars. This was good but not great. Maybe my expectations were too high since it’s so popular here on EYB. It tasted much too sweet.

  • mharriman on July 17, 2019

    As others have noted, there’s a lot of prep for this dish. That said, my husband and I thought it was delicious, especially on a very warm summer night. The fresh mango, basil, and eggplant worked well together with the noodles. I added sautéed tofu for added protein.

  • Rinshin on April 01, 2024

    I like all chilled asian noodles from Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, Malaysia and they are some of my favorite foods and I make them often, but I am going to be the odd one out with this soba salad. I did not care for the use of soba in this (came out strangely gummy), did not like addition of sweet mango (just seemed out of place for this type of chilled noodles, and grilled eggplant and tofu bits which did not provide any crunch you normally find in chilled noodle salads. The dressing was quite sour and sweet at the same time. If lime peel and lime juice was not added, it would be like eating puckered pickle juice. Needed more oil to balance the astringency. Better noodle choices would have been ramen, Chinese wheat noodle, somen, and rice noodle. My husband would not eat it at all and since I too was not fond of it, I tossed the leftovers unfortunately.

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    great flavours and easy to make! to go with a BBQ

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    Highly highly highly delicious! It brings together mango and charred eggplant in a way that makes it seem way out there, but is perfectly balanced. It is such a surprising combination of flavours and that makes this a memorable dish from the first bite – sweet from the mango and savoury from the eggplant. It is a beautiful noodle for hot summer nights or for a simple weeknight dinner any night of the year. The leftovers only get better in the refrigerator, so Yotham highly recommends making enough for lunch leftovers.

  • Schooffiecooks on December 31, 2025

    My most made recipe from Plenty!!!

  • Beebopalulu on December 03, 2019

    Tasty but not out of this world - ratio of effort to enjoyment could be better

  • Pimlicocook on June 06, 2023

    Fresh, delicious and easy - and can be prepared ahead. Made 1/4 noodles and dressing with one aubergine and half a mango for one person and it was a generous portion for lunch (no extra tofu required, as suggested in recipe intro). I roasted the aubergine, like many others. Would make again.

  • apw2020 on January 21, 2025

    Vibrant recipe. And agree with others -- make sure the soba is not overcooked, or else it will be very mushy.

  • aeybkme on May 29, 2023

    Absolutely delicious. Serves four as a main meal.

  • Anea25 on March 10, 2024

    YO does it again! on the paper, it's really difficult to imagine these flavors working together but the end result is delicious, so fresh and vibrant. It will definitely become a summer favorite.

  • anniecc on May 31, 2023

    This was delicious and quite quick for an Ottolenghi dish, I made it for a weekday lunch. I would definitely recommend roasting the aubergine in the oven - the texture is almost the same and it's much less work. I am fortunate to have access to exceptionally good Pakistani mangoes at this time of year and that really makes a difference. I also chose to marinade the red onions in the dressing along with the chili and garlic as I don't much like raw onions.

  • rhb on December 05, 2022

    Fantastic recipe! I have all of the eyb comments here to thank for convincing me to try this. I subbed some things for what I had on hand; one eggplant, two mangoes, green onions instead of red, and about half the amount of basil. Noodles were done enough at around 3 minutes boil; rested for over an hour on a towel and this probably helped to make them less mushy. I will cook even less next time. I tossed the eggplant with olive oil and salt and roasted at 450 f for 15 minutes and broiled a bit at the end. More eggplant next time, for sure, but it was still great.

  • louisa_b4qots on March 30, 2026

    Perfect for Summer! May be an option to airfry the aubergines to make it healthier?

  • mic_cherry on May 01, 2025

    Absolutely perfect! Used half the sugar, 6oz of soba, 1 small mango, 1 small eggplant, full amount of dressing and it made about 3 large servings :) Tofu I marinated and baked, would marinate longer next time and would probably add some toasted, chopped cashews to the top. Oh I also just microwaved the vinegar/salt/sugar to dissolve because I don’t have a small enough saucepan.

  • Hiker010 on January 10, 2026

    Made Sept 2019 Good! Would make again

• Aubergine tricolore (and more)

  • Delys77 on May 21, 2014

    Not a winner for us. He doesn't have you salt the eggplant to remove any of those bitter juices, plus the salsa of sorts isn't meant to be seasoned, plus the balance between the tomato and the pepper seemed a bit off to me. On the whole not something I would repeat.

  • anya_sf on July 12, 2018

    We thought this was delicious - not too heavy and quite refreshing. The "salsa" only marinated for 30 minutes, but was still good, and leftovers were great the next day. I used fresh mozzarella, but not buffalo. I didn't have coriander, so substituted mint, which was also good (a bit less since it's strong). Basil or fresh oregano would probably also be delicious.

• Grilled vegetable soup

  • Delys77 on January 09, 2013

    Pg 115 The soup is a good canvas but it did need some aggressive seasoning. I added the juice of a whole lemon and a touch of green tabasco to add sourness and heat at the same time. Once seasoned nicely it is a good soup, with a slightly smokey flavour from the grilled vegetables and toothsomeness from the lima beans. I might cut back on the lima beans a little in the future as I found there were a few too many.

  • dinnermints on July 22, 2016

    I agree with Delys77 - the soup needs a lot of seasoning. I added a bunch of preserved lemon, and it sort of helped, but then that effect was dulled when I added the limas (although I liked those, wouldn't decrease). I did the U.S. version which is broiled, and it might have been better grilled. But I wouldn't make this again. I've cooked a ton out of Plenty More and Jerusalem to fantastic results, but have heard mixed things about Plenty, and I think this is the first thing I've made out of it. It doesn't exactly make me want to use it more. I wish it had the more specific measurements of his later books, as I've heard is that proportions are often off in Plenty.

• Lentils with grilled aubergine

  • Tommelise on July 10, 2011

    A very good recipe. The roasted tomatoes and carrots go well with the lentils and spice. The dish is a favorite of our (vegetarian) daughter with the grilled aubergine for dinner. But if we are out of aubergine the lentils are equally good as a side dish and in the lunchbox the next day.

  • sonyarr on November 25, 2022

    We found this not that exciting, not a repeat.

  • Livia on October 23, 2020

    Added the extra half onion to the roasting vegtables which worked really well. Finally managed to cook the lentils to perfection. Really enjoyed it and healthy.

  • MelanieG on March 16, 2018

    Brilliant. Tasty lentils with or without aubergines.

  • Dannausc on December 16, 2018

    Fairly easy. Fine but nothing to get excited about.

  • Margaretsmall on October 23, 2013

    Made this last night, and enjoyed it greatly. I grilled the eggplant over a gas burner until the skin was blackened then finished it off in the oven (figured that since the oven was on anyway for the vegetables I might as well use the energy). I added some bok choy to the vegetable/lentil mixture at the last moment for a bit more greenery. I'll make this again.

  • annapanna on October 19, 2013

    Very good! The lentils cooked as described in this recipe had a wonderful flavour. I also found it very filling, we will be making this again and again I am sure. If the aubergines are not big I would suggest adding an extra one.

  • apw2020 on January 21, 2025

    This is just alright. A fine side salad, but nothing extraordinary.

  • chezlarios on April 12, 2025

    This recipe was a lot of work and dishes for what was in the end very ordinary lentils. Wouldn’t make this again. Not sure what I did wrong - the roasted carrots/celery never quite roasted (I guess the 140 C that it called for was too low?).

• Burnt aubergine with tahini

  • Foodo on May 11, 2012

    An excellent dish! I didn't have any Pom seeds, and it was still an outstanding recipe, I can't wait to make it again.

  • wcassity on December 16, 2012

    Amazing! The pomegranate seeds make it special, give it interesting texture. Very rich, garlicky.

  • clkandel on July 31, 2014

    This dish is delicious. I don't like baba ganoush, so wasn't sure about this recipe, but the pomegranate molasses adds such a different taste profile. I'll be making this again.

  • PinchOfSalt on September 04, 2014

    Wow. Really really good. I have made this a number of times. The dough blade in my Cuisinart food processor is great for doing the mixing. Do not attempt this recipe using only the chopping blade. The texture and appearance are all wrong. (Who would have expected such a huge difference?)

  • Cochise on April 17, 2019

    Great recipe. Can be served with a variety of meats (my favourite is harissa marinaded lamb) and pita/flat bread. Make sure you season it right to bring out all the flavour of the tahini and eggplant.

  • Lsblackburn1 on August 09, 2022

    Used jarred roast eggplant, which made this so quick and easy to make. Very tasty!

  • StephEpices on August 10, 2019

    This was so surprising! I was expecting a variation of baba ganoush but this one has its own flair enough to be its own mezze. The cucumber and pomegranate adds soooo much!

  • a2cook on July 29, 2017

    Fabulous! My mouth is watering right now just thinking about how good this was. Tried to save some for leftovers, but ended up sticking my head in the fridge and eating the rest of it. Next time, double or triple the recipe.

  • VineTomato on June 10, 2017

    Amazing version of a kind of baba ganoush. Have made it a number of times.

  • JLDuck on May 31, 2019

    Unbelievably delicious. I added the cherry tomatoes. Don't think they are necessary. The key is getting the right amount of 'burn' on the eggplant. That smokey taste is essential. I used my grill to great effect.

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    There is a marriage made in heaven, and that is eggplant and tahini. Oh, goodness, how magic happens with that combination. There are a quadzillion recipes that feature that specific combination, and it is no wonder. They tend to be Middle Eastern in origin, or in style. This recipe is no exception – it is Middle Eastern, it is magic, and it is delicious. The combination features pomegranate molasses, and the usual garlic and lemon juice. You will adore it.

  • DePollepel on September 27, 2021

    Delicious, with some flatbread. Very nice and fresh.

• Marinated buffalo mozzarella and tomato

  • Astrid5555 on May 16, 2016

    I will never ever eat a Caprese salad any other way! This is one of the best starters I have had in a very long time. Who would have thought that fennel seeds and lemon zest could elevate this dish to something really outstanding!!!

  • Breadcrumbs on May 30, 2011

    p. 126 I’m a sucker for a lovely photo and this book is chock full of them! In addition to a beautiful picture, Ottolenghi notes this is probably one of the simplest, yet finest starters you can offer. . . . Sold! I’ll make that!! As promised, prep is super-simple.I was delighted to find that Costco has started selling buffalo mozzarella imported from Italy – for a song I might add! The marinade is full of fresh, vibrant flavours and aromas and together, this dish is like having a lovely plate of sunshine. The additional herbs and lemon zest take this beyond the traditional Caprese salad and really do make this something special. I’d highly recommend this recipe and will most definitely make it again.

  • clkandel on August 22, 2025

    This takes a Caprese salad to the next level with the addition of the herbs and spices. Served it as a side to falafels.

  • Lepa on September 02, 2018

    This really is the best Caprese I've ever had. At least once a year I make it for a special dinner party. It is always a hit. It doesn't look nice but it is delicious.

  • murphyfrank on February 24, 2026

    I felt the marinade needed a little extra olive oil but apart from that this is a perfect way to use summer tomatoes & requires very little effort for maximum flavour

  • sosayi on August 22, 2019

    Chiming in with another glowing review. Made this as part of a large group dinner on vacation and it was the star of the table. 8 adults finished off 3 recipes worth in under 10 minutes (my husband barely got any as he was putting the baby down as dinner started). Super easy prep and tasted good even with only fresh basil (and no oregano) for the herbs. Will be making this again and again every summer.

  • AndieEats on July 05, 2021

    Tasty and easy to throw together. My garlic clove may have been a bit large though, and was a very forward note.

  • cilantrolime on August 17, 2014

    This is possibly the best starter I've had ever! Made with bufala mozzarella from Costco and served with crusty bread and good tomatoes from farmer's market. Didn't have fresh oregano so I substituted with dry oregano (much smaller amount). Turned out great.

  • goldfish on April 03, 2022

    I have made this several times and is one of my favorite appetizers for entertaining. It's easy, presents well, and is a crowd-pleaser. It's in my regular rotation. It could be deemed expensive but I think it's also worth the cost.

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    Heaven! We have been making this dish for ever and a day. We make all sorts of variations. Sometimes we use Trecce, the plaits of Mozzarella, or really large balls, and tear them apart, drizzling with a grassy extra virgin olive oil and tossing tomato wedges, cucumber slices and basil leaves on top. It is divine, and ready in 5 minutes. Salt and pepper, and it is done. Sometimes we use tiny bocconcini balls, cutting or tearing them in halves and marinating them, or using them as-is. Add some spring onions to the tomatoes and cucumbers. Drizzle with even more olive oil. We can’t even remember where we first came across this practice but it is common. This recipe has large balls of Buffalo Mozzarella marinated in spices, herbs, garlic and oil, before tomatoes are added. This is probably one of the simplest yet finest suppers you can make. It is a great summery meal to eat on the couch watching your favourite show.

• Tomato, semolina and coriander soup

  • okcook on January 07, 2013

    I didn't use all the semolina called for because I thought it would be way too thick, so I used 1/2 of the amount called for and it was just about right. I wouldn't make again, not very flavourful.

  • stephengk on May 28, 2017

    Warming and filling. I did use some good bouillon powder and extra seasoning. Think neeed this boost.

  • Rutabaga on May 20, 2014

    Of all the recipes I've tried so far in Plenty, this is the only one I wouldn't make again. As the other commenter noted, it is quite bland. Admittedly, I added more semolina than called for, as I decided to just finish up what I had on hand, so I'm sure it turned out thicker than intended. But even had the consistency been thinner, I don't think that would have fixed the issue, and I didn't find the texture of the semolina very appealing when cooked this way.

• Tomato party

  • caitmcg on October 31, 2015

    I had great tomatoes, but I thought this was a bit dry, and could have benefited from more of a dressing.

  • anniemac on September 27, 2015

    I initially made it because of the name, but have made it several times since because it's good and adaptable. I have added diced and sauteed zucchini, and diced cheese, and it's always good.

  • Rutabaga on March 30, 2014

    OK, I partly like this recipe because it's called "tomato party". But really, what's not to like? Make it only when you can get a good variety of fresh, local, peak season tomatoes, and it really will be a party!

  • a2cook on September 12, 2016

    The first time I made this, it was so good, I woke up craving it the next day. So, I made it again, and then again the next day. Yes, I made this 3 days in a row. It's that good! Very simple to make, healthy, and adaptable (I didn't have enough tomatoes on day 3, so I added roasted red onions using the same brown sugar + salt and pepper + balsamic + olive oil treatment as the tomatoes). A+ recipe!

  • Gwynnifer on October 05, 2016

    Fantastic. Bump up balsamic. Add sun-dried tomatoes. Try adding parsley. More filling than you imagine.

• Quesadillas

  • jaxstar84 on October 30, 2012

    Delicious - but next time I would amp up the flavours in the beans, that would make it amazing!

  • JackieBurke on January 09, 2017

    My copy of Plenty falls open at this page (have made it so many times). We heat them on a charcoal BBQ. They're always perfect, especially the salsa. I don't bother making black bean sauce anymore (used to but find Desert Pepper black bean dip works just as well). And commercial tortillas near enough

  • clcorbi on February 20, 2017

    Delicious. My boyfriend especially loved these. We don't have a grill pan so we quickly fried them in a very hot skillet. I also did not add sour cream to the quesadillas but rather served it alongside. The bean mixture was a bit cumin-y for my taste, but then again, I am not a cumin fan so that's just personal taste.

  • clkandel on August 16, 2020

    These are easy and delicious. Love the black bean paste. Drain of the juice from the salsa or the quesadillas will be quite drippy.

  • moniquerose on November 12, 2013

    Made this without the bean paste as I didn't have beans on hand (no black beans at supermarket, and realised I had none in the cupboard when I got home...). The salsa was lovely, really nice and fresh - I added extra lime juice to mine (recipe calls for juice of 1/2 lime, I added juice of whole lime). Not a big fan of toasting the quesadilla with sour cream inside already. I didn't like the texture of the cream after being heated. Other than that a quick, easy and tasty meal.

  • Delys77 on May 29, 2024

    This was well received at our house yesterday for dinner. We used the panini press to cook them indoors as the weather was not cooperating. Very easy to put together and very good as written. I was worried they would be wet with the fresh salsa and sour cream but the cheese did it's job and held everything together. This was a 3 person meal for us.

  • ellwell on December 23, 2025

    This was really good! Even my carnivorous husband loved it. I found some great winter tomatoes which really made the salsa exceptional. I subbed crème fraiche for the sour cream which I am still patting myself on the back for. Yummy! Great elements that added up to a delicious and fresh winter dinner.

  • Buttercups on March 23, 2026

    Simple and delicious. I think you could easily add a bit more spice to the bean paste, and sub out different cheeses. We really enjoyed this and will make again.

