There are all sorts of ways to get a meal on the table, depending on the sort of cook you are. One person’s idea of cooking simply is the next person’s culinary nightmare. For me, for example, it’s about being able to stop at my greengrocer on the way home, pick up a couple of things which look good, and make something within 20 or 30 minutes of getting home.Whatever our approach, it all looks effortless and easy when friends and family come to eat in our respective kitchens. This is only because we’ve worked out the way that suits us to make cooking simple, relaxing and therefore fun. It’s differentfor everyone. This idea, then – that there’s more than one way to get a meal on the table and that everyone has a different idea of which way is simple – is what Ottolenghi SIMPLE is all about. The reason I’m so excited about Ottolenghi SIMPLE is that it’s full of recipes which are still distinctly ‘Ottolenghi’ but are simple in at least one (but very often in more than one) way.
Bridget Jones's pan-fried salmon with pine nut salsa
“This is the dish Patrick Dempsey’s character tells Renée Zellweger’s Bridget Jones that he would have brought her on their imaginary second date in Bridget Jones’s Baby. ‘From Ottolenghi,’ says Dempsey, ‘delicious and healthy!’ And easy, we might add! What sounded like a bit of product placement on our part was, in fact, no such thing. The recipe didn’t even exist on our menu, so this is a retrospective acknowledgement” - Yotam Ottolenghi. This is an edited extract from Ottolenghi SIMPLE(Penguin Random House, RRP $49.99). On sale now.
Butterbean mash with muhammara
“Muhammara is a spicy Levantine dip of red capsicum and walnuts. It keeps in the fridge for 3 days, so double the recipe, if you like. It’s as lovely spooned into a cheese sandwich or served with grilled meat as it is as a dip. I’ve left the skins on the capsic*ms for ease, but remove them if you don’t want the texture. The mash can be made 3 days in advance – keep in the fridge in a separate container and bring back to room temperature before serving” - Yotam Ottolenghi. This is an edited extract fromOttolenghi SIMPLE (Penguin Random House, RRP $49.99). On sale now.
Soba noodles with lime, cardamom and avocado
“Scraping the seeds from 12 cardamom pods and crushing them might feel like a bit of a fiddle, just for 1/2 tsp, but it’s a few minutes well worth spending. Unleashing the fruity, floral and citrusy spice into the dish makes it really quite distinct. I like to eat this as it is for a quick lunch or light supper, or with some prawns or tofu stirred through just before serving. It also works well served alongside some pan-fried salmon or topped with a soft-boiled egg” - Yotam Ottolenghi. This is an edited extract from Ottolenghi SIMPLE (Penguin Random House, RRP $49.99). On sale now.
Gigli with chickpeas and za'atar
“Gigli means ‘lilies’ in Italian, and their floral wavy edges are a great vehicle for the chickpeas and anchovies in the sauce. Orecchiette (ears) or conchiglie (shells) are also good for scooping and work really well here, too” - Yotam Ottolenghi. This is an edited extract fromOttolenghi SIMPLE (Penguin Random House, RRP $49.99). On sale now.
Ottolenghi's mint and pistachio chocolate fridge cake
“This is called a chocolate fridge cake, but it should be seen as a bit of a larder cake as well, using what you have to hand – which is why this is a pantry recipe. Allsorts of different-flavoured chocolate (ginger chocolate, chilli chocolate and so forth), biscuits, nuts, dried fruit or alcohol can be used, instead of what’s listed here, depending on what you have in your pantry and what you like. The cake can be stored in the fridge, in a sealed container, for up to a week” - Yotam Ottolenghi. This is an edited extract from Ottolenghi SIMPLE (Penguin Random House, RRP $49.99).
Blueberry, almond and lemon cake
“For all the tins, trays and moulds that can be used to great effect in baking, there’s nothing quite like a simple loaf cake to reassure one that all is okay with the world.This is timeless, easy and also keeps well, for 3 days, stored in an airtight container at room temperature” - Yotam Ottolenghi. This is an edited extract fromOttolenghi SIMPLE (Penguin Random House, RRP $49.99). On sale now.
FAQs
This New York Times bestselling collection of 130 easy, flavor-forward recipes from beloved chef Yotam Ottolenghi.
How many recipes are in Ottolenghi Simple? ›
This New York Times bestselling collection of 130 easy, flavor-forward recipes from beloved chef Yotam Ottolenghi.
