I’ve been vegetarian for over thirty years. I think it is fair to say that for a good many of them, I wasn’t much good in the kitchen! In part, this was a lack of confidence; in part, a lack of ambition; and in part, a lack of what chef-y types call “palette” (or what my mum called “being fussy”).

My recollection of being veggie in the ’80s was of limited choices and limited expectations For years, I’m sure the only recipe books I owned were Rose Elliot’s The Bean Book and Not Just A Load Of Old Lentils! I still have and use both, but the world of veggie cooking has moved on.

In 2006, the Saturday Guardian began publishing The New Vegetarian, a column by Yotam Ottolenghi, which was instrumental in changing my approach to the kitchen.

Whilst not vegetarian himself, Ottolenghi has brought an inquisitiveness about vegetables, a powerful understanding of the potential of complex flavour, and an ability to write encouragingly enough about food to engage with unconfident amateurs like the cook I was. Needless to say, I have become a bit of an Ottolenghi completist regarding his recipe books. But I was reflecting that his two vegetarian books – Plenty and Plenty More – have become my most-used cookbooks. He is also responsible for my spice drawer full of 70-odd herbs and spices!

I occasionally tweet from the kitchen and have wanted to gather some thoughts on the impact this chef has had on me, so here are my current 11 favourite Ottolenghi dishes, with a bit of explanation as to why I like and love them.

 

  1. Batata Hara

I love my spuds, and am always looking for interesting ways to enhance them. This take on roast potatoes is wonderfully vibrant, enhancing the potatoes with roast red peppers, chilli flakes, a lot of garlic, coriander and lemon. Whilst the flavours are big, they don’t overpower other things on a plate, and they work particularly well with Madhur Jaffrey’s Black Bean Charros and (I’m reliably informed) salmon.

  1. Grilled Ziti With Feta

Ottolenghi does comfort food exceptionally well, and this is one of my comfort dishes. What makes this pasta a bit different is the introduction of caraway seeds as part of the building block of its fresh tomato sauce. And the fact that it combines healthy quantities of Parmesan, cheddar, and feta, that crisp up under grill helps too.

  1. Crushed Puy Lentils With Tahini And Cumin

A deceptively simple dish to make, this was the first dish that wasn’t hummus in which I’d used tahini. It manages to pack massive flavours into a nutritious light plate. A dusting of smoked paprika helps raise its game, though personally I ditch the recommended side order of hard-boiled eggs.

  1. Kisir

This was my introduction to a new ingredient – pomegranate molasses! If you’ve never tried their unique sour-sweet punch, this is a great recipe to begin with. It brings to life bulghar wheat by it soaking up the tastes of onions, tomatoes, parsley, chilli, mint, and more, but with the pungent molasses cutting through to crown the dish. Since I first made it, pomegranate molasses have become a staple of my shopping list!

  1. Castellucio Lentils With Tomatoes And Gorgonzola

First things first, I have never found Castellucio lentils, but having discovered Puy lentils work a treat as a substitute, this is not a big worry. The joys of this dish come from the preparation of its elements. Cooking oven-dried tomatoes brings a wonderful fragrance to the kitchen, as the tomatoes gently soften and dry with a coating of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It requires me to stop and think about making the dish well in advance, making it great for weekend relaxation. Coupled with the roasted tomatoes is the mix of fresh herbs – parsley, chives and dill – finely chopped, to flavour the lentils. The addition of Gorgonzola brings a blue cheese tang that cuts through the warmth of the other flavours.

  1. Carrot And Mung Bean Salad

The delight of this warm salad comes from the mix of spices that flavour the beans – cumin seeds, caraway seeds, and fennel seeds – cooked in oil for long enough to release their aromas and then poured over the beans, with additional garlic, chilli flakes and white wine vinegar. And the mung beans are offset by caramelised carrots; so easy to do, drawing carroty sweetness out to complement the earthy pulses. I’ve found very small dice of halloumi in the place of the feta works equally well to bring a saltiness to the whole dish.