• Herb-stuffed tomatoes

  • trufflemutt on December 31, 2011

    The stuffing for the tomatoes wasn't bad, but they turned out a bit bland.

  • Astrid5555 on September 03, 2016

    As mentioned by the other reviewer, nice stuffing, not so sure about the combination with the tomatoes. Quite quick to make though and nice as part of several mezze.

  • Yildiz100 on March 29, 2025

    A bit bland and dry. Not crazy about the texture.

  • stephengk on May 28, 2017

    Light dish but really substantial flavours

  • StoicLoofah on May 24, 2018

    Pretty meh about the recipe overall. It's mostly pretty onion-y. Take his suggestion to put the goat cheese at the top, and maybe it would be better

  • MelanieG on March 17, 2018

    I bought big juicy beefsteak tomatoes so doubled up the recipe as I wanted it to be a vegan main meal highlight- but still needed to make more stuffing. These were excellent and I will definitely make again. Shame no recipe given for all the tomato insides you don't need for this one! For those who think it is bland I'd suggest adding some feta cheese to the stuffing.

  • Schooffiecooks on December 31, 2025

    Delicious recipe! I added some crumbled feta on top, just because everything taste better with feta!

• Baked eggs with yoghurt and chilli

  • trufflemutt on December 31, 2011

    I made this on the stove top and just covered the pan to finish cooking the egg. The recipe seems to simple to be good, but the yogurt is a perfect pairing.

  • L.Nightshade on May 22, 2011

    I made this with spinach and sorrel. While the spinach turned bright green in the pan, the sorrel immediately turned brown. I think that a 300 degree oven is too slow, at least when you turn the eggs into a cold dish for baking. But I had difficulty with the eggs anyway, by the time the whites had solidified, the yolks were a bit overdone. But still delicious. I used piment d'espelette with chile flakes and sage in the butter. Very tasty. I'll be happy to try this again with arugula (if my market ever again decides to carry it).

  • meggan on November 13, 2014

    Made this with baby kale and over salted by mistake. It would have been a cholesterol filled delight if I hadn't.

  • michalow on October 03, 2020

    Easy and delicious. I used a combination of leeks and arugula for the bottom layer, and topped the whole thing with some diced tomatoes. After 15 minutes in the oven, I increased the heat to 325 and cooked another seven minutes to get the eggs cooked enough for my taste.

  • TrishaCP on February 01, 2021

    This was really delicious. I used a combination of arugula and baby spinach since I didn’t have enough arugula. Cooking the eggs in a 300 degree oven wasn’t doing the job so I cranked up the heat and my yolks overcooked. Still very good though.

  • SheilaS on June 26, 2017

    I made crispy fried eggs instead of cooking them in with the greens in the oven. I loved it!

  • Jane on February 08, 2019

    This was a tasty, quick and healthy lunch. I made it just for one. I didn't have enough arugula (150g is a lot!) so made up with baby spinach. The Ottolenghi touch that makes this special is the chile sage butter. I didn't have kirmizi biber so used Aleppo pepper and smoked paprika. This will enter my brunch/lunch egg dishes repertoire.

  • snarkattack on July 08, 2015

    says to use smoked paprika and chilli flakes if kirmizi biber isn't available.

  • rmardel on July 19, 2013

    I've made this in the oven, as written, and on the stove top and tend to do it on the stove top more frequently as it seems simpler and I have more control. Delicious either way.

  • elysedc on September 24, 2022

    for how badly I overcooked my yolks, I was surprised at how delicious this was!

• Chard and saffron omelettes

  • veronicafrance on December 20, 2011

    We made this with some red chard. It looked a mess when served, but it was really delicious -- I loved the combination of flavours, very unusual. Quite quick to make too. I don't know why it's listed as a starter, we ate it as a main course.

  • twoyolks on June 12, 2015

    This was quite good. I'd probably cut back a little on the lemon juice in the future as it was a bit strong. The tang of the creme fraiche really went well with the eggs and greens. I'll second that it looked messy and the omelettes themselves started to fall apart but it worked anyway. I substituted marjoram for dill and it worked well.

  • wcassity on December 16, 2018

    Very tasty. Quite a bit of work, but all the flavors and textures come together very well. Can’t say I tasted the saffron.

  • suzhecker on February 08, 2019

    I’ve made this several times and absolutely love it. The flavor combination is unique and delicious. My husband loves it too.

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    delicious, as cold lunch or main meal with some sausages if desired

  • treay on November 26, 2024

    This is a simple yet very tasty recipe that I adapted a bit. I couldn't find any chard, so I used baby spinach leaves instead, and cooked them in the Catalan style with pine nuts and sultanas. The combination was amazing!

• Lettuce salad

  • L.Nightshade on May 22, 2011

    I had a spring mix of lettuces, and some purple spring onions, but other than that I followed the recipe. I agree with the "exploding with flavour" description. I loved the tomatoes roasted with thyme, I could have eaten an entire plate of them. Mr. Nightshade, however, felt the dressing was too lemony, and consequently the salad too tart. No accounting for taste!

  • KarinaFrancis on February 01, 2015

    easy and very pretty with the contrast of the red and white against the green lettuce

  • Rutabaga on February 18, 2015

    This is a great salad for winter when you're missing summer tomatoes. I used Pomodoraccio semi-dried tomatoes (even using the tomato oil from the jar in the dressing), which are a splurge but have an amazing, rich tomato flavor and almost melt in your mouth. I left out the radicchio since I didn't have any on hand. My salad did turn out a little salty, probably because of the salted capers. Be sure to rinse them very thoroughly if you are using salt packed capers, or season the dressing sparingly. Using 20 radishes as called for seemed like overkill, however; I scaled down the salad to make two large portions, but only used four radishes and found that to be enough.

  • treay on April 12, 2026

    This salad is good and refreshing. I actually made my own semi-dried tomatoes in the oven. I prefer them than the ones from the shop.

• Swiss chard, chickpea and tamarind stew

  • saladdays on March 08, 2014

    An interesting mix of subtle flavours and textures, the chickpeas contrast well with the chard. I used tamarind paste instead of the pulp which cut down on one process and canned chickpeas which shortens another. A good midweek, meat free supper.

  • Laura on March 26, 2014

    Pg. 148. Made this for dinner last night and followed it exactly as written except that I served it over long-grain basmati rice and accompanied it with Greek yogurt and chopped cilantro. With the rice, it was a complete meal. It's quite simple and doesn't take very long (well, except for the time to cook the beans). The tamarind provides a tangy note and the caraway adds a pleasant infusion of its flavor through the whole dish. My husband really liked it; I liked it but didn't love it -- although I did love how healthy and easy it was.

  • jenmmcd on July 07, 2025

    Loved this. Don’t love caraway so used cumin instead and used tamarind concentrate and a bit more tomato paste, and used only 1 tsp sugar. But the whole fam loved the flavors. We had some leftover fresh corn on the cob, which I cut off the cob and sautéed. Made a nice side to add some crunch and a bit of sweetness.

  • Dinovino on November 20, 2023

    Tasty, tangy and satisfying, Kale was a great substitute for the Chard.

  • KarinaFrancis on January 18, 2025

    Loved the tamarind in this, it brought its beautiful sweet sour tang. Simple enough on a weeknight, I streamlined by skipping the blanching step and cooked the stems once the onion started to soften and added the leaves toward the end. Also used tamarind paste and canned chickpeas as others have suggested. I took YO advice and added a pinch of chilli flakes and then a second pinch. A keeper.

  • IndyGirl on October 18, 2018

    Took remaining Chickpea sauté with Greek yoghurt from same cookbook and made this recipe. Just ok. Not worth making again.

  • purrviciouz on September 02, 2020

    I was delightfully surprised by this. I also served with basmati rice, greek yougurt, and a generous squeeze of lime. I also had a random fennul bulb that added along with the onions. I used 3 Tbsp of tamarind paste in place of the pulp extract. I would absolutely make this again as it was a delicious weeknight meal and leftovers.

  • Clog on January 06, 2025

    Good flavours and easy to prepare. As others have suggested the tamarind water was an unnecessary complication and I'll use tamarind paste next time.

• Chard cakes with sorrel sauce

  • caitmcg on October 31, 2015

    A wonderful recipe. The chard cakes are really all about the greens, and with the punch of salty feta, are plenty flavorful on their own. The leftover sorrel sauce found its ideal match in avocado, a pairing even better than with the chard cakes.

  • RuthGo on March 06, 2015

    This was DELICIOUS. My cakes didn't hold together particularly well but it didn't matter. The cakes were delicious, sauce is yummy and they're great together. Will definitely make again.

  • stephengk on May 28, 2017

    One of my favourite versions of fritters. Great way to use chard. Sauce is very good. When didn't have sorrel subbed combination of watercress and rocket. Lovely with Salmon

  • cultus.girl on October 08, 2020

    Beautiful flavours in these little pancakes. Needed to use up both chard and sorrel from my garden so this was a great option. The sauce was so so we all thought, so we topped with a little tomato chilli chutney. Will make again.

  • Rradishes on September 13, 2023

    Makes about 6 small cakes with 1 medium bunch of chard. Didn’t make the sauce, but the cakes had a nice nutty flavor to it. Toddler ate some too, which was a win.

  • consortiumlibrary on July 09, 2016

    Bottom line: loved the chard cakes but the sauce wasn't great (too grassy). Might try sauce again made with full fat yogurt (I used 0%) and 60g sorrel instead of 90g. For cakes, used 1/2 chard & 1/2 kale, Panko for breadcrumbs, and Cantal for cheese. Also added 1.5 c yellow onion, sautéed in olive oil with salt & pepper, 1 T minced garlic, & 1 t Aleppo pepper. Also breaded cakes w Panko to make nice crispy crust. To prevent cakes from falling apart, shape, bread, and refrigerate for at least 30 min before frying. Update: To leftover patties, added half and half, water, and fontina, and mixed well over medium heat to make creamed greens. Cracked egg on top of greens, covered pan, and cooked until whites set and yolks runny. So good!

  • cilantrolime on July 08, 2014

    Nice sauce. Easy to make. We ate it with grilled vegetables.

• Green pancakes with lime butter

  • lilham on April 12, 2012

    Baby friendly finger food, and went down well with my little 1 yo. I wonder if a drizzle of lime juice and a small cube of butter will be an acceptable substitute to the lime butter. I used only half the lime butter Ottolenghi has you made in the recipe. I ended up stirring the left overs into blanched spinach.

  • TrishaCP on April 05, 2020

    I enjoy savory pancakes as something different. I really liked the combination of green onions, spinach, and green chile, but I agree these felt more like a side dish rather than the star. I did put a squirt of lime juice and butter over them rather than making the lime butter- maybe that made a difference?

  • coryelizabeth on February 15, 2018

    These came together quickly but lacked the dramatic flavor of an Ottolenghi recipe. The lime butter was tasty, but the pancakes overall were meh. I agree with the idea of them being nice finger food; they're just not a great centerpiece for a meal.

  • MADCH82 on May 25, 2017

    But bland unfortunately...

  • Beebopalulu on December 02, 2019

    I really liked these, but not popular with the other members of the family unfortunately.

  • Logan92995 on March 09, 2023

    Very tasty and savory pancakes. Definitely best served during brunch. Lime butter was a tasty accompaniment.

  • coldcutcorner on March 09, 2023

    Tastes like a buttery pancake with some zing and spice to it. It's nice. Mixed the leftover lime butter with rice. That was also nice.

• Watercress, pistachio and orange blossom salad

  • amraub on January 14, 2012

    Light and refreshing.

  • chezmaryb on March 04, 2021

    Wasn't my favorite. I love orange blossom but it was missing balance

  • StephEpices on November 25, 2019

    A very nice salad that balances out any heavy dish. I didn't have orange blossom so used rose and it worked out perfectly.

• Egg, spinach and pecorino pizza

  • twoyolks on June 08, 2016

    This was really quite good. The flavors all worked very well together. It's not quite a pizza and not quite a flatbread. It's doughier than most pizza and was closer to a focaccia in texture.

  • sosayi on June 23, 2018

    Great flavors, I agree with twoyolks! The za'atar and sumac with the pecorino made for a super-flavorful topping. And the spinach was a delight. I used a different crust (Lahey's no-knead overnight dough), but used Ottolenghi's toppings and it was perfect. 1/2 lb of spinach ended up being perfect to top one of his pies, and I cut the other ingredients in the same proportions. Timing-wise, I wouldn't add the egg immediately next time... I'd wait a minute or two as it was a tad overcooked. We'd make this again no question.

• Cucumber salad with smashed garlic and ginger

  • Delys77 on March 05, 2012

    I think the flavor of the Garlic and ginger overpowers the salad a bit and there is too much onion for my taste. I don't think I wil repeat as written, but might try again and ease the throttle on the garlic, ginger and onions because the dressing is nice and the technique is fun.

  • KarenS on September 18, 2011

    We quite enjoyed this salad. The garlic and ginger flavors were very pronounced, not at all subtle, though the vinegar effect was mild, so I would consider it a salad rather than a pickle. I used a mature Asian cucumber, so I scooped out the seeds after halving it, which meant there wasn't very much accumulated liquid. I'll definitely make this again next summer.

  • Yildiz100 on May 24, 2014

    After making this several times, I've found that my favorite variation is to make the dressing exxactly as written, but exclude all but the cucumber from the salad ingredients.

  • lajaxon on May 10, 2016

    Garlic flavor was very strong. Next time I will use less garlic or drain the salad before serving to cut the sharpness of the raw garlic. Otherwise, a nice, fresh tasting salad with ingredients typically in the kitchen.

  • Astrid5555 on May 20, 2021

    Very good, the garlic and ginger flavor is just right. Loved the quick-pickled red onions to go with it.

  • Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

    Beautiful!

  • prkrgrant on July 18, 2025

    Just okay for us, surprised others thought the finger and garlic were overpowering as I found it a bit bland. Very easy to make at least and refreshing.

  • Hiker010 on January 10, 2026

    Made Jan 2019 -- fine

  • Schooffiecooks on March 27, 2026

    Reading about the garlic flavor, I decided to adapt this recipe. Made dressing as told and marinated the onions. Chopped the cucumber and half a Romano pepper. Added some candied ginger and fried garlic to the bowl. Fresh coriander on top. A nice and simple recipe. Realized I missed putting some roasted sesame seeds to the salad.

  • cgirl6 on July 03, 2022

    I omitted the sugar and onions and thought it was still very good. It is a keeper.

• Asparagus, fennel and beetroot with verjus

  • meggan on March 22, 2014

    The dressing was too sour for my taste.

  • Ganga108 on August 25, 2021

    I played with the recipe, using broccolini instead of asparagus, and added home sweet pickled beetroot, some roasted chickpeas and some daikon with the fennel and pine nuts. I was using the more tart Middle Eastern Verjuice rather than the Maggie Beer version, so added some sugar to the verjuice as it was reducing. It still tasted tart but when the dressing was drizzled over the salad it was good. BUT a dressing of lemon/lime and olive oil might have been just as good, I suspect (and quicker with fewer dishes).

• Caramelized fennel with goat's curd

  • FJT on November 28, 2012

    Oh, this is so good!! Beautiful flavour and textures ... this ne might be on our Christmas menu.

  • michalow on December 31, 2012

    Amazing. And I haven't even added the goat cheese yet, which can only make it better.

  • apattin on January 30, 2023

    Lovely, but a bit too much fat for my taste and too much sugar. I will remeat with adjustments

  • rodillagra on January 17, 2019

    Didn't add the dill, garlic or cheese as I was serving this as a side dish. Tasted fantastic. Would definitely slice the fennel thinner the next time (and it looks thinner in the photo in the book).

  • Miquette on March 12, 2013

    Insanely good! Will lower the temperature a little next time as the butter began to burn while browning the fennel. I wiped out the pan and added some fresh butter/oil before adding the sugar and fennel seeds and caramelizing over med-high.

  • anya_sf on June 27, 2018

    I trimmed too much off the bottoms of the bulbs so many of the slices did not stay intact, but still cooked OK. I didn't have dill, so I used a bit of mint (less since it's stronger), and it was good. I cooked the garlic with the fennel for a minute so it wouldn't be raw. The fennel was delicious. I would have preferred it cooked slightly more, so next time I'd slice it thinner.

  • Starrysky on July 10, 2017

    Very very good! The combination of fennel and goat cheese is a winner!

  • e_ballad on November 07, 2016

    So so good. Will happily double the recipe next time. Incredibly tasty, with so many flavours & textures in one simple dish.

  • patioweather on May 05, 2020

    Served as a crostini. Let the fennel get darker than you feel comfortable with.

  • heidi_ijgwa2 on May 31, 2026

    Tips: 1) less dill—it’s overpowering. 2) fry fennel at lower temp so that butter solids don’t blacken. Not sure what point of garlic was as couldn’t taste it; may add with spices if I make this again.

  • prkrgrant on December 22, 2025

    For the effort, this dish is incredible. The sauce is surprisingly nice given its simplicity, and it was a hit at our dinner party. Couple of recipe gripes that would trip up someone set on following the recipe exactly as written: the cooking time given for searing was (in my opinion) predictably way too short. 1-2 minutes per side is just not enough and the fennel needed a lot more time in the pan to get as brown as I wanted. Plan on doubling or tripling the cook time when the fennel is in the pan. Additionally, searing the veg with butter and olive oil on the directed high heat predictably burned some of the butter solids and caused the oil to smoke. Next time, I'll start with a neutral oil to sear the fennel, then add a good amount of butter with the sugar and fennel seeds to make the pan sauce.

  • hlange on June 08, 2024

    Following the recipe to the T most of the fennel fell apart even though I didn't take too much off the bottom. The flavors were great with so much going on but I probably wouldn't make again, mostly because I wasn't sure what the author had in mind as far as serving goes. Texture-wise we felt like we were eating a pile of cooked onions which wasn't very appealing. They would probably be good as a crostini.

  • samkuchen on March 22, 2026

    Nothing special, not worth the effort

• Okra with tomato, lemon and coriander

  • serasyl on September 11, 2011

    The recipe doesn't specify...if you're using the tiny frozen okra, are you supposed to thaw it first, or just throw it in the oven still frozen? My bag actually says for best taste DO NOT thaw first, but then the only cooking instructions it gives I think are for boiling, so that's not quite the same.

  • ComeUndone on September 01, 2010

    quick easy seasonal sidedish

• Green gazpacho

  • TrishaCP on May 24, 2016

    I first had this at my friend's house, and we've made it since to raves. It just tastes really fresh and bright and depending on your choice of chile, spicy. I significantly reduced the oil here (probably from 1 cup to 1/3 cup) and that worked just fine.

  • Dannausc on December 16, 2018

    The ingredients just barely fit in my blender. It was quite green—looking and tasting. It was fine, but I wouldn’t make it again.

  • finebec on May 28, 2017

    We found, as did many on http://leitesculinaria.com/75544/recipes-green-gazpacho.html, that the ingredients had to be blended in several stages. We used an handheld liquidizer and chose to combine all the liquids and add them to the chopped ingredients in our largest mixing bowl After that was liquidized (stopping the machine after 60 second so it took 3-4 goes), we fed in the nuts and leaves, again several goes. It makes an enormous amount, approx. 12 cups. Not as "drama in the mouth" as other recipes of his but very very good

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on July 03, 2017

    Very easy and nice. Our chili was not fierce enough, so we're going to look for another type! Other than that it was very good and refreshing. Oil can be reduced enormously, as mentioned in earlier note.

  • Hiker010 on January 10, 2026

    Thought it was so-so -- not as good as Moosewood carrot gazpacho Maybe try again with a blender? Or try straining? Didn't make croutons -- Added garnish of dressed tomatoes + cukes instead

  • Ganga108 on January 01, 2023

    This soup is fabulous, especially on this hotter than hot day. I added a little lemon juice and left the thin crusts on the bread (didn't make any difference), but they are the only changes I made. I made half a recipe, and needed to add the ingredients gradually to the blender - let them blend down a bit before adding the rest. I suspect with some blenders you'd need to blend it in multiple lots, esp if making the full recipe as others have mentioned. Half the recipe made a full large blender container, and would serve at least 4 people. Also, I think it would make fabulous small "double shots" handed to to people while they are standing around nibbling prior to a meal eg at a BBQ or outdoor lunch.

• Asparagus mimosa

  • Breadcrumbs on May 08, 2011

    p. 182 Another enticing photograph in the book and, some lovely looking asparagus at the market was all it took to convince me to try this recipe. I love eggs and asparagus together and the idea of inviting some capers to the party had me salivating!! This dish comes together fairly quickly. Eggs are hardboiled and grated. Asparagus is boiled to cook then drained, drizzled w olive oil and sprinkled with capers, salt, pepper and the grated eggs. That's it, you're done! I think this would make a lovely starter however tonight I served it as a side dish w some bistecca style grilled steaks. We really enjoyed this dish and would be happy to have it again. A perfect spring dish and, now I’m two for two w this book!! Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/781958#6522075

  • anya_sf on June 26, 2017

    This is a very simple, delicious version of a classic dish. Super quick and easy to make.

  • larad_egqsa2 on May 08, 2026

    Very easy and delicious. I made half the recipe for a light lunch and it was perfect. Would definitely be impressive as a side dish or appetizer.

• Char-grilled asparagus

  • Breadcrumbs on May 30, 2011

    p. 182 - Picked up some lovely fresh-picked asparagus and had to give this recipe a try. I used garlic-infused grapeseed oil from NOTL which was just wonderful. The sweetness of the asparagus worked beautifully with the smoky flavours from the charcoal grill and the subtle tang of the feta and lemon zest took this dish from good to great. A definite winner that we'll happily serve again. YO suggests fresh ricotta as a sub for the feta so will have to give that a try. K had second helpings!! 'Nuff said!

  • MelMM on April 02, 2012

    Very simple and very delicious. Asparagus is delicious on the grill as it is, but the feta adds a nice touch, and the lemon zest really works to bring the dish together into something greater than the sum of its parts. I used grapeseed oil for the initial toss with the asparagus pre-grilling, and olive oil for the final drizzle.

  • L.Nightshade on June 04, 2011

    Mr. Nightshade made me promise to do this one again. We got asparagus at the farmer's market, a lovely feta from the cheesemonger, some lemon zest and olive oil, that's it and you've got a wonderfully flavorful dish. The recipe in the book is overshadowed by the photo of the other asparagus dish.

  • twoyolks on June 26, 2015

    This was basically grilled asparagus with a lemon vinaigrette and some feta. The feta came closer to over powering the asparagus instead of complementing it.

  • joeljkp on June 02, 2025

    Immensely delicious! The grilling takes a bit with a single-burner grill pan, since you need to do it in batches. But this dish doesn't need to be served hot. We used some nice imported Greek feta, which was amazing. Will definitely make this again for a centerpiece asparagus dish.

  • Rutabaga on May 04, 2016

    We all loved this dish. I broiled it rather than grilling, as that was more convenient. I sprinkled smoked Maldon sea salt over the asparagus, and topped it when goat cheese in place of the feta so it wouldn't be too salty. The goat cheese was wonderful - not too overpowering, it created a silky warm sauce for the asparagus.

  • bbbtravels on May 27, 2026

    As was said previously, low effort and high reward. We don't have a griddle pan so just used a regular frying pan which worked well.

  • KCKB on April 29, 2024

    This recipe is a very close cousin to the Grilled Asparagus Salad with Lemon and Feta from Jenn Segal’s “Once Upon A Chef” site. Easy and delicious - low effort, high reward!

  • Ganga108 on December 29, 2022

    This recipe is tucked away at the bottom of a page, and really is quite simple for an Ottolenghi recipe!! It is similar to a recipe I got from my brother a couple of decades ago, plus some feta. I love the bite of the feta with the sweetness of the asparagus (plus it adds protein), but I felt that the lemon wasn't prominent enough. Next time I'll use the feta with my brother's method. Or perhaps add some preserved lemon to the grill plate and serve with the asparagus and feta. Still, I rate it 5/5.

  • Acarroll on December 26, 2021

    The lemon zest really added to the overall dish.

• Asparagus vichyssoise

  • michalow on April 21, 2013

    Samphire is not called for in the US edition of this book.

  • ksg518 on June 05, 2017

    This was a little blander than I expected but I may try it again. I may have had less than the one pound of asparagus the recipe calls for so if I make it again, I'll up the asparagus to over a pound. I used chicken stock instead of vegetable stock. The lemon zest is a must.

  • lholtzman on June 19, 2024

    Nothing earth shattering or new, but enjoyed during a heat wave.

• Mee goreng

  • sam2118 on July 11, 2013

    Very adaptable recipe: Substituted fresh udon for egg noodles, Napa cabbage for bok choy and julienned zucchini for the bean sprouts. There is a fair amount of prep work, but the results are delicious.

  • sharifah on October 15, 2014

    Cilantrolime, I compared this recipe with another mee goreng recipe that I have from another book 'Malaysian Hawker Favourites'. The soy sauce amount looks right, but this recipe should have also included shallots, garlic and shrimp paste for a more authentic taste. He used sambal oelek which usually contains vinegar (this will change the taste), and he used ground coriander and ground cumin which is more Middle-Eastern than Malaysian. My two-pennies worth.... :-)

  • elnicky on January 28, 2019

    Surprised to hear so many found this bland. This has basically become the blueprint for almost every stir-fry I do now. The sweet soy, light soy, sambal oelek, water and spice mix is generally the sauce I use for most stir frys (occasionally adding black garlic, paprika, and other strong smokey flavours). Often use cashews instead of tofu, and crispy onions instead of shallots.

  • ellencooks on November 12, 2018

    Very bland. I’ve never eaten this before so can make no comments about authenticity.

  • clcorbi on February 05, 2018

    We found this to be incredibly bland and not really worth the effort. I even added shrimp paste since I had some, and I know the recipe traditionally uses it. Would definitely not repeat.

  • vfsalom on August 25, 2015

    @sharifah, Plenty is a vegetarian cookbook, hence no shrimp paste.

  • cilantrolime on October 14, 2014

    I found this to be quite bland compared to mee goreng I had in Malaysia. Is there a typo for the amount of soy sauce? It calls for 2 tsp of soy sauce and 2tsp of dark soy sauce. I used 2 tbsp each and didn't find that to be too much.

  • Jardimc on October 26, 2021

    Well, yes bland. Ottolenghi lost me at “lemon wedges to serve”. Yikes. Might have been better to call it “a noodle dish inspired by Malaysian Mee Goreng”. Will not be making this again.

• Soba noodles with wakame

  • meggan on May 15, 2016

    We did not love this. It needed more dressing than the recipe called for.

  • Breadcrumbs on May 31, 2011

    Soba Noodles with Wakame – p. 188 As I looked through the ingredient list for the sauce in this recipe I just knew we would love it and, I was wrong, we loved it!! This is a soba noodle salad w cucumbers, wakame and chopped herbs. It makes a perfect summer meal or side dish and I’m delighted to have some leftover for lunches. The sauce is made by mixing together rice vinegar, lime juice and zest, ginger, chilis, sugar, toasted sesame oil, peanut oil, sweet chili sauce, garlic and salt. Everything is tossed together and topped w the toasted sesame seeds and herbs. YO also suggests radish sprouts however there were none to be had in my neck of the woods. This dish is an explosion of flavours and texture truly a delight. I wasn’t sure how mr bc would feel about the wakame but he loved it. So glad to have discovered this recipe, I’d highly recommend it. Definitely a favourite from the Ottolenghi collection. Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/781958#6576411

  • mbeedles on January 20, 2016

    This is the first Ottolenghi recipe I had tried, but it won't be the last! It was perfect for a spontaneous Sunday lunch, as I had some wakame in the pantry that I needed to use and happened to have the other ingredients on hand, along with fresh herbs from my garden (apart from the radish sprouts). My other family members don't like chilli. So, I substituted the sweet chilli sauce with cranberry sauce and put sliced fresh chillies in my own bowl. Using pure buckwheat soba noodles and rice breadcrumbs I was able to make this gluten free. The dish was light and delicious and worked brilliantly for leftovers the next day.

• Mixed beans with many spices and lovage

  • AOski on August 04, 2012

    Really nice Indian flavor...and easy!

  • MarciK on July 21, 2020

    It’s impossible to find fava beans here, so I used Fordhook lima beans. The lima beans and string beans were frozen because I couldn’t obtain fresh. It still worked out well with the substitutions. This is very good, but I’m looking forward to the leftovers after the spices have more time to blend.

• Green bean salad with mustard seeds and tarragon

  • michalow on January 04, 2013

    mangetout = snow pea

  • mziech on September 01, 2012

    liked the other Ottolenghi recipes I tried better. Strong tastes of lemon zest en coriander seeds, which I thought were too powerful. Tarragon taste was nice though.

  • Jane on May 18, 2011

    Loved this though I must admit to missing out a few ingredients - nigella seeds (didn't have them), red onion (too pushed for time), tarragon (didn't feel like it) and baby chard leaves (which were optional anyway). But the ingredients I did use - French beans, snow peas, green peas, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, garlic, lemon zest made for a really refreshing, tasty vegetable dish. I served this with Quinoa salad on p.245 and the Chicken with sumac, za'atar and lemon on p.122 of Ottolenghi the Cookbook.

  • e_ballad on December 25, 2016

    Loved this. I did substitute spring onions for red onion & used Aleppo pepper instead of red chilli. Packed with flavour & remarkably for an Ottolenghi recipe, not too many steps! The recipe in the book is easier than the weblink as it uses grams rather than cups as its measure (2 cups of green beans??).

  • mharriman on November 20, 2017

    Great way to incorporate three green vegetables in one salad. We liked this but it was made without nigella seeds, without tarragon, without red chile pepper, without chard leaves. The cost would add up if you don’t have all the listed ingredients (14) on hand, and I decided it wasn’t worth it buy all the ingredients for a weeknight salad side dish. It was good with the lemon zest, mustard and coriander seeds, and garlic.

  • Penchantforproduce on November 29, 2014

    Reduced oil by 1 tbsp and omitted nigella seeds. I also softened the red onion in the microwave to reduce its punchiness Otherwise made as directed. My haricot vert were cooked in 2.5 mins. I disliked the tarragon and will sub for cilantro next time, otherwise it was great.

  • DKennedy on May 18, 2018

    Enjoyed this salad at Amy’s house. Though the salad has no astringent agent, the seeds create a refreshing flavorful balanced dressing, flagging so I can make at home. Amy used a TJs power green bag in place of chard. Excellent! Served with a side of French feta.

• Warm glass noodles and edamame beans

  • Breadcrumbs on May 11, 2011

    p. 198 A lovely sweet, salty, spicy, sour noodle salad that was the perfect accompaniment to our grilled Asian chicken. We really enjoyed this dish and I’ll happily recommend it. I was a bit nervous about the acidity in the dressing since the quantity of lime juice far exceeded the quantity of oil so I incorporated the lime juice slowly until the flavours were balanced. All told I likely used 3 limes. We especially enjoyed the salad warm and I’m hoping it will stand up to a quick re-warm for lunches. Very nice indeed

  • Delys77 on February 24, 2012

    Pg 198 I should have read breadcrumbs comments before starting this dish as I was also worried about the amount of acidity from the tamarind and the limes. I ended up cutting the lime back to two but I honestly think that was still a little too much. Overall I liked this dish but I would tweak it by dropping the lime to 1 or 1.5 and then increase all the herbs by about 25%. Finally I would up the soy to 1 tb and add 1 tsp of sesame oil. Might repeat with these changes since it is very healthy, comes together very quickly, and will be very good with the modifications. I also added baked tofu to make this a whole meal.

  • bernalgirl on November 17, 2020

    Excellent interplay of flavors, add lime juice by halves to preserve balance

  • Rutabaga on April 05, 2014

    I was very happy to find this recipe featuring edamame, making it something that can be quickly whipped up primarily with pantry and freezer ingredients. The tamarind sauce is excellent, just adjust the sour, salty, and sweet flavors to taste. The second time I made it, I made the mistake of using this rice stick noodles, which do not cook in a flash like cellophane noodles! Fortunately, I was able to salvage the dish by adding some water to the pan to cook the noodles, which overcooked the edamame.

  • rubytuby on August 23, 2015

    I didn't think this was worth the effort. The sauce was too sour and the flavor just wasn't as good as a lot of Ottolenghi's other dishes. I also made the mistake of buying edamame still in the shell and it took forever to shell them.

  • clcorbi on May 18, 2017

    Add me to the list of those who think this sauce was too sour. My BF made this and used the full 4 lime's worth of juice, and the flavor was WAY too acidic. I would imagine somewhere between 2.5-3 limes would have been more suited to our taste. I also don't think the combo of cellophane noodles and edamame is very successful, since the edamame basically all sank to the bottom of the noodles, and were very hard to mix in. I will say that the noodles mellowed out the next day for leftovers, and tasted better cold. I mixed in some nutritional yeast to try and combat the acidity, which really helped. The fresh herbs are also very nice here.

  • Livia on January 11, 2020

    Agree this did not require that much lime and only used 1. Very difficult dish to nail the flavours.

