Recipes

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

It is the fluffy cake contrasting with the crunchy crust that makes these so appealing. Make them whatever size you want, and serve with the yogurt and lime sauce or, for less effort, with lime wedges.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

These tangy treats are perfect when you need to hold out for the big meal. If you can, serve them as soon as you make them, to get the most out of the contrasting temperatures of the yogurt and the aubergine. If you want to avoid the effort involved in straining the yogurt overnight, skip this stage and just use the best thick yogurt with the highest fat content you can get (sheep or goat's for preference).

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

This is our take on the Iranian staple, Shirazi salad. By smacking the cucumbers—a technique borrowed from China—you achieve a crunchy texture along with some smashed pieces that really absorb the dressing. Serve it as part of a spread, as a starter, or as a lunchtime salad.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

This is the perfect special-occasion centrepiece, as it’s just a matter of assembling everything in the pan and leaving it to do its thing in the oven. The hardest part is the waiting time, really, as your kitchen is filled with the most tantalising aromas of sweet spices. Get ahead by making the paste and marinating the lamb overnight, being sure to remove it from the fridge a couple of hours before you want to cook it.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

You can make the chicken well in advance if you want to get ahead: it keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days or can be frozen for 1 month. You want it to go into the oven defrosted, though, so it will need thawing out of the freezer. The batter needs to be made fresh and spooned on top of the chicken just before the dish gets baked, but it then can just go back in the oven. It can also be baked a few hours in advance – just warm through for 10 minutes, covered in foil, before serving. We love the combination of the chicken and the corn, but the chicken also works well as it is, served on top of rice, in a wrap or with a buttery jacket potato.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

This is the perfect mid week meal to cut through the hustle and bustle of modern life. It will only take twenty minutes to have a fresh, clean and complex dish to enjoy. Serves two as a main or four as part of a meal.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

Meatloaf: is it the texture that makes it so comforting, the memory of eating it as kids, or the relative ease – mix it all together and bake – with which it’s made? As ever, it’s a little bit of everything. This particular meatloaf is a bit of a double-whammy for Yotam in terms of food-as-memory-as-comfort. As well as eating a lot of meatloaf growing up, he also ate a lot of shawarma. With all the flavour of a shawarma but in easy meatloaf form, the result is a complete trip down memory lane.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

Shakshuka is a one pan dish. Eggs are a must, everything else changes with the seasons–add potatoes during winter and aubergines in spring. The hero in ours is slow-cooked, gently spiced tomatoes and peppers—the perfect bed for your eggs. It's been a favourite in our delis since day dot.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

Sfouf is a Lebanese semolina cake flavoured with spices and cut into distinctive diamond slices made by making a parallel row pattern. This version uses carob syrup (you can use date syrup instead) which turns it dark and moist, with a glossy depth that reminds me of a mix of dates and chocolate. The tahini drizzle on top creates little pockets of nuttiness that play against the rich sweetness. The anise seeds might seem like an unusual addition, but trust me - they make it even more special.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

This salad is only worth making when tomatoes are in season and full of flavour. It should be acidic and tangy, and will taste amazing alongside a piece of slightly charred meat from the barbecue.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

Sea spaghetti looks like dark fettuccine and has a similar texture – you can get it in healthfood stores or online. If you can't find any, use another seaweed such as wakame, but use less of it.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

Here is a twist on that out-of-favour classic, duck à l’orange, yet quite far removed from the original. It is spicy and rich, full of intense, multilayered flavours, a recipe you’d always want to return to for some winter comfort. The English Gressingham duck is the best choice here, as it is bred especially for its larger, more succulent breast. The French Barbary would make a good alternative. Blood oranges are in season throughout the first part of the year but you can easily substitute ordinary oranges. This dish would go well with a rough mash of orange roots, such as sweet potato, pumpkin or carrot.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

These are perfect just as they are, or split them while they’re still warm, slather with butter and serve with soup or as part of a breakfast or brunch. They’re best eaten on the day, but if you have any left over, they’re brilliant split and fried in butter to go with scrambled eggs.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

This is based on a favourite test kitchen snack that involves a schmear of mustard and a quick squiggle of Swedish cod’s roe from a tube. We love the mountain of fried onions here, but you can happily use shop-bought, if you prefer.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

This is not your usual meat pie. It is rich, sweet and spicy, and looks impressive yet rustic when served whole at the table. Take it on a picnic or serve warm with a salad of mixed bitter leaves.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

Dabu-dabu is an Indonesian tomato sambal - punchy, limey, hot - and it does a lot of the work here. Spoon it over whatever sturdy, leafy greens you have: we've used tat soi, but large-leaf spinach, chard or pak choi all work well. The datterini tomatoes are worth seeking out for their sweetness, though cherry tomatoes are a fine substitute. Both the sambal and the peanuts can be made the day before.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

Simmering the potatoes in vinegar from the start does two things: it seasons them all the way through and helps them hold their shape when roasted. A little Maggi in the dressing pushes things into properly savoury territory - Worcestershire sauce works just as well if that's what you have. Dress them while they're still hot, and serve with the extra vinegar on the side. Some people (me!) will want a lot of it.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

Flavoured butters are a clever way to use up those odd ends of jars that have been camping out in the fridge for a little too long. Spread them on toast, dollop on top of a piece of grilled fish or meat, elevate your eggs and soldiers.. the opportunities are endless!

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

The bright red, puttanesca-style oil makes this a spectacular centrepiece, while the briny, lemony salsa is the ideal sidekick for all that richness; the short cooking time is an added bonus. Crusty bread or crisp roast potatoes make lovely accompaniments. If you want to get ahead, make the fragrant oil the day before.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

Here's a delicious supper option for spring; it is fresh and quick to prepare. I chose sagnarelli - short, rectangular ribbons with fluted edges - because I love this simple shape, but other smallish varieties such as orecchiette or farfalle work just as well. Pecorino can be substituted for another ewe's cheese or omitted altogether, in which case I'd add a herb such as tarragon or chervil.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

Barberries are tiny, jewel-like, dried sweet-and-sour Iranian berries that we've been using a bit obsessively recently. It is hard not to - their intense sharpness accentuates other flavours in a dish and adds wonderful drama to its looks. You can get them online, and from Iranian and some Middle Eastern grocers. If you can't find any, use currants soaked in a little lemon juice instead. Serve this rice with roast chicken or turkey and courgette burgers with spring onion and cumin.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

If you don’t want to make pasta from scratch, shop-bought fresh tagliatelle also works (if so, cook until al dente as per instructions).

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

This colourful salad is extraordinarily moist and refreshing. It was created by the chefs at Ottolenghi Belgravia and was a big hit. The trick — boiling a whole orange and blitzing it down to a paste — is very effective for many sauces, salsas and cakes. If you don’t like fennel, replace it with a combination of spring onion and rocket.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Ottolenghi.co.uk

The test kitchen went wild for this recipe, an Italian twist on a classic bread and butter pudding, rich with cardamom and saffron scented custard and studded with candied fruit. If you are a fan of marzipan, try lowering the sugar to 50g and scatter in 100g of grated marzipan just before you pour in the custard. For that extra sweet symphony of festive flavour.