Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love

Product Information

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment in place, and mix on medium speed to combine. Add the softened butter, eggs, egg yolk, vanilla seeds, brown sugar, milk and the remaining three tablespoons of maple syrup, and mix on medium speed for two minutes until combined. It will look as if it’s split a little, with some smaller cubes of butter, but that’s OK. In a medium bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, yoghurt, two and a half tablespoons of lemon juice, two tablespoons of oil, one teaspoon of salt and a generous grind of pepper. Add this to the potato mixture and mix well to combine. Transfer to a large serving plate, spreading it out to create a slight well in the centre. Cover and refrigerate if not serving right away.

Make the chilli oil by putting the oil and chilli flakes into a small frying pan and placing it on a medium heat. Cook for four minutes, then add the paprika and remove from the heat. Set aside. Heat 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. Noor Murad is a Bahraini-born chef whose international work experience eventually brought her to the Ottolenghi family in 2016. She developed recipes for the books Falastin and Ottolenghi FLAVOUR, as well as for Ottolenghi's Masterclass series and other online Ottolenghi publications. Her Bahraini roots have a strong influence on her cooking, with Arabic, Persian and Indian flavours making a prominent appearance in her recipes. @noorishbynoor If you want to get ahead, make the day before and keep refrigerated, loosening it with a splash of water to serve, if needed.What I thought:I am not a confident cook, so this is the first Ottolenghi recipe I have ever tried! I was blown away by how easy it was, using a lot of “store-cupboard” ingredients all thrown together into one pan. It was utterly delicious comfort food, with a great combination of flavours, and very little washing up afterwards too – result! Transfer the mac’n’cheese to a large platter with a lip or a shallow bowl, dot all over with the pesto, and top with the crispy onions. If you’re thinking about buying the book (which is why you’re likely reading this review), you should know a few things:

Put the reserved 100g of beans into a food processor with the herbs, cumin, garlic, lemon juice, remaining three tablespoons of oil, one eight of a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Blitz until smooth, then transfer to a large bowl. Every recipe offers full-on flavour: bold and vivid in the way we have come to recognise as distinctly Ottolenghian”— Nigella Lawson It’s the surest, fastest way to get all the juicy pulp and seeds – sans skin. All you need is a box grater and a wide bowl to catch the pulp and juice. You may also need a sieve if you want to drain the pulp of any juice. Place the grater upright in your bowl, gently push your ripe tomatoes against the coarser side of the grater and grate until you are left with just skin. Make sure to only go as far as you can – careful of your fingers! The riper the tomato, the easier it will be to grate. Discard the skin.Buy the book here: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/ottolenghi-test-kitchen-shelf-love-9781529109481 I do not own any of the other Ottolenghi cookbooks, but I have seen them, they are glossy hardbounds with lovely pictures and pretty involved recipes. This is a flexible softbound book with less staged-looking pictures. I read through this in e-book format though I saw the physical book when I was out shopping. Make the topping: heat the oil in a small frying pan on a medium-high heat, add the sliced garlic and the pine nuts, and cook for 60–90 seconds or until lightly golden. Add the spices and a tiny pinch of salt, and remove from the heat immediately. Set aside. No one -- except for myself -- seems to like Brussels sprouts in my house but when I serve the Brussels Sprout and Parmesan Salad w/ Lemon Dressing no one complains! This recipe has the home cook prepare the Brussels sprouts in two ways: raw and roasted. The raw sprouts get thinly shaved, while the others are roasted whole until well-browned. Then the Brussels sprouts are mixed with thinly sliced kale leaves, sliced red onion, basil leaves, and toasted hazelnuts. It's the dressing, made from lemon juice, garlic, mustard, and Parmesan cheese that really makes the salad (my mouth waters at the thought of it!).

This warming spiced rice is a definite show-stopper, the kind of meal you would make for a special occasion. We toyed over including this recipe in the book, laborious as it is, but rice deserves to be prized and treasured – taking centre stage at many a family table – so make this one as a weekend project, a feast of feasts, a real cause for celebration. Yes, it takes time, but it is oh so worth it. This is Ottolenghi, unplugged. The Ottolenghi Test Kitchen team takes you on a journey through your kitchen cupboards, creating inspired recipes using humble ingredients.This magnificent pudding was made with the purpose of showcasing winter lemons, their bitter flesh a great way to cut through an otherwise decadent eating experience. In a happy accident, this was tested alongside a separate dish that included a maple-butter sauce. A squeeze of lemon and a generous amount of maple butter was spooned over the pudding because, well, why not? And it suddenly dawned on us that lemon‑maple butter had been the missing component all along. Lesson learned: sometimes that which is very, very wrong can turn out to be really quite right. Be sure to remove the butter for the pudding from the fridge well in advance – it needs to be super softened at room temperature before making the base. You can tell a lot about a person from what they keep stashed on ice. This is what we always have to hand. Jazz up this veggie version with lemon, herbs and toasted seeds. Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian