Ottolenghi Test Kitchen

Starred review from July 18, 2022
“It’s the added extras that dress up a meal, making an already good dish deliciously better,” insist chef Ottolenghi and Ottolenghi Test Kitchen chef Murad in this creative collection of sauces, crunchy bits, and more. The jazzed-up recipes are what the authors call “a celebration of vegetables” and are largely inspired by Middle Eastern cuisine: Moroccan-inspired sweet and savory chicken pie gets a spicy crunch from the cinnamon-almond topping, while Egyptian ful mudammas (a spiced fava bean dish typically served for breakfast) is given a fiery kick from a green chile sauce. Throughout, the duo suggest variations for each “extra” item in a recipe; for instance, the pomegranate salsa used for a green frittata with burnt eggplant also pairs well with labneh, hummus, and a slow-cooked lamb shoulder. On a sweeter note, a bonus section focuses on dessert basics, where the team takes a classic dessert, such as devil’s food cake, and puts a fresh twist on it with intriguing ingredients like hazelnut praline, which can also be spooned onto toast, pancakes, or oatmeal (or even mixed with cocoa powder for a “Nutella-esque experience” that the authors “promise you won’t regret”). This master class on flavor and flair will inspire home cooks far and wide.

Starred review from October 1, 2022

Iconic chef and restaurateur Ottolenghi continues to set culinary trends in his second cookbook collaboration with Murad, after the 2021 publication of Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love. Readers can expect creative new takes on Ottolenghi's vegetable forward recipes, with a focus on sauces, condiments, dressings, and salsas that bring extra flavor to each dish. Each chapter focuses on a particular sauce or condiment, including homemade hot sauce, preserved lemons, pickled onions, and fresh chile sauce. Recipes range from the weeknight-friendly (a dressed-up pre-made rotisserie chicken with spices and blue cheese dressing) to the party-ready (asparagus cannelloni with yogurt b�chamel). The dessert chapter features scrumptious variations on basic pastry techniques and recipes. Most recipes are vegetarian (and many can be made vegan), but meat, chicken, and seafood are also featured. Many home cooks, unless they are highly proficient in the kitchen, will find that most of the recipes take longer than indicated by the suggested prep times. VERDICT Long-standing Ottolenghi fans will find plenty of new favorites, while the title also serves as an accessible introduction for newcomers to his style and methods. Highly recommended for library collections.--Kelsy Peterson

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.