  • mikkarose on February 09, 2024

    I made the sauce with three limes since that’s all I had and loved it (but we like acidic things!) and also fried some tofu crumbles to make it more filling.

  • Hiker010 on January 10, 2026

    Made Dec 2018 A bit weird -- couldn't quite nail down sauce: 4 tbsp oil 1/2 tsp salt 1 tbsp water 2 tbsp jaggery + 1 tbsp sugar 2 limes

  • chezlarios on April 27, 2026

    Pretty good. I only used half the number of limes after seeing some of the comments here. I do like the tartness of lime so maybe I'd go for 3 next time. I subbed coconut blossom sugar for palm sugar, soy sauce for tamari sauce, dried cilantro and mint for fresh, and tamarind concentrate (diluted) for tamarind paste. Served with some soy nuggets on top.

  • Shaxon on March 18, 2022

    very limey - reduce lime juice and be sure to balance with palm sugar and heat

  • Schooffiecooks on April 01, 2026

    Made it for 2 persons, but 150 gr of noodles wasn't enough and the lime juice was too much.

  • cook_fresco on November 09, 2021

    I wouldn't have found this tasty enough as a meal in one. Instead I served it alongside a shortcut version of Ottolenghi's chicken drumsticks with miso ginger and lime, from Plenty (roasted chicken thighs simply coated in the miso/ginger/lime zest etc. marinade). This gave a delicious sauce which added needed oomph to the noodles. I used four limes for the noodle dressing and as they were very fresh and hard, they gave barely enough lime juice! I guess it's down to personal taste and the fruit you have to hand. Also served the mint and coriander on the side as not everyone likes both.

• Chickpea sauté with Greek yoghurt

  • twoyolks on November 01, 2014

    This was quite good. The Greek yogurt provides a nice richness to complement the chickpeas, carrots, and Swiss chard. This was particularly good wrapped in a whole wheat pita with the yogurt spread throughout it.

  • Delys77 on February 04, 2012

    Very healthy and nutritious with good colour and texture. Flavour wise I added much more lemon to the dish and the yogurt and it pepped it up nicely. Overall a nice veggie dish with good protein from the legumes.

  • Melanie on July 14, 2014

    I was pleasantly surprised by this - tasted good reheated for work lunch, paired with yoghurt & sumac. I roughly doubled the recipe, although think used closer to triple the quantity of chickpeas (used tinned). Very good, will make again.

  • imaluckyducky on October 21, 2014

    5 stars! Holy cow this is good. Carrots offer a nice sweetness to the nuttiness of the chickpeas, the tang of the yogurt, and the body provided by the olive oil. Doubled the garlic and added half a TBs more of cilantro and mint. Will make a double batch next time, as it holds well for lunch the next day. Longest part of the recipe was separating the stalks from the leaves, but I got this all done in under 40 minutes.

  • Rutabaga on February 03, 2015

    I made this for the second time, but with a few changes based on what I already had at home. This meant using rainbow chard, pinto beans instead of chickpeas, lemon pepper instead of caraway, and no mint, but extra cilantro and a little arugula. Still, I think it was true to the spirit of the original, very bright and fresh. Yogurt with olive oil is the perfect topping, making the dish richer and more filling as a main course.

  • rglo820 on January 12, 2018

    The yogurt makes it. I sometimes shy away from chard since it can be kind of fussy to prep if it needs to be thinly sliced, but I appreciated blanching it whole and then just coarsely chopping it. A fried egg is a nice addition as well.

  • TrishaCP on June 04, 2020

    We enjoyed the taste of this, but it needed a lot more lemon juice to really make the flavors sing (at least double). I used a combination of baby greens (chard, spinach, and kale) so I skipped the blanching step.

  • Laura on November 19, 2020

    I chose this recipe because I had some chard that needed to be cooked and I'm glad I did. This makes for a very colorful and tasty side dish or light main course. I first served it over quinoa and found that I didn't care for it because the quinoa made it seem dry. The second time I didn't use quinoa or any other grain and served it on its own and I liked it much better. I significantly increased the amounts of mint and cilantro and I'd do that again because the mint really makes this dish. The one thing I'd do differently is to boil the chard stems, but saute the leaves. After boiling there was hardly anything left of the leaves.

  • ksg518 on September 26, 2016

    This is wonderful. Like many Ottolenghi recipes, the ingredient list seems odd but it all somehow comes together in the end. I love the addition of caraway, which gives the final product a heartier taste than it might have otherwise.

  • katiesue28 on November 29, 2023

    This was a very good, quick, and healthy dinner! I added some garlic powder, coriander, and oregano at the end for extra flavor. Served with pita bread and some harissa for spice. This would be a great way to clean out the fridge. I threw in some shitakes that were about to go bad and it worked perfectly.

  • StoicLoofah on November 18, 2018

    Tasty. The flavor is good, but the real win is how simple the meal is, especially compared to some other Ottolenghi adventures

  • anya_sf on May 31, 2020

    This was perfectly fine, but not super exciting. It was quick and easy to prepare and made a nice side dish with grilled sausages.

  • stephcoelho on June 21, 2020

    Ultra-easy and really delicious.

  • lholtzman on December 03, 2024

    Delicious and very easy. I used combination baby spinach and arugula because I’m not a huge fan of Swiss chard.

  • ALawson25 on January 08, 2025

    Nice and healthy but lacking in flavour a bit

  • MissKoo on May 23, 2020

    Really perfect for these Covid-19 days of staying home. Makes a filling and tasty meal with relatively little prep work, and leftovers work well for lunch. The flavors all come together beautifully. Used artisanal lemon-infused olive oil with the yogurt to enhance citrus flavor. Definitely a keeper.

  • KNivia on March 07, 2026

    Genius recipe! I would never put all this in one dish. But it works beautifully! My husband thought it would be better with some coriander and cumin…next time I will add this. But this is a great vegetable side for the week!

• Fried butterbeans with feta, sorrel and sumac

  • TrishaCP on June 04, 2016

    This is one of the those special Ottolenghi recipes where the flavors are just so interesting and almost unexpected. Many sour ingredients are included (lemon juice, sumac, sorrel), but they are all just balanced out so well with the other flavors in the dish. My beans (judiones) didn't really brown, likely because I didn't add the butter. I only had cilantro available so used that as my herb component- but I can only imagine how fantastic this would be with more of the herbs- especially dill.

  • L.Nightshade on May 22, 2011

    Limas in the US edition. I had some limas in the freezer left over from a Persian recipe that required them. So I didn't go the soaking and boiling route, just used the frozen. After the beans are cooked they are lightly fried in oil and butter. Near the end of cooking, garlic, green onions (I used purple spring onions), chopped red chiles, and sorrel strips are added and sauteed briefly. The mixture is seasoned with salt. Before serving they are topped with lemon juice, feta, sumac, sorrel chiffonade, and other fresh herbs (I just used chervil). Olive oil is drizzled over. The flavors here are so interesting. The sumac and sorrel combination brings a lot to the dish, the dash of lemon juice brings everything out. I loved this dish. And, truth be told, I don't even like lima beans!

  • jessekl on February 29, 2012

    Made this with black-eyed peas and it was fantastic.

  • pattyatbryce on July 07, 2025

    Very nice dish to use some gifted sorrel which isn't readily available here. Very lemon forward. I'd likely start with half of the sumac and then add. A lot of pucker factor in the ingredients. I used frozen limas and they cooked quickly making for a fast dish. Watch the cuts on the sorrel and green onion. As written, I ended up with some long, stringy pieces. I'd chop much more finely.

  • clkandel on February 04, 2013

    Love this dish. It's one of the first things I make in the spring when my sorrel and herbs come up. I've used beet greens when I didn't have sorrel and thought it was great too.

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    will use a bit less feta next time

• Celeriac and lentils with hazelnut and mint

  • RosieB on July 23, 2011

    Yes, I made it too. It was a great combination and not too challenging. A great addition to our vegetarian favourites.

  • Fiona on August 14, 2013

    This is delicious - I haven't used celeriac much before, now this recipe has become one of my favorite ways to serve lentils. Usually serve with small piece of hot-smoked salmon.

  • lizwinn on December 24, 2010

    This was fabulous. Fussy to make, yes, but worth every bit of effort. Got rave reviews by our friends and family. Very "meaty" and substantial, though vegan.

  • Margaretsmall on August 27, 2013

    I agree, very good. Made a few modifications, not because I thought I could improve it, just what I had on hand. A leek was lurking in the fridge so I softened it in a little oil before adding the lentils. No hazelnuts, so I used almonds. In deference to my waistline I omitted the hazelnut oil (which is not to be had in my supermarket anyway) and finally stirred some rocket through to add a bit of green. But Yotam must take credit for this, which I'll definitely make again.

  • lorloff on March 20, 2018

    Excellent way to serve lentils. The celeriac is perfect with it and the hazelnuts and hazelnut oil is brilliant. We served it with poached salmon at a dinner party and it was a real hit. We cooked the celeriac in lemon water to keep it from turning brown and it added to the taste.

  • dinnermints on June 13, 2017

    Good. I cut the olive oil out entirely, and used some rutabaga in addition to the celery root.

  • innerharbors on June 26, 2025

    This is one of my fave ways to use celeriac. Not the best looking dish until the final dressing of chopped mint and nuts go on. This is a great veg meal served over lettuce with a little feta or pecorino shaved on top.

• Chickpea, tomato and bread soup

  • AOski on August 04, 2012

    Pretty good. I added the fennel fronds with the other spices.... Why let them go to waste!? I puréed a bit of the soup to make it even stewy-er...

  • Franci on November 03, 2011

    Not bad. My mom really enjoyed it, I thought it was ok. Used one celery stalk and some celeriac, less wine, cooking water from the chickpeas instead of veg. stock. No pesto.

  • bwhip on March 06, 2020

    Wonderful, hearty soup, with excellent depth of flavor for something that comes together in about an hour. The pesto really takes it to another level.

  • etcjm on September 23, 2018

    Really enjoy this recipe. Cooked a few times. I don't add bread so it does tend to be on the watery side, but it has so much flavour. Makes a lot and I think it seems to lose a bit of the vibrancy when you freeze so would it be good to feed a few people cooked ahead. Think I might half the recipe next time.

  • lholtzman on March 27, 2026

    I like this version of the ribollita, but I prefer a version with kale in it. My 8 year old LOVED this soup and happily ate it for dinner 4 nights in a row.

  • mcvl on January 17, 2023

    Simplified slightly because I didn't have all the ingredients called for, very good even though thus pared down.

  • twoyolks on January 18, 2017

    This was nice but it wasn't particularly special. It tasted similar to any other rustic, Italian-ish vegetable stew.

  • Cheri on December 18, 2021

    We loved this. Pesto is nice, but not necessary. Add some great bread and cheese on the side, finish with sliced pear. Lovely. Very warming and satisfying. Recommended

  • Vegan.mum on August 28, 2013

    Delicious! We love this soup & it's quick and easy to throw together.

  • Rutabaga on April 09, 2014

    It's easy, it can be made in advance, and it's fun to eat things with pesto. This soup is great to throw together for a simple family supper. I like the idea of pureeing some of it, so may try that next time.

  • korkyporky on March 14, 2025

    This was pretty good, nothing too special. The basil pesto at the end was nice touch though!

  • Ishie1013 on April 14, 2022

    My first Ottolenghi recipe and quite nice, though a little mushy from the bread. Nice flavor and not too complicated for a complex flavor profile. Will keep it in the mix.

  • MokumChefs on April 07, 2026

    A go-to recipe of our family, which we also often make for guests. We use good sourdough bread baked crunchy. And I use white wine vinegar instead of wine.

  • kathryn_a27piv on January 25, 2026

    I used bread crumbs instead of sourdough and added a sweet potato i needed to use up. Was really nummy!

• Castelluccio lentils with tomatoes and Gorgonzola

  • lilham on January 12, 2014

    I used puy lentils for this which is a suggested substitute. I also used parsley instead of chervil. This dish took a bit of planning ahead because the tomatoes need to be slow cooked for 1.5 hours and the lentils for about 20min. Otherwise it is a fairly hands off dish. The resulting salad is delicious. Definitely worth making.

  • jenmacgregor18 on March 09, 2023

    I just didn't have the time to make the slow-cooked tomatoes. This is still a good salad, even with fresh tomatoes. I used a somewhat mild blue cheese and it worked well. I can see that feta would be good though too. I'm wondering for future if I could cheat and use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil.

  • Aggie92 on December 25, 2019

    I also used Puy lentils. This is such a delicious salad. Can be served as a vegetarian main or a hearty side dish. I made a couple of minor substitutions, and used sherry vinegar instead red wine vinegar and parsley for the chervil.

  • Hellyloves2cook on April 29, 2013

    Pg 222 Just a few little components to make up prior to assembly of this delicious salad. Easy to make. I didn't get all the herbs. Dill not around so just used parsley and chives. Packed with flavour and a definite repeat.

  • lholtzman on April 19, 2025

    I found this under seasoned and watery. I could not find Castelluccio Lentils so had to use Puy. Perhaps I should have drained longer, but the recipe says to add to onions while still warm. I loved the addition of Gorgonzola cheese though. It compliments the dish very well.

  • cilantrolime on February 12, 2026

    Easy and tasty. I used Brie instead of Gorgonzola as I saw on some blog. I think Gorgonzola would have been better though.

  • Ganga108 on August 21, 2021

    This is another Ottolenghi classic. It is a relatively simple dish, and adapts easily to some precooking. The tomatoes can be roasted beforehand, for example. You can precook the lentils and onions too, and leave assembly to just before serving. I have used Puy lentils and feta rather than gorgonzola. The gorgonzola here overpowers the salad. The salad is wonderful! We made it first for Summer get-togethers in 2015 and 2016.

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    favorite go-to recipe with unique flavours and easy to make. also with BBQ

  • treay on November 26, 2024

    Sooo yummy ??.

• Socca

  • Astrid5555 on September 06, 2012

    Delicious topping but not sure about the dough base. Maybe my chickpea flour was rancid or I'm just not into it. However, I will definitely use the onion-tomato topping for a regular pizza again.

  • TrishaCP on June 27, 2013

    This is a delicious combination, with the earthiness of the chickpea flour pancakes, the sweetness of the cooked onions and the tang from the cherry tomatoes. I also like how all of the components to this dish can be cooked ahead of time, with assembly right before serving.

  • FJT on November 19, 2012

    Lovely recipe - naturally gluten-free and so easy to make. The chickpea flour taste may not be to everyone's liking ... but the more topping you have, the easier it is to disguise this! I like to add goat's cheese.

  • eliza on April 16, 2025

    Nice combination of flavours. I made my own socca recipe, but followed the recipe for the toppings. Made a good lunch that we enjoyed topped with a little cheese.

• Avocado, quinoa and broad bean salad

  • mziech on May 28, 2012

    Delicious fresh salad. Crispy. Ingredients combine well.

  • soleilune on June 02, 2012

    Pretty tasty! Great way to use up the fava beans from your CSA box. Cut the recipe in half and it scales well for two people for lunch.

  • vinochic on July 29, 2014

    a bit garlicky but very good.

  • Astrid5555 on August 02, 2018

    Delicious! Used edamame instead of fava beans, since I could not find them anywhere. Loved the radishes and lemon segments in this salad. I followed Rutabaga’s note and used Aleppo pepper to make it more kid-friendly and made everything ahead except for the avocados, which I added just bevore serving.

  • evergreengirl on February 15, 2019

    Delicious! Made this a few times - originally as written, now it's just a base recipe. Last night, made it winter- and kid-friendly with only 1 garlic clove, frozen shelled edamame (microwaved 1 min) instead of favas, chunked the avocado, skipped the radishes, and just juiced the lemon. On the side: Urfa or Aleppo pepper, minced parsley instead of the cress.

  • Rutabaga on June 12, 2016

    This is a tasty vegan salad - I didn't even miss the cheese. For the chile flakes, I used a couple teaspoons of Aleppo pepper. I made the salad a few hours ahead of time, but waited until just before serving to add the avocado and greens.

  • tekobo on June 26, 2016

    June 16 Maybe reduce the amount of oil. Tasty and peppery with the radishes

  • Hannaha100 on May 25, 2017

    This is exactly my kind of salad. Worst part is shelling the broad beans. Didn't quite have the right ingredients so used cucumber for radishes and spinach for cress (no garlic). Feel like a bit of a dope for not realising you could segment lemons like oranges... Will definitely make this again.

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    fresh salad for the summer, added some basil

• Coconut rice with sambal and okra

  • mziech on March 31, 2012

    Delicious, ate this as a light supper (is actually a breakfast dish). Added some tomatoes to the sambal. Takes less than 30 minutes to make.