  1. Salbitxada Sauce

The actual recipe presents this sauce as an accompaniment to Quinoa and wild garlic cakes, but I’ve found it a must have sauce for those days when only Nigella’s Tuscan Fries will do the trick! The joy of this sauce is the preparation of oven-roasted red peppers, red chilli and garlic. Once peeled, their flavours are intense and sweet and, when blitzed with ground almonds, fresh tomatoes, sherry vinegar (another ingredient I didn’t know I needed) and olive oil, it becomes a velvety dip to accompany a humble chip.

  1. Aubergine Pahi

This is the aubergine dish to make for anyone who finds aubergine a “difficult” ingredient. As someone with any number of food-related “texture” issues myself, I know aubergine can be a bit of a challenge. This dish is also not one for those avoiding oils, as there is a lot of frying to be done – of aubergine (already coated in turmeric), onions, peppers and red chilli. But the standout for this dish is the paste in which the fried vegetables are then cooked. Ginger, garlic, curry powder, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, mustard seeds, lemon grass and curry leaves meld to form an amazing sticky sauce and fragrant aroma in the kitchen. The addition of cider vinegar to the cooking turns this into an awesome aubergine dish.

  1. Burrata With Blood Orange, Coriander Seeds And Lavender Oil

I have had the joy of eating at Ottolenghi’s NOPI restaurant a number of times. The pleasure of menus with multiple vegetarian options in the midst of intriguing fish and meat plates is matched by the flavours that leap from the dishes. I have ordered this starter every time I’ve been there, and was so pleased when it was included in the NOPI Cookbook. It all hinges on whether less than a teaspoon of dried lavender is a flavour that works for you as part of subtle savoury dish – enhancing a dressing of olive oil, honey and garlic. The acidity of the orange and bite of fresh basil cut through the creamy warmth of the buratta. (And it works very well at home with ordinary oranges and mozzarella, though Ottolenghi might be horrified!) My edible lavender came in a handy 500g bag, so no chance of me running out of that ingredient.

  1. Multi-vegetable Paella

This is a showstopper of a vegetable paella – and I’m told it also works with the addition of some seafood. The interesting flavours here are the addition of fresh fennel, smoked paprika, and the use of sherry to flavour the rice. And the beautiful array of peas, artichokes, mini plum tomatoes and kalamata olives added at the end make this a great dish to serve from the pan. A part of what appeals to me is the recipe calling specifically for 12 mini plum tomatoes, halved, and 15 pitted and halved olives. Whilst I’m sure it would taste fine with a few more or less, I take some joy in counting them out exactly.

  1. Spiced Red Lentils

I’m sure we al have go-to comfort foods, and this is mine. But part of its comfort comes from the preparation, which is a comfort in itself. This dish is built on dry-fried black mustard seeds. I have found them online in handy 2 x 500g bags (yes, buying seeds by the kilo). A paste of coriander stalks, onion, ginger, garlic and chilli is then flavoured with ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric, paprika and curry leaves, before having fresh tomatoes added, with a bit more layered flavour from fenugreek and asafoetida. Once the lentils have absorbed all this loveliness, a bit of lime juice and butter finishes it off beautifully.

 

This Top Eleven misses out recipes with other wonderful ingredients I’ve been introduced to by Ottolenghi, including black garlic, Sumac, and spice mixes like Baharat, Ras El Hanout, and Za’atar, but they have become some of my kitchen standards.

So thank you, Yotam, for such inspiring recipes and your unquenchable enthusiasm for flavoursome veggie food!

 

1. Salbitxada Sauce, with Nigella Tuscan Fries and some Lemon-Dressed Halloumi

 

2. Carrot and Mung Bean Salad, with a Tamarind and Mint dip

 

3. Aubergine Pahi and Batata Hara