What is the best Ottolenghi? ›
Ottolenghi Classics
- Roasted pumpkin wedges with chestnut, cinnamon & fresh bay leaves. ...
- Roasted potatoes with caramel & Agen prunes. ...
- Char-grilled sprouting broccoli with sweet tahini. ...
- Cinnamon pavlova, praline cream and fresh figs (SWEET pg 291) ...
- Green herb salad. ...
- Roasted sweet potato with pecan and maple.
- BBQ lamb tacos with pineapple pickle and chutney. ...
- Charred green beans with anchovy dressing and seed dukkah. ...
- Strawberry tiramisu cake. ...
- Broccolini with chorizo, manchego and caraway seed creme fraiche. ...
- Pork souvlaki with cucumber salad and tzatziki. ...
- Asparagus with labneh, brown butter and burnt lemon.
Eight volumes have followed: the all-vegetable cookery books Plenty (2010), Plenty More (2014) and Ottolenghi Flavour (2020); Jerusalem (2012); NOPI (2015); the dessert cookery book Sweet (2017); Ottolenghi Simple (2018); and most recently a series of Ottolenghi Test Kitchen (OTK) books: OTK: Shelf Love (2021) and OTK: ...
What is Ottolenghi style food? ›
From this, Ottolenghi has developed a style of food which is rooted in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean traditions, but which also draws in diverse influences and ingredients from around the world.
Is Ottolenghi vegan? ›
The guy's an omnivore but his recipes are overwhelmingly vegetarian and vegan. His vegetarian (not vegan) cookbook Plenty< spent years near the top of Britain's bestseller lists.
Is Ottolenghi simple really simple? ›
Simple and yummy! I have made around 20 recipes so far, and I've never been disappointed. Also even if some take a bit of time the first time around, it gets so much quicker on the second pass! I have also learnt some neat tricks, for instance the oven baked rice revolutionised my way of cooking rice forever!
Does Ottolenghi eat meat? ›
If anything, Mr. Ottolenghi — tall and dapper, with salt-and-pepper hair, half-rim glasses and a penchant for pink-striped button-downs and black sneakers — should be a vegetarian pinup. But here's the rub: he eats meat. Apparently this is enough to discredit him in the eyes of the most devout abstainers.
What is Ottolenghi famous for? ›
Yotam Ottolenghi is a famous Israeli born British chef who is well known for his group of delis, as well as cookbooks and TV appearances.
Some of the recipes are fairly straightforward but he does have a reputation for including some hard to get ingredients and some recipes can be very involved.
What to serve with Ottolenghi ricotta and oregano meatballs? ›
Ricotta and oregano meatballs
Serve with orzo or tagliatelle, warm or at room temperature. Serve four. First, make the tomato sauce. Heat half the oil in a large sauté pan for which you have a lid.
What does Ottolenghi's husband do? ›
Ottolenghi entertains every second weekend at the London home he shares with his Northern Irish husband Karl Allen, a law graduate and former British Airways flight attendant, and a collector of vintage 1950s antiques, and their two sons.
What is the most sold cookbook of all time? ›
Betty Crocker's Cookbook (originally called Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book) by Betty Crocker (1950) – approx. 65 million copies. When the Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book was published by the fictional Betty Crocker in 1950, its sales actually rivaled those of the Bible.
Who owns Ottolenghi? ›
About us. Ottolenghi began in a small shop in Notting Hill, London in 2002. Chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi were at the helm, creating a unique deli, restaurant, and bakery setting, which soon became a clear reflection of our obsessive relationship with food.
How many recipes in a recipe book? ›
The standard expectation is that a cookbook should have between 70 and 100 recipes, but larger compendiums have at least 200.
How many recipes in a short cookbook? ›
Keep in mind that the average size of a cookbook is about 75 to 200 pages. On average, a typical cookbook will have around 150 recipes, but that varies as well, from small cookbooks with just 15 recipes to more than 300.
How many recipes are in the Avatar cookbook? ›
The book takes place during the time of Avatar: The Last Airbender up to the early days of Republic City. It collects 62 recipes.
How many recipes are there in the whole world? ›
If every man, woman and child alive today made a new recipe for breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day of his/her 80 year life, we only get to 6.13 x 10^14 number of recipes.