  • lorloff on August 16, 2014

    Absolutely fantastic. Be careful with the fresh peppers. Taste so that the dish does not get too spicy. My husband and I love spice and nothing was too hot for us on Bangkok. We tasted the fresh red peppers and only used 3. The dried peppers we used were medium hot dried pasilla peppers. They rate 3-4 on Mark Millers chili poster chart. I also had fresh poblano peppers from the farmers market that I cut into about the same size as the okra and added to the end of the sauce cooking process so that they were just cooked when I added the okra at the end. I also added about 3-4 tablespoons of the tamarind soaked pulp sand used fresh tamarind that I found at the market. I took fresh tamarind, peeled 4.5 oz. took out the hard stings soaked the pulp and seeds in water for an hour. Put the water pulp and seeds In a food mill. I then removed the hard seeds by hand and ended up with a thick tamarind pulp. I found the technique for the tamarind in Fine Cooking and it's available online.

  • lorloff on August 16, 2014

    I also cooked the coconut rice in the rice cooker

  • lilham on May 16, 2012

    I have made this plenty of times with courgette, as okra is a little hard to come by where I live. I would imagine you can use green beans too. I cook the coconut rice in a rice cooker, making this a very simple weeknight supper. Served it with simply grilled chicken or fish, drizzle with plenty of sambal from this recipe.

  • Yildiz100 on February 21, 2025

    Made this sambal again as a condiment to another dish and now I think it is too sweet.

  • Yildiz100 on January 21, 2019

    Made the sambal, subbing in green beans for the okra, which is very hard to get in my part of the world. I approximated the coconut rice by adding a bit of coconut milk to leftover rice I already had on hand. For the shallots, I used the recipe from Vegetarian Viet Nam since the book does not provide a recipe. This dish is so extremely delicious that I am disappointed I didn't make a double batch to have some extra sambal on hand. The larger amount would have been easier to blend too. Will repeat as soon as I can!

  • Ganga108 on August 21, 2021

    Magnificent! I like this variation on typical okra recipes. The okra is simmered for a few moments only and then served mixed with the chilli-onion sambal on coconut rice. Use the freshest and best quality okra, because it is cooked so briefly. Don’t omit the crispy fried shallots (available from Indian and Asian grocers) or the coriander. They add some texture and flavour to the dish that is essential to the overall impact.

• Lemon and aubergine risotto

  • SWS on December 11, 2013

    This dish didn't come together until right at the end but turned out utterly delicious. Quantities are not over generous.

  • Beckiemas on April 09, 2017

    Love this - so full of flavour. Two of us finished it off for dinner. Charring the eggplant on the stove was fiddly, but we had a beautiful smoky flavour in the risotto.

  • rubytuby on August 23, 2015

    This is so full of amazing flavor. It's a great spring or early summer meal and easy to put together once you get the hang of burning the eggplant, which is absolutely delicious.

  • ksg518 on August 27, 2015

    This is amazing. Agree with previous review that grilling or roasting the eggplant is the better approach. Using my gas burner worked but created a big mess. I also agree the quantities are not overly generous. Three of us devoured the entire recipe so I think it would only work for four as a side dish. My cubed eggplant didn't get crisp, perhaps because my pan was too crowded. Nonetheless, this will get made again and again.

  • snarkattack on April 15, 2015

    The aubergine prep is the hardest and fiddliest bit, so make sure you set aside a lot of time for it - will try again but grill/roast aubergine rather than charring it over gas burner.

  • FJT on October 02, 2018

    Lovely, fresh flavours. I prepared the aubergine under the grill in the oven and it worked just fine. Not my favourite risotto recipe, but it's well worth making again.

  • rodillagra on November 22, 2020

    This was lovely. Agree with everyone else that it is easier to stick the aubergine under the grill. Also the portion sizes didn't look huge but with a side salad it turned out to be just enough. I can't quite decide if that is because we are used to overeating or if risotto is just very filling.

  • shane.metzke on September 19, 2022

    I briefly charred a zucchini on the burner then diced it and added at the last minute (still firm) as we don’t like aubergine. Also added peas. 200gm is enough for two.

• Farro and roasted pepper salad

  • TrishaCP on July 29, 2015

    Really flavorful salad. I was a bit stingy on the honey (probably about half of what was called for), and the combination with the red peppers and smoked paprika was just perfectly intriguing. I used farro, and it either didn't absorb the dressing very well or there is too much dressing in the recipe, because I left behind quite a bit of liquid after spooning it out. I recommend adding the dressing to taste.

  • Delys77 on February 10, 2016

    I had intended this to be my first attempt at farro but I was home a bit late so I had to modify the recipe. I added 2 cups cooked short grain brown rice that I had left over and used jarred roasted peppers. The rice worked very well and the peppers were adequate. I didn't find it too sweet but that is likely due to the slightly bitter roasted peppers. I also decided I wanted to make it a bit more substantial so I added about 3 cups of arugula that I chopped. I know I made many modifications but we loved this salad and I'm sure we would also have loved it in its original form.

  • ComeUndone on September 01, 2010

    Quite good. Big flavours and keeps well. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wscwong/4766208268/

  • Jane on January 01, 2013

    I made this with orzo since I didn't have any farro. It was great and I think you could use the recipe for just about any grain/pasta. The dressing is quite sweet from the honey but it works well with the peppers, olives, onions and feta. I will definitely make this again.

  • mindyb on October 04, 2019

    Made this for RH with some variations. Omitted the feta and added sauteed mushrooms as the dish needed to be dairy-free, used a mix of nice green and black olives, made the farro in the IP with a sauteed onion, some garlic and broth- it was a little creamier than I was hoping but added some flavor to the farro. I roasted the peppers the night before in the oven and made the dressing the night before. I thought the final product was delicious, made great leftovers, and I would definitely make again.

  • okcook on September 07, 2023

    I made this according to the directions except made the dressing first and dumped the drained hot farro into the dressing hoping it would get absorbed better than some have experienced and it worked well…almost all absorbed. I added 2 or 3 tablespoons chopped parsley and sprinkled some toasted pumpkin seeds on top for crunch as suggested. I thought the dressing was going to be too lemony but it was a good counter balance to the salty feta. I will make this again. My only complaint is I had to water-pick my teeth after eating!

  • meggan on November 27, 2020

    I made this with barley and it was surprisingly good. Usually I find grain salads a little boring but not this one.

  • michalow on July 04, 2022

    I didn't love this as much as others. I found the smoked paprika a bit overwhelming. Also needed a bit of crunch -- maybe some toasted nuts or celery.

  • k.a.g on June 22, 2013

    This was the first time I have used farro, and I really enjoyed it. I found the salad a bit sweet as well (will probably omit the honey next time), which I think was because of the sweetness of my red peppers, but overall I thought the combination of flavours was intriguing - another one of those Ottolenghi dishes where you think, just anther little bite won't hurt...!

  • Rutabaga on March 13, 2016

    Last time I made this, I believe I used an alternate grain instead of farro. This time, I had farro on hand, so used it, but did find that, as TrishaCP noted, it didn't absorb the dressing as well as I had hoped. I cooked the farro for just 30 minutes, and it probably needed more time, as it was a little more toothsome than I'd prefer. Other than that, this is a wonderful salad with a great blend of strong flavors, and pretty straighforward to make. I simplify things by roasting my peppers under the broiler (much faster than the half hour Ottolnghi suggests is necessary for charring them on the stove) and whisking the dressing together directly in the salad before before adding the other ingredients.

  • KarinaFrancis on August 31, 2019

    Loved this salad, it was perfect alongside some slow roasted lamb. Would make again and add more herbs

  • Nossovitzky on August 25, 2025

    This was just fine - I used jarred red capsicums and maybe making my own would be better. Definitely needs some crunch. Used freekeh instead of farro as that's what I had on hand and dumped it hot into the dressing and it absorbed it well.

  • LizzieLozza on July 08, 2017

    Second attempt - Added three roasted and cubed sweet potatoes. Used bought roasted red peppers and aubergines from jars in Lidl. Then added mixture of dill, basil and mint. Used same amount of dressing but with half the lemon. Nice for weekend lunch with meats, cheese, bread etc. Served with Anna Jones beetroot and walnut dip.

  • raybun on June 12, 2017

    Very tasty, made with pearl barley and I added some fresh corn and arugula. I loved the smoked paprika & honey dressing.

  • anya_sf on August 18, 2025

    I used this as a base recipe for a main dish salad/fridge cleanout. I used jarred roasted red peppers, doubled the farro, used blue cheese instead of feta, and added some salad greens, cooked chicken, bacon, and green beans. There was enough dressing for everything and the flavors went well together. I could see adding something crunchy like nuts or seeds.

  • dogo on January 06, 2025

    NIce salad. A little too much feta, use less or increase the amount of farro. Also cut down the honey, otherwise the salad becomes overly sweet.

  • tsp on October 05, 2023

    Made it with a tin of precooked farro and it was delicious. The dressing felt a bit too lemony, I’d use less juice next time.

  • heidi_ijgwa2 on May 31, 2026

    Used jarred roasted red peppers, which definitely needed to drain longer than I did. (Fresh roasted red pepper, which the recipe calls for would be better—but I didn’t have time.) Used cured black olives, which were really good. Was terrific leftover and combined with greens on a salad for lunch the next day.

  • mic_cherry on August 17, 2025

    Really liked this. Added chickpeas along with the farro and used goat cheese instead of feta. It would maybe benefit from additions of arugula and roasted pine nuts.. The smoked paprika is a wonderful addition, makes it taste very savory!

• Steamed rice with herbs (or, actually, herbs with rice)

  • HazukaPie on April 11, 2016

    My feeling is that you could substitute other herbs, even spinach, and certainly don't need ALL of the herbs call for (10 cups of herbs: 1.5 cups of rice!). But I did use the proportions in the recipe and it was indeed delicious. The cooking method was very interesting.

  • eggplantolive on May 24, 2022

    Reduced the recipe slightly, 1 cup rice and thus reduced recipe to 0.8, keeping proportions the same. So I did use the full 8 cups of herbs for 4 servings. It was absolutely delicious and not at all too grassy/herby. I have plenty (too much) of cilantro and parsley growing, and not enough dill, so ended up increasing the parsley amount to fill in for the dill. Neither the cilantro nor the parsley came through as overwhelming the flavors. It was delicious and I'll be making again, and likely soon! Otherwise, I did not add the yogurt sauce or other sauces. It was perfect as a rice + veg side dish.

  • Nancith on April 10, 2019

    This was quite delicious--the rather involved cooking method produced tender, individual grains. I did not have nearly enough herbs as called for, probably only a third of the cilantro, & half the dill, 3/4 of parsley, but I liked it as is. The herbs sort of meld together into a savory earthy flavor--the yogurt sauce adds a nice creamy element. This was a great main for me, & side for my meat eater.

  • Rutabaga on May 04, 2014

    I really enjoyed this dish, but it was not my husband's favorite - too "grassy" in his opinion. Yes, you need to be a big herb fan - specifically of dill, parsley, and most of all cilantro - if you want to make this dish as written. Even with four bunches of cilantro, stems and all, I still didn't have the full finely chopped six cups called for in the recipe. Fortunately it's easier to buy large bunches of parsley and dill around here, so I only needed one bunch of each for the requisite two cups per herb. Since I don't have a food processor, prepping the all these herbs was a real labor of love. Following the technique outlined in the recipe, the rice turned out perfectly done, and the potato crust on the bottom was excellent (I used a Yukon gold). I would definitely make it again, but with far fewer herbs, in hopes that my husband could then appreciate it as much as I.

  • elysedc on June 17, 2022

    A pain in the butt to clean and strip all those herbs, but so delicious. This is a special occasion dish, for sure.

• Yoghurt flatbreads with barley and mushrooms

  • jaxstar84 on October 30, 2012

    These will be my go to flatbreads from now on! Soft with a great flavour, they're not as plain as other flatbreads, and with the mushrooms on top, it's amazing. I love this recipe. So simple but SO delicious. I used brown rice instead and it was great.

  • eliza on January 12, 2016

    I only made the flatbreads, added zata'ar spice blend, and rolled them as thin as possible. They were pretty good.

  • okcook on January 08, 2014

    Just made the mushroom/barley mixture. Wonderful. So earthy and I can totally see using another grain. I did toast my barley before cooking for some added richness. It would make a great side for all kinds of meats/salads. It reheats really well too.

  • ironsteph on September 11, 2012

    I have not made the barley and mushroom part, but the whole wheat yogurt flatbreads (made with greek yogurt) have become a staple for me: they are easy, delicious, and go with many other things. Fresh bread always makes a meal better.

  • annapanna on March 10, 2013

    I thought the flatbreads turned out a bit dry, maybe I made them too thick? The mushroom-barley mixture was quite nice. I had some leftovers the next day and I thought it tasted even better then.

  • k.a.g on June 02, 2013

    In response to Donnakay - my edition says to roll the flatbreads out to 2mm (more like 1/16 of an inch!).

  • Donnakay on December 29, 2012

    The recipe says to roll the discs out to 1" thick. That can't possibly be right. 1/8" thick is more like it.

  • StoicLoofah on February 26, 2018

    Definitely roll the flatbreads out a lot more than 1 inch. I think rolling it out to at least a 9 inch diameter and maybe more depending on your preference. if you don't use clarified butter, lean more heavy on the vegetable oil than butter or else it will get very dark.

  • Ganga108 on August 21, 2021

    Pretty. Jolly. Good. Used black barley and pearl mushroom with shiitake mushrooms.

• Barley and pomegranate salad

  • mummybunny2005 on July 24, 2013

    I really liked this. Might do a little less vinegar next time as the smell was a little overpowering but otherwise it's great.

  • mharriman on January 11, 2019

    My husband and I loved this unusual salad! We liked the juxtaposition of the cooked barley with the crunch of the pomegranates and celery. I made it to accompany a roasted salmon and asparagus dish, and it went really well with that. This is also visually beautiful and would make a pretty addition ( green and red) to a Christmas buffet.

  • annapanna on March 22, 2013

    This was one of the prettiest salads I have ever made, but taste was just ok. A bit too crunchy. I am not sure I will make it again

  • mgwalter on April 14, 2014

    Thought it was rather boring. Don't think I'll be making it a second time, but it sure was easy to make.

  • Hiker010 on January 11, 2026

    Made Dec 2018 -- good

  • heidi_ijgwa2 on May 31, 2026

    Makes a LOT. Tasty, but not sure I’d make it again.

• Kisir

  • michalow on December 31, 2012

    The sweet of the onions, the heat of the chiles, and the tang of the pomegranate make it really, really hard to stop eating this. Love it atop some crisp salad greens.

  • smtucker on January 02, 2014

    Loved this! Used tomato paste to sub for the purée. 400 grams of bulghar serves at least 8, not the four listed on the recipe page. Served in Boston lettuce cups. NYEve 2013.

  • annapanna on April 07, 2013

    Lovely. I put one clove of garlic instead of two, and as usual I needed twice the water for the bulgur to become tender. I couldn't find pomegranate molasses anywhere I'll have to try online. I wonder whether the taste changes much when they are added? Anyway, it's still really good even without it.

  • IndyGirl on October 12, 2018

    Made Oct 2018. Tasty—would make again. Personally, I would cut back onions to 2/3 amount. I didn’t have pomegranate molasses, so used 1 teaspoon of tamarind and 1/2 teaspoon of agave. Other recipes use a Turkish pepper paste instead of tomato paste. It would be interesting to use the Turkish pepper paste if I can find it. I didn’t have pomegranate, but am sure it would be even tastier with pomegranate.

  • heidi_ijgwa2 on May 08, 2026

    Made for cookbook club. Good, though not sure how much I like this grain. Happy to have tried.

  • Hiker010 on January 10, 2026

    Good! Used 4 fairly large Lands Sake tomatoes -- maybe too much? (Not too tomatoey, but adds liquid / dilutes spices) (if use same amount tomato, can spice a bit more aggressively next time) Maybe use less liquid next time? A bit messy Could use more salt (prob used 1 - 1.5 tsp kosher salt) Used 4.4 oz container pomegranate -- could use whole Makes a lot! (2+ x meal for 3)

• Purple sprouting broccoli with rice noodles

  • Rutabaga on April 26, 2016

    Personally, I was underwhelmed with this dish. The sauce is good, but the rice noodles were bland and gummy, even with the sauce. I realize this isn't really the fault of the recipe - it may just be the particular noodles I chose (1/2 inch wide ribbon noodles from a frozen packet) - but I think this dish would work better with rice. I would also chop the sprouting broccoli into bite size pieces prior to cooking. Chopped peanuts are a good addition to give the dish a little protein, too.

