Yotam Ottolenghi, the Israeli-born chef who ensured pomegranate molasses now graces supermarket shelves around the country, is well known for his love of vegetables. His books Plenty and Plenty More were both meat-free and now he has done it again with his latest herbaceous tome, Ottolenghi Flavour. As Yotam writes, “Flavour is ‘Plenty Three’, if you like, or ‘P3’, with the three Ps – process, pairing and produce – being the key concepts for explaining what makes certain vegetable dishes taste so good.”
In other words, if you were wincing at the prospect of “Broccoli And Brussels Sprouts Surprise”, don’t. Ottolenghi and his coauthor, Ixta Belfrage (whom he met when she started working for him at his London restaurant Nopi), have produced an array of vegetarian dishes that pack a proper punch. Portobello mushroom steaks with butter bean mash as a side, sweet and sour onion petals, and chaat masala potatoes with yoghurt and tamarind are just some examples of their creations, alongside a spicy mushroom lasagne that will win over the most committed carnivores.
“Mushrooms are as close to meat as you can get in a vegetable and they have tons of flavour because of all the umami,” explains Ottolenghi. “But the flavours in these recipes don’t just come from the vegetables, but also the chilli oils, marinades, salsas, the Thai sauce and Mexican apricot-based sauce, for example.”
Ottolenghi considers some of the dishes to be real standouts, such as the kimchi and gruyere rice fritters, and he also raves about the miso butter onions: “It is a really magical recipe,” he says excitedly. “They’re cooked slowly so the miso reduces into this incredible gravy at the end of the process and it just tastes fantastic. It really encapsulates what this book is all about.”
Another popular dish is the stuffed aubergine coconut and curry dal. “Ixta and I wanted to make it into a proper main course meal. We used instead of ricotta a paneer, so it moved from an Italian context to an Indian one,” he says. “It has the things I use quite a lot, such as curry leaves and mango pickle, so it has sweetness and a heat. All those warm spices that often go into curries, such as cumin, coriander and turmeric, mean it’s a real feast and it fits so well in this book, because there is such an obsession with chillies now. It feels right to finish this book with some chillies.”
Just don’t ask him to pick his favourite recipe. “I can’t,” he says, laughing. “That’s a bit like asking me to choose a favourite child.”
The recipe: Super-soft courgettes with harissa and lemon
Courgettes tend to get a lukewarm reaction, probably because of their high water content, which tends to make them, well, watery. But cooking them slowly in their own juices makes them fantastically soft. And if you soak them with fried garlic first, it enhances their flavour. The courgettes are very good hot, but are even better after 15 minutes or so, or even at room temperature, once the flavours have got to know each other.
Ingredients (serves four)
85ml olive oil
6 garlic cloves, sliced
1tbsp rose harissa
1 red chilli, chopped
½ preserved lemon, chopped, discarding any pips
1½tbsp lemon juice
1kg courgettes, sliced
Salt
10g basil leaves, torn
Method
Place a large, nonstick sauté pan on a medium-high heat with the oil and garlic. Gently fry for 4 minutes, stirring often, until soft, golden and aromatic.
