Favourite recipes from Ottolenghi's flavour

[starlingdarling]

I'm an adventurous cook and make recipes from all over the world but I've just bought Flavour and I have to say... I'm a little intimidated. The recipes sound absolutely bonkers with the mix of ingredients borrowed from all over the place and no real country to peg them to. It's difficult to know what to pair with what or what's a safe bet. Has anyone got any favourite recipes from it?

I don't have the book - I find Ottolenghi books really intimidating too, although I've just bought his new Test Kitchen book which feels more approachable... but there's a site called Eat Your Books where people can leave ratings/reviews for the recipes. There are some well-rated recipes from the book on there:
www.eatyourbooks.com/library/195740/ottolenghi-flavour--flavor?sort=average_rating+desc

Thank you! That website is a brilliant idea. I've signed up for the membership and had a nose for reviews on other books I own. Lots of recipes that didn't stand out before but I want to make because of rave reviews.

I have made the spicy mushroom lasagne several times, it is delicious. Also the oyster mushroom tacos - lovely but messy to eat.

There is a spinach and potato stew/soup which is really really good, I made the spicy butterbeans to go with it but they were just ok.

The only thing I've made from there so far is the miso butter onions, but they are so good (and very simple)! The DCs love them with lots of plain white rice to soak up the delicious sauce,and we sometimes add tofu to make it a bit more substantial.

Thanks for the spicy mushroom lasagne suggestion, @LordEmsworth: DH and I each bought two boxes of heavily-reduced mushrooms yesterday so this is exactly the thing to use them up!

Love the chaat masala potatoes, we aren't veggy so often have them as a side with fish or meat. Also love the portobello steaks

Agree with the chaat masala potatoes, they are amazing, I double the recipe when I have people coming for dinner and everyone raves about them!

Chaat masala potatoes and the miso onions sound promising. Sadly I don't eat mushrooms. I've been a vegetarian for a few decades so am sick to death of being fed mushrooms.

I bought it but haven't cooked anything from it yet, however I did buy some Brown rice Miso in preparation and have been putting it in all my usual curries and stews, amazing stuff and the book will be worth it for the inspiration to try it.
I fancied the mushroom lasagne but I recently made a very mushroomy risotto and DH was in agony afterwards, totally bloated, apparently there's something in mushrooms that some people can't digest...

Hassleback beetroot with lime leaf butter, insanely delicious.

Chaat masala potatoes are lush! If you're on Facebook there's a group called 'the Yotam Ottolenghi inspired housewives.,,'

Ignore the housewives bit, it's non negotiable but a good resource for the recipes. Some of it is too much of a faff but his recipes can be ace. I now love cauliflower leaves roasted!

Just following

Me and a friend both bought this lockdown and worked through a fair bit of it - there's nothing I wouldn't bother making again so far. I loved the aubergine dumplings alla parmigiana and the asian fusion caponata in particular. I also made one of the suggested feast menus for a family occasion - you could look at some of the suggested combinations. The tomato salad with yogurt dressing is amazing, I'd never have thought to put those flavours together.

Chaat masala potato's
Hummous with crispy garlic and chilli topping
Miso onions
Spice potato with soy tahini dressing
Three garlic butter flatbreads (butter is freezable and I always have some in )

There's a recipe with gochugang potato's and eggs- can't remember the name but it's drunk food heaven! I think it's supposed to have kohlrabi maybe but I just use potato's.

www.eatyourbooks.com/library/195740/ottolenghi-flavour--flavor#notes

This website has the recipe index and notes from people who have cooked from it (including me) I love looking at the notes to see what others have rated!

I'd also suggest ottolenghi housewives group on Facebook, where people make and review all of his recipes- the aubergine dumplings from flavour are a firm fave on the group though I haven't made them myself!

I fancied the aubergine dumplings, i might just get round to trying them.

It’s not the answer to your question but Simple is a brilliant book if you find flavour intimidating.
I use it all the time, especially if entertaining as easy to mix and match and lots of tips for preparing in advance

Chaat masala potatoes were amazing! Thanks to so many of you for recommending. I've also made and loved the miso onions, hassleback beetroot (mostly because I just bought a kaffir lime tree ) and potato and gochujang eggs.

Not recommended here but the curried carrot mash was lovely. The cucumber salad a la X'ian impression was a big surprise. I've never liked cucumber but made it for friends who raved about it so much I decided to try it. That sauce is delicious.

Celeriac Cafe de Paris is gorgeous, the ultimate tray bake ragu is very good too and the Kohlrabi noodle salad went really well with some lamb chops I made. My favourite though is the portobello steaks and butter bean mash - very easy

The turnip cake looks amazing!

That all sounds good.

Does anyone have any top tips from the original Ottolenghi cookbook please? We only ever do one thing from it - I'm always uninspired when I look at the rest.

Am not sure which is the original @PortiaFimbriata - in our house it is Jersualem but I may have missed one before that!

I mean the one just called Ottolenghi.

The stuffed aubergines with coconut dal are delicious. Aubergine with fried garlic. Potatoes with gochujang. The namjim tofu. Fig salad. I've made lots from this book and so far everything is amazing.. The trick with Ottolenghi is just pick a page and go with it. So rarely disappointing that you just dive in. The more you make the easier it gets.

With the original cookbook (red cover) the baking recipes are excellent. Flatbreads; macadamia cheesecake; apple cake. I like the salmon and the lamb recipes. The broccoli salad is a classic.

Definitely join the Ottolenghi Housewives on Facebook. Such a lovely group (please don't kvetch about the name!).

The trick with Ottolenghi is just pick a page and go with it. So rarely disappointing that you just dive in.

I'm starting to learn this I've had (and used) Plenty since it came out all those years ago but it's a lot more traditional to me. When I flicked through Flavour I was struggling to figure out what was worth trying because I didn't recognise any of the flavour combinations.

There's nothing more frustrating than spending 2 hours cooking only for DH to take a bite and say "it's not for me". Thankfully it doesn't happen often (the green roasting tin was the worst culprit and quickly given away) but I've had to bite my tongue a few times over the years with Middle Eastern food. Yoghurt, tahini, grains, pomegranate and feta are often the culprits but to confuse things, he declared spinach and feta gozleme the best stuffed bread ever last week. He's also asked when I'm going to make a squash stack dressed in pomegranate and feta again

@starlingdarling

Is the squash stack Ottolenghi? I don't know that one.

Have you got Jerusalem or Falastin? Not strictly veggie but both excellent.

Can't believe no one has mentioned the coconut like gratin, its amazing. We also love the chickpea pancakes, chaat masala potatoes and Aubergine dumplings. I haven't made one bad recipe from it tbh.