• Quinoa and grilled sourdough salad

  • janeths on August 03, 2014

    Really like this. We have a glut of cucumbers in the garden this year so think we'll be eating it again soon!

  • Lepa on August 30, 2017

    I make this once every summer and always enjoy it. The really standout part of this salad is the toasted bread, which is oiled and salted before toasting. This step makes the salad extra tasty!

  • elysedc on June 17, 2022

    this is a summer favorite in our house. agree with Lepa - the bread is the star here!

• Caramelized endive with Gruyére

  • cgal on December 26, 2014

    Replace the Gruyère by taleggio or camembert

  • chezlarios on March 25, 2025

    Not a huge fan of Belgian endives, but I guess this is as good a way as any to eat them!

• Broad bean burgers

  • finebec on May 10, 2017

    In US, Sadaf frozen broad beans aka favas are already peeled, a great time saver, and are very flavorful. I encourage use of this recipe if you can avoid the peeling process. These are the tweaks I will try next time to get a better texture: a. mash the potatoes when hot and soft, on their own b. blitz the broad beans in a food processor to get a smoother texture, but holding back some beans for hand crushing c. make smaller patties to get more in pan at once, using largest possible pan d. drain on paper towel. uncharacteristically, YO does not give any instructions for type of pan. I used a cast iron and found it worked well. as he does not present an image of it, would love to see someone's photo of it.

  • mondraussie on March 06, 2021

    Nothing exceptional, wouldn't bother again..

  • GC62 on October 16, 2023

    Served this with the recommended sauce (sweet potato cake sauce). Very good combination.

  • Ganga108 on August 21, 2021

    Wonderful! I make an egg-free version by using a mixture of chickpea flour, cream and a little eno. I served with the condiment for the Sweet Potato Cakes on P32, a great accompaniment. I love the rough mash texture of the broad beans.

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    delicious! i did not take the skin of the beans. sauce on page 32 (sweet pototoe patties). if desired add some lardons. serve with green salad

• Gado-gado

  • luluf on August 03, 2020

    This was lovely as cooked by my son. The peanut sauce is double what is needed although we did eat a third of the dish each. Next time I would maybe shred the cabbage or cut smaller and fry and then slice the tofu. A very filling vegetarian dinner

  • ALawson25 on March 07, 2021

    Fried and sliced the tofu, followed the rest as in the recipe. Not sure if it was the sambal olek that we bought but this was waaaaaay too hot for me. Almost inedible! I thought Jamie Oliver’s version is easier and actually tastes a bit more like I remember it in Bali.

  • pengdonna on February 14, 2024

    The warm and slightly cooked texture unexpectedly blend all ingredients together more then I expected

• Hot yogurt and broad bean soup

  • VineTomato on June 10, 2017

    I cooked this many years ago and remember it being terrible. Now looking at the receipe again it looks delicious. Maybe I didn't shell the broad beans. Do I dare try it again?

• Puy lentil galettes

  • Donnakay on March 28, 2013

    I used the puff pastry cups (all they had that day) which were very quick, but didn't hold as much. Delicious!

  • myriaderf on August 23, 2020

    I LOVE this recipe! I've made it once with the puff pastry element, and many times as just a lentil salad without the pastry. There is an error in the metric conversion for the pastry thickness—it should be rolled very thin (1/8-inch or so) before baking, NOT more than an inch thick!

  • ellwell on January 15, 2026

    W did not want the calories of puff pastry so we used a corn tortilla-taco style. It was very good! I will do this again..

• Green lentils, asparagus and watercress

  • snarkattack on June 10, 2015

    First time attempted substituted asparagus for broccolini, parsley for sage (probably best to use more astringent herb as parsley substitute?). Rather than using food processor, just chopped 'pesto' ingredients as finely as possible.

  • eszpee on May 14, 2022

    Used rocket instead of watercress, very good balance of flavors.

  • RogerP on May 01, 2025

    Good. Rocket is a good substitute, but Parmesan is not in my opinion.

  • clkandel on May 05, 2022

    Thought this dish was good, but not as flavorful as many of his other dishes. I'd say the taste was a little bland. Not bad, just not wow.

  • stacylynnwinnie on March 06, 2025

    Made this tonight and my husband and I loved it. I made it per the recipe with a few exceptions. I added a tad bit more red wine vinegar because I thought it needed a bit more acidity even though there is a squeeze of lemon per serving. The asparagus at our market was thick so I used a vegetable peeler on the stalk and cut off the woody end, I'm not a fan of breaking the end off. I used a 3 month Rocinante Manchego which complemented the dish well. I roasted large chunks of Kabocha squash tossed in olive oil, Diamond Krystal, and superfine sugar. I spread them out on the sheet pan face up and sprinkled with brown sugar. They were equally delicious with a finish of the walnut oil drizzle used for the lentils. It was the perfect dinner combo.

  • Ganga108 on August 21, 2021

    Superb! I have also substituted rocket for the watercress on occasion. This salad really is terrific, mixing hot green lentils with parmesan and asparagus with a dressing made from watercress and parsley. In many ways, this dish is about the parmesan rather than the lentils, dressing or asparagus. That yeasty, earthy umami flavour with the lentils and dressing as a base will have you coming back for more and more. The asparagus offers a delightful crunch.

• Spiced red lentils with cucumber yogurt

  • JLDuck on October 09, 2020

    Absolutely delicious. A fabulous dahl. A long list of ingredients but not difficult to make. I cut down the amount of butter.

  • christineakiyoshi on November 28, 2025

    Fantastic and full of flavor. May want to double the recipe because it is a small batch. We used vegan yogurt with this. 5 stars.

  • Bloominanglophile on January 26, 2016

    This was delicious even without the curry leaves (hope to locate some eventually). I also didn't have fenugreek and couldn't bring myself to use 1/3 cup of butter in a dish serving 2-4 people. I'm sure it would be luscious with that amount instead of the 2 TBPS I used! I served this with Indian-spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes and naan.

  • wcassity on January 04, 2019

    This was amazing - we all loved it. I didn’t have the curry leaves and used tomato paste in lieu of chopped tomatoes. We ate with tzaziki sauce and naan.

  • michalow on January 21, 2021

    This is delicious. I skipped the curry leaves, sugar, and most of the butter.

  • Acarroll on October 31, 2021

    This was so good! I enjoyed smelling every step of the cooking process. I used cashew yogurt and vegan butter to make it dairy-free. Didn't have curry leaves or fenugreek, otherwise made as-written. This is definitely going in my favorites.

  • lholtzman on September 05, 2024

    This has a lot of flavor. I added 1.25 tsps. Morton’s kosher salt to bring out the flavor. I like the spice level.

  • chezlarios on November 23, 2025

    Delicious, nutritious, and minimal dishes. I skipped on the butter as it didn't feel necessary and didn't seem to fit the rest of the flavour profile.

• Cardamom rice with poached eggs and yoghurt

  • JLDuck on July 10, 2022

    I found this dish quite delicious although not as flavoursome as the amount of spices would suggest. I added peas and broccolini to good effect. My husband was not that keen. Oh well!

  • anya_sf on September 06, 2017

    I cooked it on the stove on the lowest temperature. The rice stuck to the bottom of the pan slightly, but the lime juice (and a bit of extra hot water) released it. Per the recipe suggestion, I added more vegetables for a more substantial dish (red bell pepper, zucchini, spinach, peas). I served it with tzatziki rather than plain yogurt, as I had some left over. I did not have curry leaves, so I used kaffir lime leaves. Despite the vast quantity of fresh herbs, I found the seasoning lacking, needing more salt, plus I added some harissa. I did not really enjoy the texture of the whole spices; would prefer ground. Overall, this was just so-so.

  • MissQuin on January 21, 2015

    it was too hot to turn the oven on so instead I cooked on stove top - once water added to rice I bought it to boil, put lid on and simmered for 10 mins, then took off heat and left to sit for another 10 with lid on. Worked perfectly.

  • Cvtbird on January 02, 2023

    Great brunch dish and easy to halve recipe for two people. The yoghurt really livens it up.

• Freekeh pilaf

  • Melanie on October 04, 2014

    I liked the different textures and flavours in this pilaf. I agree with Jane's comment below that this should be served as a side dish, not the main.

  • lorloff on March 09, 2019

    Used this technique which made really delicious freekeh. However since since I cannot use milk products I used the seasoning approach taken in Vegan Eats World page 306 substituting berbere from cayenne. It was really great. Highly recommended. Also added barberries to the raisins, ground coriander, berbere and finishing with cilantro.

  • Jane on April 10, 2012

    This was tasty but it wasn't a meal on its own. It really needs some protein alongside, a chicken breast or lamb chop which I know defeats the object of cooking from a vegetarian book. The freekah was very chewy after its allotted cooking time - next time I'll give it another 10 mins (and therefore add some more stock). The addition of fresh herbs at the end gave it a flavor boost it needed. The contrast with the lemony garlic yogurt was also a good touch.

  • anya_sf on September 04, 2017

    I had never cooked freekeh before, but enjoyed this dish. Made it as a side dish with lamb. Did not make the yogurt, as I served tzatziki on the side. I used chicken stock instead of vegetable, substituted dill for mint (there was already dill in the tzatziki), and omitted the pine nuts. I thought the freekeh needed an extra 5 min to simmer, but otherwise the directions worked. Tasty.

  • Rutabaga on October 06, 2016

    This was another dish that I enjoyed, but my husband and five-year-old were less impressed. It really depends on whether or not you like chewy whole grains. The gentle onion, spice, and herb flavor is really a nice match for a wide range of meals. I served it with leftover black garlic yogurt sauce from the Eggplant with Black Garlic recipe in Plenty More.

  • Zosia on July 27, 2020

    This made an excellent side dish for lemon za'atar chicken (Falastin) and I quite liked the finished texture of the freekeh: cooked through but al dente. I omitted the yogurt and relied on the lemony chicken to provide a tangy element.

  • dinnermints on November 03, 2025

    Great flavor. Next time I'd chop the onion since slicing it thinly results in stringy onion bits in the pilaf. And even though it didn't say so (and didn't look it), my freekeh was perhaps more on the whole side; I had to cook it closer to 30-35 minutes for it to be sufficiently cooked. I would have loved to add the yogurt/pine nut component but ran out of time.

  • Ganga108 on August 21, 2021

    Wonderful!!

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    nice basis to add chicken or sausages. doubled the recipe for 5 people

  • dana_5jdpc7 on March 23, 2026

    Excellent

  • anniecc on March 23, 2024

    Really great recipe, such a comforting savoury flavour and simple to make. I served it with a roast cauliflower dish, which was a great combination. I used cracked freekeh and it was perfectly cooked in the stated time, if you use whole grain perhaps give it an extra few minutes.

• Itamar's bulghar pilaf

  • annapanna on March 22, 2013

    This was good and very easy to make. I used fresh currants, ground coriander and ground pink pepper. The Bulgur took a bit longer than 20 min, and required adding a bit more water too. Ideal for lunch at work.

  • Rutabaga on June 01, 2014

    Mine turned out a little on the wet side; perhaps, as I was using fine and nor medium bulgur, I should have used a little less water. But otherwise, it came together very well. Since the only pink peppercorns I could find were quite expensive, I substituted white ones. I liked the peppery crunch of the whole peppercorns, but it's not to everyone's taste, so coarsely crushing the peppercorns and coriander would be a nice option. The spice is really needed to balance the sweetness of the dish.

  • finebec on July 31, 2017

    A family favorite from a family being subjected to my Ottolenghi obsession. Small White onions proved hard to get so I used a large Bermuda instead. BTW the Itmar in question is the co-chef owner of Honey and Co, Also a London-based Israeli operation. There's a cookbook with the same title as the restaurant.

  • Melanie on September 27, 2013

    This tasted really fantastic, I served it with Ottolenghi's leek fritters. I substituted quinoa for the bulghur wheat - increase cooking time and slowly add more water.

  • bernalgirl on September 06, 2022

    I love bulgur pilaf and this recipe comes out perfectly, however I don’t like all the sweet elements or the whole spices so I’m really following a technique more than a recipe. I used ground coriander and coarsely ground black and white pepper, and eliminated 1/2 the sugar and the currents. The result is a savory, flavorful, and easy side dish.

  • michalow on February 18, 2013

    Pretty good, although not as delicious as the other bulgur recipe in this book (kisir). To my surprise, I didn't particularly care for the pink peppercorns here. I would leave those out next time, and crush the coriander seeds a bit before adding. Worth making again with a few tweaks.

  • Raquelcooks on January 03, 2022

    If I make this again I will add boiling water rather than cold. Mine absorbed the water instantly and I couldn't bring it to the boil.

• Mango and coconut rice salad

  • rmorse on August 11, 2019

    The flavour in this salad is really good although I added more lemon. It is also very pretty, I will definitely be making this again.

  • JLDuck on October 14, 2017

    I am not a devotee of rice salads. This recipe could change that. It is fantastic!

  • chezmaryb on April 14, 2021

    So good! Lots of tropical flavors.

  • Hiker010 on January 10, 2026

    Made Jan 2019 -- so-so And a lot of work

• Quinoa salad with dried Iranian lime

  • Rutabaga on April 27, 2014

    There is a beautiful mix of flavors in this recipe - salty feta, sweet potatoes, nutty grains, and the sour funk of the dried limes. Our local Middle Eastern grocer had whole dried limes, which were easily pulverized in the Vitamix. I made my own mix of wild and basmati rice. Of course, the wild rice needed much more time to cook, and I had not so cleverly thrown them in the pot together. But in the end, it worked well even with the extra crunchy wild rice.

  • e_ballad on December 30, 2018

    A tasty dish, though we wound back on the dried lime powder for fear that the funkiness would deter the kidlet. It is also very generously portioned, serving 8-10 easily.

  • Delys77 on August 02, 2012

    Pg 245 Tonnes of great flavour in this very wholesome and hearty grain salad. The combination of grains works perfectly with toothsome brown rice, chewy quinoa, and tender grains of basmati. I left out the sage as I'm not a fan and the resulting combination of herbs was very nice. Do be careful of burning the garlic as the bitterness would easily permeate the whole dish. My one note of caution is the dried Persian limes, I found some and put them through the food processor and it was extremely messy, and very challenging getting 2 tb out of my limes. I think a touch of Sumac and a good squirt of lime juice would work very well and would eliminate the hassle of making the lime powder.

  • Jane on May 18, 2011

    Or rather Quinoa salad without dried Iranian lime as I didn't have any (and to be honest have never owned any). But the photo on page 247 was so appetizing I just had to make this, even without a key ingredient in the title. I didn't have mixed basmati and wild rice either so I used basmati with the quinoa. I thought this was really good - the caramelized sweet potatoes, the mint, sage and oregano, the crumbled feta all provided a flavorful contrast to the rice and quinoa. I thought it made a lot - more like 8 servings than 4-6. I will definitely make this again and will try to source some dried Iranian lime before that - anyone know where to get them? I served this with Roast chicken with sumac, za'atar and lemon on p.122 of Ottolenghi and Green bean salad with mustard seeds and tarragon p.196 of Plenty.

  • Hiker010 on January 10, 2026

    Made Jan 2019 -- so-so A bit too bitter / overpowering herbs

• Lemon and goat's cheese ravioli

  • raybun on June 28, 2017

    We loved these! Now I did cheat a bit as I found a pack of wonton/ dumpling wrappers in the fridge that needed using up. I did hunt down the pink peppercorns though, and they really took this dish to the next level. I used lemon thyme as the 3 stores I went to were out of tarragon. I have made a note to make these again with the homemade pasta, as we really loved the flavour combination.

  • bwhip on March 26, 2017

    This was my first time making pasta, and it turned out great! A fair bit of labor, but absolutely delicious results. Not difficult, just time consuming. Flavor and texture of the pasta was great. The blend of the lemon, peppercorns and tarragon was really good. I'll definitely make it again.

  • Rutabaga on November 23, 2014

    This is probably one of the simplest homemade ravioli recipes, but the combination of goat cheese, lemon, and fresh pasta is hard to beat. The pink peppercorns are, I think, what makes it special, so use them if at all possible. I used fresh oregano instead of tarragon, and found that to be a good match. I used a ravioli form to shape the pasta, which leaves a very narrow boarder around the filling. Because of this, about a third of the dough remained after I had used up the filling. Still, the finished ravioli served three adults as a main course with a few leftover. And extra pasta dough isn't a problem - I can use it to make fettuccine tomorrow!

  • coreyanneder19 on April 03, 2026

    I have made pasta many times before but never had a problem with the dough. For me the dough would not get to the right consistency. I believe it was due to the olive oil and lemon zest. I ended up throwing away the dough and starting from scratch using my standard egg dough recipe with the lemon zest. After that it turned out fine. I also had leftover pasta but I used it to make fettuccini to serve with the raviolis as I believe it needed the extra pasta to balance the cheese. Nice spring dish but for me finicky.

