Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love

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A friend gave me Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love for Christmas (2021). I've been thumbing through it for two months, reading through the lists of ingredients and contemplating how interesting they all seemed. This past week, I dug in and made two of the main course dishes. Both were delicious. Put 120ml of maple syrup and the scraped-out vanilla pod in the base of the lined baking dish. Top with the charred lemon slices, spreading them out so they cover the entire base and overlap in places. To make the crispy onions, finely slice a couple of onions into thin rounds, toss with two tablespoons of cornflour, then fry in hot vegetable oil in about three batches, for four minutes per batch, or until golden. With ‘Make it your own’ suggestions and swap-outs, and space to jot down your own notes, this cookbook is all about embracing rule breaking and putting your own stamp on every dish. Time and fuss-saving tips, simplified ingredient lists, and cravings-inducing photography ensure you’ll never be short of inspiration again.

If you’re thinking about buying the book (which is why you’re likely reading this review), you should know a few things: Set aside 100g of the beans in a medium bowl. Put the remaining beans, 600ml of water and one teaspoon of salt into a medium saucepan on a medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes, or until the beans are nicely softened and warmed through. Keep warm on a low heat until ready to serve.Perfect for showcasing winter lemons. Photography: Louise Hagger. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food styling assistant: Valeria Russo. Homeware: The Conran Shop Yotam Ottolenghi is the restaurateur and chef-patron of the four London-based Ottolenghi delis, as well as the NOPI and ROVI restaurants. His cookbooks have sold over seven million copies worldwide. Amongst several prizes, Ottolenghi Simple won the National Book Award and was selected as a best book of the year by the New York Times. Yotam is a weekly columnist for the Saturday Guardian and a regular contributor to the New York Times. His championing of vegetables, as well as ingredients once seen as "exotic," has led to what some call "the Ottolenghi effect": meals full of color, flavor, bounty, and sunshine. Yotam lives in London with his family.

What I thought: I was having some friends round for dinner, and had planned – in conjunction with my housemates! – to cook just one or two recipes from the book. As the process unfurled, however, we added more and more dishes into the mix, unable to resist the enduring temptation of an Ottolenghi veggie feast. Since 2002, the Ottolenghi team has slowly expanded, our scope has grown, and exciting new ingredients fill our cupboards, but so much, crucially, has remained the same. We continue with boundless enthusiasm and an unswerving dedication to detail; many of our team members have been with us for years, recipes, dishes and ingredients that are trusted favourites still feature on our menus and the philosophy at the heart of all we do is as true today as it ever wasHeat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Toss the pitta with the za’atar, two tablespoons of oil, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, and spread out on a medium baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bake for 12 minutes, tossing halfway, or until golden and crisp. Set aside to cool. The latest cookbook from the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen team – Shelf Love – aims to take you on a journey through your kitchen cupboards, creating inspired recipes using humble ingredients. The authors encourage you to get creative. Each recipe has suggestions of alternative ingredients, etc., and a space to make notes of what variations you've tried.