• Crunchy pappardelle

  • Yildiz100 on July 17, 2016

    This was fine, but the extras in this recipe (gremolata and toasted panko) didn't really improve the dish, only created more work. I will stick to my no-recipe mushroom cream sauce pastas.

  • Sandiegolemons on September 12, 2017

    This goes under Do Not Do Again. My first one star out of five rating for a recipe by Ottolenghi. I wonder if he even tried this or it was just filler?

  • MsMonsoon on December 11, 2017

    Uses lots of pots and pretty time-consuming. Tasty dish but you wouldn't think the finished product should take that long to prepare. The mushrooms and wine, and the touch of sugar with the cream, all combine to make a satisfying flavor. Don't skip the panko with lemon zest, garlic and parsley. It really adds something -- garlicky goodness, citrus brightness and some crunch. (Toasting the panko was key, too. It smelled wonderful.)

  • murphyfrank on June 16, 2019

    I think 250gm of pappardelle for 2 people was a bit much. Next time I will reduce that to 200gm leaving all other quantities the same. I toasted the breadcrumbs before cooking the mushrooms & I cooked the broccolini (that's what we have here in Australia) in the pasta so the number of pots used wasn't excessive.

  • LumiCooks on March 29, 2026

    Seemed dry, even with adding lots of pasta water.

  • Astrid5555 on April 06, 2020

    Despite the other reviewers’ comments about not needing the panko breadcrumbs or too time-consuming, I think this is a weeknight friendly pasta dish. Please do NOT skip the panko crumbs, they are essential here.

  • eatdrinkstagger on July 21, 2022

    white wine is needed! this is not a pantry item?!

  • lholtzman on December 04, 2025

    This was good, but not worth the number of pots and pans used. I cooked the pasta in the broccolini water to save a pot and the water.

• Pasta and fried courgette salad

  • Apollonia on July 25, 2021

    Made this for probably the fifth time and enjoyed it as much as ever. Great for a casual dinner party because it can be made ahead and is perfect at room temp. I have done the zucchini in the oven as well as fried, and frankly like it almost as much, so often do it that way.

  • Lsblackburn1 on July 30, 2021

    I can’t believe I’d never made this before! Lovely and fresh tasting - and uses a lot of the garden. I also did my zucchini roasted - 30 minutes at 425.

  • patioweather on September 14, 2023

    I've made this twice. The first time I made it, I thought it was incredible and added it to my "favorites" list. The second time, it struck me as much too greasy. Maybe it had to do with my zucchini frying technique? If I do it again, I'll try and cook the zucchini in some other manner.

  • anya_sf on July 16, 2018

    The zucchini had to be fried in batches, but didn't really take that long. I only used enough oil to thinly coat the pan - maybe a few tablespoons, nowhere near 2/3 cup. Due to the basil puree, the salad ends up fairly oily anyway. We really enjoyed this. I might add a bit more lemon zest or a bit of juice next time. I used 1 cup edamame and 4 zucchinis to up the veggies a bit. I'll make this again.

  • Rutabaga on April 19, 2020

    For a fast-to-prepare meal, I made this recently using jarred pesto (not as good as homemade, but still nice) and sautéed asparagus in place of the zucchini. It's a good recipe to turn to for a quick, fresh-tasting meal.

  • Rutabaga on August 24, 2015

    I made this recipe again today; sadly, it had been a few years since I last made it, even thought it's a wonderful salad. I did run into a few issues to avoid for the future. First, using the blender to pulverize the herbs and oil simply did not work for me. The quantity was too small. After some struggle, I gave up, and finished the pesto off in the mortar and pestle. Also, I used green chickpeas in place of the edamame, as that was what I had on hand. It wasn't a bad substitution, but we definitely prefer the edamame, which has a stronger presence in the salad and offers a welcome crunch.

  • pistachiopeas on June 28, 2017

    Made this again and we both really loved it, again, maybe even more than last time. I didn't mind frying the zucchini either. Smitten Kitchen points out that not much of the oil gets absorbed by the zucchini and looking at the pan, I'd agree.

  • cilantrolime on July 06, 2014

    The first time, I followed the recipe exactly. It was tasty, but I hated frying zucchini. Then I made it again a couple of weeks later. I used very nice small yellow summer squashes from the farmer's market. I roasted the zucchini slices in the oven, in a single layer, with a little oil sprayed on top. It came out wonderfully. Roasting brought out the sweetness in the zucchini. I omitted the mozzarella and didn't miss it. Lemon zest and juice are essential though.

  • KNivia on March 23, 2026

    My husband made this for dinner and it’s delicious! Loaded with a tasty green basil pesto and edamame with the zucchini! It’s so good. The addition of the capers and lemon zest is a must…don’t skimp here and the buffalo mozzarella is the perfect addition. Definitely used some saved pasta water to thin out the sauce, but what a nice weeknight meal!

  • noor_37m4rf on February 27, 2026

    I tweaked this recipe a bit by blending the edamame and vinegar into the dressing, which made it more pesto like. I didn’t have any parsley on hand. It ended up tasting great! Next time I wouldn’t fry the zucchini, it made it a bit greasy, so I’ll try to roast it in the oven.

  • acwebb2 on February 19, 2026

    This was very good, though I did make some changes. I roasted the zucchini in the oven instead of frying, and blended all the basil, parsley, and lemon zest together, with the juice of the lemon added. I didn’t have edamame so I threw in some chicken for protein.

  • Margret on September 09, 2023

    Made it twice, the first time with edamame, it was very good. The second time I omitted the mozzarella and the edamame and added pan-roasted tofu cubes marinated with lemon and pesto (found in a recipe from Elisabeth Fischer in “Tofu Miso Tempeh”), I made the pesto with pinoli, basil and a little bit of mint, also very good.

  • kaityblueeyes on June 19, 2022

    This was a win! Everyone loved it, even the 4 year old. Didn’t have parsley in the garden so used some cilantro and lots more basil. Used burrata and it was heavenly.

• Green couscous

  • VineTomato on June 10, 2017

    Have made this several times, love, love, love it. I seem to like it more than other people, so perfect to make on a Sunday evening for lunchboxes during the week. I normally serve with some grilled chicken and yoghurt cucumber.

  • JLDuck on December 31, 2019

    Delicious and easy. A change from plain or spiced couscous.

  • Lsblackburn1 on July 04, 2019

    Love this! Easy to make ahead of time. Perfect with kofta.

  • sfcarole on August 14, 2015

    Very special! I had a box of Lundberg Brown Rice Couscous in the pantry that I wanted to use up, so decided to try it in this dish. Perfect. We served it as part of a vegetarian meal, but it would go great with any grilled meat or fish.

  • IvyManning on June 16, 2013

    Beautiful recipe. Fragrant and not at all boring.

  • girlogirl on April 03, 2013

    Also great if you swap the couscous for quinoa. Of 6 people over for dinner 4 asked for the recipe!

  • mummybunny2005 on July 24, 2013

    Love this! I made it as a side salad with fried chicken (left out the rocket/arugula as I didn't have any and just upped the parsley in its place) and there was a tiny bit left over. Although the texture was of course a bit mushy the next day the flavours were even better.

  • Jane on June 01, 2011

    I thought this was a fantastic side dish. So much flavor in all those herbs, arugula (rocket), green onions, chilli. It really is a lovely green color too. It is rather time consuming preparing all the herbs but the end result was definitely worth it.

• Saffron tagliatelle with spiced butter

  • FJT on November 11, 2012

    Wonderful recipe - I adapted my normal gluten-free tagliatelle recipe to include the saffron and turmeric and it worked so well with the spiced butter and the pine nut / herb garnish. I will use less butter next time I make this, but we'll definitely make it again.

  • cilantrolime on July 08, 2014

    Very tasty and easy! I used store-bought tagliatelle though. It reminded me a lot of burmese noodles like nan-pyar-thote. But this is a lot easier and is meat-free.! Next time, instead of pine nut and basil, I'll try to toasted chickpea powder, cilantro, sliced shallots, and lime juice.

  • Kduncan on September 28, 2020

    Pretty easy recipe, as with all hand made pasta rolling it out takes the longest. Really need to split the pasta dough into more than 4 parts (I did 8, all were still very long). Sauce is great. Overall will do this again.

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    delicious, can add small pieces of lardons

• The ultimate winter couscous

  • Dannausc on December 16, 2018

    Quite hearty and good.

  • Bwolfe2 on January 26, 2017

    I was given this cookbook when it was first published. It was beautiful and I read all the recipes but thought of it as more coffee-table book than workhorse recipe book. The aclaim on this site provoked me to prepare a recipe so I pulled it out and tried this one. I was blown away. A friend shared it with me and replied on first bite "it's an explosion of flavors." Yep. And all unique but beautifully blended. This was my first experience using preserved lemons and harissa. Both were easy to find. The harissa I used in moderation based on reviews of the recipe. This will become a family favorite as well as a company-best!! Delightful.

  • JLDuck on June 28, 2022

    This recipe is delicious. Once the vegetables were prepared it was just a matter of putting them into the oven in the recommended order. I did not follow the couscous recipe but stirred in the saffron and lemon skin with hot water.

  • annapanna on February 24, 2013

    The list of ingredients is quite long and this made me put off trying this recipe for a while. I don't usually have cinnamon sticks, star anice or preserved lemons at home so I had to buy them especially to make this dish. Still, I figured I could use the rest in some other Ottolenghi recipe. We really enjoyed this, I followed the recipe to the letter except that I couldn't find parsnips, so I used celeriac. The result was a bit too spicy for my taste (although my husband thought it was ok) so next time I'll add less harissa. Also, I will leave out the dried apricots as I don't like their consistency. Maybe I'll try using cranberries as someone else suggested.

  • dinnermints on October 29, 2018

    This was good, but not astoundingly so. Then again, I decreased the oil and didn't use the butter, so there you go. My veggies were all a bit undercooked except for the shallots; next time I'd cut the carrots, parsnips, and squash smaller and increase the heat to 400. And I used whole wheat Israeli couscous, so followed the instructions for that. Aha, and am seeing now that I forgot the saffron....

  • Delys77 on October 11, 2013

    Pg. 262 Followed as written except that my Israeli Couscous was bigger than average so I cooked it according to the package directions, and I left out the apricots as I don't usually like sweet and savoury together. The roasted vegetables are lovely with the buttery couscous, and there is a slight heat and lovely preserved lemon flavour which makes the dish that much more interesting. I would actually up the harissa and the lemon a bit next time.

  • michalow on December 26, 2019

    I've made this enough times now that I think I've settled on the optimal modifications to suit my taste. Since I like a less sweet mix of vegetables, I use: onion (1/2 large), carrots (3), potatoes (6 baby), celery root (1 small), and fennel (1 bulb, added when the recipe calls for squash). I skip the star anise, reduce the cinnamon to one stick, and use golden raisins instead of apricots. Good with or without the harissa.

  • debkellie on June 13, 2017

    I loved this .. it is an explosion of flavour as Bwolfe2 says ...and that was using my home made (read mild) harissa.. excellent - and so easy .. looks complex from the ingredients but please do give it a try!

  • Emily Hope on December 15, 2011

    This recipe was quite simple and tasty--I like the approach of cooking it in the oven, makes it easy and flexible. The end result was a bit on the sweet side, even with the parsnips left out and swapped for turnips (didn't have parsnips). A dollop of yogurt on top helped. The couscous was a bit dry as written--a bit more liquid needed (I used whole wheat, don't know if that would make a difference). I put some harissa in the veg stock to be used for the harissa--tasty. Also melted the butter in the boiling water before pouring over couscous.

  • Laura on December 12, 2011

    Pg. 262. This is a really luscious dish. I made it exactly as written with the one exception that I substituted dried cranberries for the apricots because that's what I had. We really enjoyed this dish and look forward to leftovers tomorrow.

  • ParsleySue on November 11, 2023

    Loved this! So much rich, interesting, varied flavor and texture. I will try it next time with less oil and butter, though - yikes - but I think it will still hold up. Two changes I had to make - I had no preserved lemon, so I added more salt, plus lemon juice and zest. And I also had to cook my couscous more.

  • stacylynnwinnie on February 01, 2026

    Tagine vibes! This was delicious!! The photo in the cookbook didn't look appealing to me but after reading reviews I decided to give it a try, and it did not disappoint. It's very colorful and appealing and the aroma is so comforting. I made the recipe as is with no modifications, except that I only used 1 TBSP of Harissa my first go around, wasn't feeling up for too much heat since we were eating dinner late. Next time I'll likely add both tbsps. of Harissa. I asked my husband if he would change anything and he said the shallots were too big. Some were really big and I cut them in half to try and at least get the pieces all the same size, but they were still too big. He thought I should add the other tbsps. of Harissa as well. We have plenty of leftovers for dinner tonight with a fresh batch of that yummy saffron couscous.

  • bbbtravels on September 20, 2025

    The first time I made this, I couldn't find preserved lemons at nearby grocery stores so bought Indian lemon pickle instead. Wow! Delicious - both this recipe and the lemon pickle, which is now a staple condiment.

  • megan_cw348y on April 04, 2026

    Good not great. Came out quite sweet for me, wish I had added more harissa.

  • jess_na6y7k on March 04, 2026

    Super Tasty! I loved the spice mix and the carrots, parsnips, and squash. I personally didn’t need so many shallots, when I make it again I will use less!

• Mushroom and herb polenta

  • Jane on January 17, 2025

    This is a very quick and easy dinner, if you use instant polenta. I had a lovely bag of mixed mushrooms but didn't want to go out into the cold for other ingredients, so went with what I had for the topping cheese (Brie rather than Taleggio) and herbs (sage). I also skipped the truffle oil. I think you could use this recipe as the basis with any herbs and melting cheese and it would still be excellent.

  • MollyB on September 12, 2018

    Very nice dish. It was a great way to showcase Taleggio; mushrooms and Taleggio go beautifully together. I adjusted the recipe some to accommodate a weeknight meal and a limited herb supply - I used pre-cooked polenta from the store, which I pan-fried until crispy. I topped that with thyme, garlic, and parsley then added the cheese and broiled. The mushrooms I cooked as written, but without chervil as I didn't have any. I would definitely make this again.

  • TrishaCP on June 27, 2013

    So, I think there are two ways you can go with this recipe. One way, the "as is" way, is to include the truffle oil, which probably tastes amazing with the Taleggio and the mushrooms. (He calls for mixed, but I used baby portobellos, boring but what I had on hand, and they were fine.) However, I didn't use the truffle oil, because the reason I made this recipe was to take advantage of the fact that my chervil came back in my garden, and that my thyme, rosemary, and tarragon are also still going strong. The second way, which was how I made it, the herbs shine through (I think their flavor would get blown out by the truffle oil) and I loved it. (Tarragon was the strongest flavor.) Either way, be careful of the salt- both cheeses add quite a bit to the final dish, and depending on the type of stock you use, your polenta may not need it. But this dish was very good if you are a cheese and mushroom lover.

  • L.Nightshade on July 15, 2018

    We absolutely loved this dish, made it exactly as written. Served it as a main course on a chilly evening, with salad on the side. Definitely goes into my "do-again" list.

  • Bloominanglophile on October 03, 2014

    I love polenta, and really enjoyed this version with all the herbs. I did read TrishaCP's comments (thanks!), and also decided to eliminate the truffle oil. Other changes I made: chicken stock instead of vegetable stock, a bit less parmesan, and shavings of Fontina instead if 4 oz. Taleggio. My mushrooms consisted of a mix of button, cremini and shiitakes. I served this with the Marinated Pepper Salad with Pecorino.

  • twoyolks on January 20, 2016

    This was much better than what I expected it to be. The vegetable stock is non-traditional in polenta but, combined with the butter and parmesan, worked really well. The mushrooms were also quite good. I'd probably cook the mushrooms longer than I did to get them a bit more caramelized. I did use truffle oil but I added a lot less than was called for. It complimented the mushrooms well without overpowering them.

  • annapanna on February 03, 2013

    I made this as described, including the truffle oil which gives a nice touch, but I left out the parmesan, because I don't like it. We enjoyed this polenta, but for my taste there were too many different herbs. If I make it again I will just choose one or two.

  • Barb_N on October 28, 2014

    I used homemade chicken broth and herbs from my container garden (now indoors)- this gave me all the umami I needed. Then I topped the polenta with a melty-stinky cheese (a Saint Alban?) so I skipped the truffle oil. As it's almost November I had hardy herbs- parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme (really). Served with sauteed spinach for aa simple meal.

  • inflytur on January 27, 2020

    Excellent recipe. I used the Guardian online version of the recipe. Although it didn’t say so, it made only enough for two. I’m glad I wasn’t planning to have leftovers.

  • clcorbi on October 27, 2017

    I thought this dish had nice flavor, but neither of us really loved it as much as others have seemed to. I did make a couple of changes--I omitted the truffle oil and chervil from the mushroom mixture, and substituted sage and a bit of nutritional yeast (to add some umami that was lost from the truffle oil). I also cooked the polenta in chicken stock rather than vegetable. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written. I thought the polenta was really luscious cooked this way and would make that component again. My issue with the dish as a whole is just that the textures were so one-note. I might have preferred serving the mushrooms (which were amazing) on a crisp flat bread or even over squares of pan-fried polenta, just to get some textural variation.

  • rubytuby on August 23, 2015

    I love this recipe. It's easy to adapt to make it simpler. I usually just make the polenta in one pot, cook the mushrooms and herbs in another pan, and combine them at the end. I don't bother with the Taleggio or broiling it at the end. I use truffle oil if I have it, but it's not necessary, and I often use dried rosemary instead of fresh. I haven't been able to find chervil in the grocery store so I don't use that either. This is a great warming, comforting meal on a cold night.

  • StoicLoofah on April 09, 2018

    Very tasty. Skipped the truffle oil and used veggie stock. Mix the garlic and herbs into the polenta well: it's easy for the garlic to clump and look just like the polenta.

  • jennifer_vszvd1 on March 07, 2026

    I used a mix of baby bella, porcini, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms. I soaked the dehydrated porcinis in sherry wine and used the wine in place of the truffle oil. I also substituted fontina for the taleggio. Great flavor!

  • dosojosazules on July 18, 2024

    Enjoyed this. The polenta needed more flavor but I used water in place of vegetable broth. Otherwise really good and I don’t usually enjoy melted cheese

• Sweetcorn polenta

  • anya_sf on August 23, 2018

    The polenta never gets as thick as mashed potatoes, but was still OK with a looser texture. However, as others have said, today's fresh corn is too sweet for this recipe. I added lemon juice, but even that and the feta cheese were not enough to balance the sweetness. I used maybe half the oil for the eggplant, so then didn't have to drain any. The eggplant went well with it; I made it a day ahead and reheated it, which I think helped meld the flavors, although it wasn't exciting on its own. We liked this dish OK, but did not love it.

  • WFPLCleanEating on August 25, 2016

    I only made the polenta part of the recipe and enjoyed it a lot. I was glad I had read Breadcrumbs note about not adding the water in the pan. The British version of the recipe was less ambiguous "Now return the corn paste to the pan with the cooking liquid". I didn't because my corn paste was already very loose - if I had added the water it would have been soup. I plan to make this again with the eggplant sauce. - Jane

  • raybun on April 25, 2017

    I just made the polenta part of this recipe. It was very well received by the, suspicious at first, family. The feta gave it a nice tang and it paired perfectly with his cod cakes in tomato sauce from Jerusalem.

  • cilantrolime on July 09, 2014

    I cheated and served the eggplant sauce over grits. Very easy, and it was quite good! Will make again.

  • ldtrieb on June 30, 2017

    Way too sweet for me, my husband had seconds. Corn is just not Corny anymore . I don't know why I even made it as I don't like corn soup. I think I'll make pancakes with the leftovers. The eggplant was good but all that fresh oregano is like perfume. I know this is negative but I love 99% of Ottolenghi's recipes, it's me not him!

  • EmilyR on September 06, 2019

    I made half of the corn and a full portion of the eggplant / tomato mix. Instead of dealing with massive amounts of oil I followed another recipe I have and baked the eggplant with a mix of a couple Tbsp. olive oil, salt and pepper at 425 for about 20 minutes. I did add an extra splash to the tomato mixture, though. As for the polenta, I mixed it up in a vitamix after cooking it and then added the majority of the cooking water back (I didn't read the notes)... and then simmered it for way longer than stated until it thickened up. The feta was excellent - as it always is with corn. Everything I used was fresh from the garden or market so the flavors were wonderful.

  • dinnermints on September 05, 2016

    Nice take on polenta. Also thanks to Breadcrumbs for nixing pan water and bundt pan tip, and to ncollyer - I also roasted the eggplant, which I drizzled with a couple of tablespoons of oil. I was surprised how flavorful the sauce was for how little time it took to put together. I made a separate sauce with roasted mushrooms instead of tomato for my husband, and that was also delicious.

  • Rinshin on September 09, 2016

    I did not particularly care for this. The corn tasted very sweet when processed to a mash. I found that strange since I love the taste of fresh corn. Perhaps the corn found out here in California is sweeter and more tender than in Europe and other areas. The texture was like eating instant oatmeal. I did not add back the water to the corn as that would have made this mash much more loose. I much prefer regular grits to this. The eggplant mixture was ok but nothing too exciting either. I should have added some kind of acid ie vinegar or citrus to perk up the eggplant mixture.

  • excurvatus on August 16, 2019

    This was incredibly satisfying but i have slightly different feedback from the rest of the community here. I cooked the eggplants in about 1/2 cup (instead of 2/3) oil, maybe next time I'd roast in the oven with a few tbsp oil instead. The sauce was good! For the polenta, I followed the instructions and added the corn paste back to the cooking pan with the corn water, I didn't mind the consistency. It was somewhere between soup and traditional polenta. It was good, but it felt like a lot of work. I didn't find it too sweet, as others have, it seemed like a great way to revel in the flavours of corn.

  • Bloominanglophile on September 12, 2013

    Ok, this was my first time to "Ottoleng", as it were. I was very pleased with this dish, and found it quite doable for a weeknight. Thanks to Breadcrumbs for the heads-up not to add the pureed corn back to the water in the pan! Even then, this took awhile to cook down and is the most time-consuming step of this dish. I found that 4 good-sized ears of corn gave me 1 1/4 lbs. of kernels. I also "milked" the cobs with the back of the knife and added that to the pureed corn (don't add the milkings to the water to cook the kernels). I also used Japanese eggplant, which doesn't need to be peeled as the skin cooks down nice and soft. I used the full amount of oil, which the eggplant absorbed, but then surprisingly released as it cooked down (drained off almost half of the oil used)--I didn't know eggplant would do that! I served this with the Parsley, Radish and Celery Salad with Capers from Simon Hopkinson's The Vegetarian Option.

  • Bloominanglophile on September 12, 2013

    Part 2 to my original posting: I found that 4 ears of corn served my family of 3 quite nicely. To serve 4 I would definitely use the full 6 ears of corn, and increase the butter by a tablespoon. I also didn't use the full amount of feta (maybe 5 oz.) which worked out just fine, so I would increase it to the original 7 oz. (if serving 4). I used 4 large Japanese eggplants, and the resulting sauce was enough to top 4 servings of polenta.

  • Nancy402 on August 16, 2014

    Excellent dinner for a cool summer evening, with a crisp green salad. I roasted the eggplant at 400 degrees for 15 minutes just tossed in a olive to coat and then continued with the sauce directions . It was delicious. Did not miss all of the oil. Akso used half the feta, which was enough of a counterpoint to the sweet corn.

  • Emily Hope on July 30, 2011

    This is really great. A bit of work, as all of their recipes are, but worth it. The salty-sweet polenta with feta contrasts well with the acidic notes in the sauce. My only issue is that it could use more textural contrast--next time I might cook down the tomato sauce separately and add the sauteed eggplant toward the end of cooking time. Definitely company-worthy.

  • okcook on August 14, 2013

    The sauce is delicious. I was sceptical about flavour development with such a short cooking time but cooking the tomato paste for two minutes with the eggplant over fairly high heat really made the flavour robust.

  • bgood on July 12, 2011

    This is a 2 step recipe but the eggplant sauce makes it perfect. Good quality feta is not out of place here.

  • Breadcrumbs on August 26, 2013

    Part 1 of 2: Although I didn't have time to make the eggplant sauce and, I had an execution issue with the corn, this was still the best tasting corn dish we've ever eaten! My Polenta looks nothing the polenta pictured in the book. The texture of my polenta was ridiculously loose, more like a thick soup. I know where I erred. At the point where you remove the corn from the pan with a slotted spoon, the book instructs you to reserve the cooking liquid. The book then instructs you to add some of the water into the food processor bowl if the corn mixture becomes too dry during processing. None was needed; my mixture was loose. The book says to add the processed corn back into the "water pan". I debated whether to pour out the water but I figured if YO wanted you to put it into a "dry pan" he'd have said so. Why mention the water if you'd poured it out...right? Wrong! I stirred, I simmered, I raised the heat and stirred some more but try as I might, I had corn soup vs polenta. Con’t.

  • Breadcrumbs on August 26, 2013

    Part 2 of 2: Nevertheless, this was bar none, the most delicious corn we've ever eaten. The sweetness was remarkable and the salty bursts of feta added a perfect balance and, a welcome textural element. One other thing I wanted to mention was that my 6 ears of corn yielded 2.5 lbs of corn. In the recipe YO notes "you want to have 1.25 lbs. Also worth mentioning, this was the first time I used the Fine Cooking Bundt pan method (link below) for removing kernels from the corn cobs and it worked like a charm! I further simplified my clean up by lining my Bundt pan with a compost bag so the pan didn't even get dirty. http://www.finecooking.com/videos/how... Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/781960#8286138

  • Jane on June 16, 2017

    I have made the polenta before but not with the eggplant. It is much better with both. As we all know from the notes, don't add the cooking water to the polenta otherwise it is too loose. I liked the eggplant sauce. 100ml of oil was enough to fry it.

  • Beebopalulu on December 02, 2019

    Ended up being really good, but recipe needed some finessing - mine was much too watery to start out.

• Figs with basil, goat's curd and pomegranate vinaigrette

  • Astrid5555 on September 02, 2012

    This one is a winner! Very quick and easy to make. Use the best figs you can get and make sure you have a creamy goat's cheese.

  • meginyeg on May 03, 2021

    This was nice. I added some blackberries too. Really liked the combination of flavours.

  • Ganga108 on August 21, 2021

    Delicious! Used thick drained yoghurt rather than goat's curd. Goat feta would be nice too.

• Pear crostini

  • Livia on July 30, 2020

    This is delicious ! Will make again, lovely for a dinner party as per previous comment. We had it for a light evening dinner and really enjoyed it

  • L.Nightshade on May 22, 2011

    Sourdough bread is oven-toasted, then topped with a paste of ground pine nuts, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Grilled pear slices are layered on the toast with goat cheese (my cheesemonger steered me towards a lovely bucherondin), then warmed in the oven for a few minutes. When done they are topped with fresh chervil, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Outstanding. Good fruit, good cheese, a little herb, a little nut, how could it go wrong? This is an easy first course for a meal, even for a dinner party.

• Watermelon and feta

  • L.Nightshade on May 22, 2011

    This salad excited every one of my taste buds. It is as easy as can be. Chop up some watermelon. Crumble some feta. Cut a few thin slices of red onion. Toss in some basil leaves. Drizzle olive oil and voila! It's sweet, salty, sharp, herby, refreshing, and oh so pretty! I know I was pushing summer, but I had a mini seedless watermelon that turned out to be crisp and sweet. I ground some pepper over it, as it seemed to call out for that (and I think I see pepper in he photo also). Fairly complex flavors for such an easy-peasy dish.

  • pushka on July 27, 2011

    Really refreshing and light, so easy to make and tasty even with a ropey watermelon. Perfect starter for a summer lunch in the garden with friends.

  • anya_sf on May 30, 2022

    Simple but delicious. Easy to adjust ingredient ratios to your taste. I soaked the red onion in ice water for a few minutes to tame its bite.

  • stephengk on May 28, 2017

    Fresh and simple. More than sum of its parts. Great summer starter/salad

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    fresh salad. can add some pickled lemon

  • Ganga108 on August 21, 2021

    Fabulous! A twist on my favourite salad of watermelon and raw halloumi. I used a fairly salty feta for this recipe. There is a very similar recipe in Nopi as well. It's a great salad for the beach or eating under the verandah or the grapevine arbour on a hot day. It’s a salad to go with lots of conversation, a glass of beer and jugs of home made lemonade. The saltiness of the feta and the sweet juiciness of the watermelon that makes this salad remarkable. It is best served really chilled.

  • Jardimc on January 22, 2022

    For those who proposed adding preserved lemons, here’s a link to Ottolenghi’s other watermelon and feta recipe but this time with Kalamata olives and preserved lemons added. https://ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/watermelon-and-feta-salad-with-marinated-olives-and-preserved-lemon#

• Aubergine croquettes

  • lelito on November 10, 2020

    Everybody loves croquettes, so it's an easy option when you want to make people happy. Plus, this combination has so much personality... the ingredients match is lovely.

  • treay on November 14, 2024

    I love croquettes! However, I don't make them very often because it takes a bit of preparation and sometimes I don't have the time. Having said that, after making these ones tonight, I will have a look at some of the recipes passed down to me by my family and I'll make some more for sure. This is comfort food at its best! Loved them so much! And .... they are super healthy and delicious!

  • lcairns on January 08, 2026

    Delicous! Would make again. This made a lot of excess— could easily halve and still have a lot. Turned out well in air fryer. Make nugget shaped bites next time.

• Vine leaf, herb and yoghurt pie

  • Ganga108 on February 14, 2026

    I still love this dish.

  • Ganga108 on January 08, 2021

    This is a dish where a shallow layer of yoghurt mixed with herbs and thickened with rice flour is baked wrapped in vine leaves! Grape leaves impart their exceptional flavour and aroma to the filling as it bakes. The breadcrumbs and sesame seeds add a crunchy layer to each slice. How very delicious! This recipe comes together in minutes, tastes great, and can be eaten warm or cold. It is an excellent contribution to a table of mezze. It makes a substantial snack or a light starter. Serve with Burnt Eggplant with Tahini.

• Nutty endive with Roquefort

  • Jardimc on September 05, 2021

    SIMPLE, FEW INGREDIENTS, QUICK and delicious. What?! Why am I shouting? ‘Cause Ottolenghi is known for delicious, yes…but rarely simple, few ingredients or quick. I will be making this again.

• Bittersweet salad

  • ALawson25 on February 09, 2025

    This was nice, didn't add pomegranate seeds though they would have been nice, and didn't have nice ricotta so swapped for stratciatella which I preferred.

  • ellwell on January 15, 2026

    This was a good refreshing salad for the winter. I could not find Treviso, so I sub in in thinly sliced fennel. We were not a fan of the ricotta with it but I think it would be great with feta or goat cheese. I will make it again and repeat the fennel and change up the cheese.

• Hummus with ful

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    good recipe for hummus

• Dates and Turkish ewe's cheese

  • DePollepel on August 29, 2021

    simple salad, very fresh

• Kitchn

  Picked for January Cookbook Club.

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• Kitchn

  Whether you’re being introduced to a new ingredient, flavor combination, or technique, his vegetable-forward cooking is always instructional, although you’ll never feel like you’re being lectured.

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• Kitchn by Faith Durand

  ...wildly popular, arthouse-photographed paean to vegetables and Mediterranean cooking.

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• Food52

  All through June, our Cookbook Club will be focused on Yotam Ottolenghi's repertoire, and we hope you'll join us.

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• Food52

  The best parts of Ottolenghi—unexpected flavor combinations, vegetables given more attention, more oil, more time than we'd seen before—is now at the forefront.

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• What's Gaby Cooking

  I’ve talked about Yotams books before and it just wouldn’t be right to do a cookbook round-up without including his. He’s a culinary genius in my opinion and his recipes are top notch.

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• Food52 by Mario Batali

  The 2011 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks vs. Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain

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• Food52 by Susan Orlean

  The 2011 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks wildcard winner vs. The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual

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• Food52 by Gabrielle Hamilton

  The 2011 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks winner vs. Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table

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• Food52 by Peter Kaminsky

  The 2011 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks winner vs. Simon Hopkinson's The Vegetarian Option

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• Food52 by Christine Muhlke

  The 2011 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks winner vs. Harvest to Heat

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• Fine Cooking

  Each chapter focuses on a single ingredient and offers recipes (some simple, others complex) that deliver exquisite surprises... It’s twists like these that will keep you coming back for more.

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• Oregonian

  It is precisely this breezy, multicultural approach to cooking that makes Ottolenghi's book so contagiously appealing.

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• Kitchn by Faith Durand

  ...looking for vegetarian meals, or just more vegetables? Want to get inspired by bright, interesting food? This book, folks, is the nearly magic answer...Just trust me, and go buy it.

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• Nord1jus

  The book is beautifully shot by Jonathan Lovekin (who also does Nigel Slater's books) and Yotam has added many new recipes as well as revising all the Guardian ones.

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