Credit: Elena Heatherwick
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Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: 3 brand new flavoursome recipes for autumn
By Alice Porter
Updated 3 years ago
4 min read
Looking to switch up your midweek meals? These recipes from Ottolenghi’s test kitchen are the perfect place to start.
As autumn comes around, we’re all guilty of falling into the same old tired habits when it comes to cooking. And although a mid-week bolognese might be convenient, it probably doesn’t make you feel like rushing home from the office for dinner. But the colder months are a great time to experiment with food and there are so many simple ways to switch up your meals to make dinnertime feel that little bit more exciting.
Enter Yotam Ottolenghi, who has been experimenting in his Test Kitchen with chefs including Noor Murad. They have created a plethora of delicious new recipes with a flavoursome twist in their new recipe book Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things. Much-loved restaurateur Ottolenghi is known for his colourful and experimental dishes and his team of chefs based in the company’s London test kitchen have set out to redefine store cupboard essentials and how we use them.
The first book in the series OTK: Shelf Love was inspired by lockdown and working with what we have at home, which had everyone raiding their shelves and freezers. The latest book in the four-part instalment strives to celebrate those often small but game-changing ingredients we can add to recipes to inject new life into them. The Extra Good Things, as Ottolenghi and co call them, in question can be poured out of bottles or sprinkled from jars to turn a bowl of rice, a tray of grilled veg or a plate of scrambled eggs into an Ottolenghi feast.
If you know anything about Ottolenghi’s cooking, you won’t be surprised by the middle eastern flavours in OTK: Extra Good Things. The recipes are vegetable-heavy, from harissa butter on a roasted mushroom tossed with steamed veg or stuffed into a baked potato, to smoky sweet nuts spooned onto oven fries, then used to top hummus the next day.
And if you learn one thing from this book, it will be how to properly stock your fridge full of condiments to add the finishing, and often crucial, touches to your meals in what Ottolenghi describes as the “sandwich filling approach to cooking”. Think of it like accessorisng your kitchen cupboard.
Credit: Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things by Noor Murad and Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Press, £25)
So if you’re ready to take your autumn cooking to the next level, it might be time to ditch the ketchup and embrace some new flavours from wide and far. Here are three recipes to help you get started…
Coconut broth prawns with fried aromatics
Yotam and Noor say: “This dish is inspired by South East Asian flavours and is all about building depth starting with the base, which uses prawn shells to make a rich and spicy broth. Feel free to add other types of fish or shellfish, cooking them directly in the broth. Serve this with the fragrant coconut rice or just plain jasmine or brown rice.”
Serves 4
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 750g large tiger prawns, shells and heads on
- 2½ tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled and bashed with the side of a knife
- 40g fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 50g lemongrass stalks (about 4), roughly sliced
- 8 large makrut lime leaves
- 3 red chillies, roughly sliced, seeds and all (45g)
- 1 tin of full-fat coconut milk (400g)
- 60ml double cream, plus 2 tbsp extra to serve
- 250g datterini or cherry tomatoes
- 1 lime, cut into 4 wedges
- Salt
For the fried aromatics:
- 105ml olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled and
- thinly sliced
- 2 red chillies, thinly sliced at
- a slight angle, seeds and all
- 30g fresh ginger, peeled and
- julienned
- 15g coconut flakes (aka
- coconut chips)
- 15g picked basil leaves
Method
- Peel the prawns – remove the heads and shells and set these aside. Devein the peeled prawns and refrigerate until needed.
- Heat the oil in a large sauté pan, for which you have a lid, over a medium-high heat. Add the tomato paste and prawn heads and shells and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until deeply red. Add the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, lime leaves and chillies, and cook for a minute more, until fragrant. Add the coconut milk, cream, 450ml of water and 1 teaspoon of salt, bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down to medium-low, cover with the lid and leave to cook for 25 minutes. Strain through a sieve set over a large bowl, pressing down on the solids to extract as much flavour as possible (discard the solids, or save them for another use). Rinse out the sauté pan; you’ll use it again later.
- Meanwhile, make the fried aromatics. Put the oil, garlic, chillies and ginger into a large frying pan over a medium heat. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the coconut flakes and a tiny pinch of salt and cook for 4 minutes more, or until the garlic and coconut are golden and the chillies transparent. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the solids to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Add the basil leaves to the frying pan and cook for 2–3 minutes more, or until deeply green and translucent. Drain them in a sieve set over a bowl, reserving the aromatic oil. Transfer the basil to the plate of fried aromatics. Wipe out the frying pan; you’ll use it for the prawns.
- Add a tablespoon of the aromatic oil to the large sauté pan and place over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the tomatoes and cook for 6–7 minutes, or until charred and starting to burst. Add the strained broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 3 minutes, then keep on a low heat while you fry the prawns.
- Lastly, heat the large frying pan on a medium-high heat. Toss the prawns with ⅓ teaspoon of salt and 2½ tablespoons of the aromatic oil. Once the pan is very hot, fry the prawns for 60–90 seconds per side (flipping just to get them nice and coloured). If you’re overcrowding the pan, do this in two batches.
- Divide the broth between four shallow bowls and top with the fried prawns. Squeeze a lime wedge over each of the bowls and drizzle each bowl with ½ tablespoon of the extra cream and a teaspoon of the aromatic oil. Top with the fried aromatics.
Turmeric fried eggs with tamarind dressing
Yotam and Noor say: “These are fried eggs but with a very eccentric wardrobe, thanks to the turmeric and chilli, which make them as good to eat as they are to look at.”
Serves 2
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 shallot, peeled and sliced into thin rounds (60g)
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 3½ tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 200g baby spinach
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 4 large eggs
- 1 green chilli, finely sliced into rounds, seeds and all
- Salt
For the tamarind dressing:
- 30g tamarind paste
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp light soft brown sugar
- 5g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
Method
- Put the shallot, lime juice and a pinch of salt into a small bowl and use your fingers to gently massage everything together. Set aside to pickle lightly while you continue with the rest.
- Make the tamarind dressing by putting all the ingredients into a bowl and whisking to combine and dissolve the sugar. Add between 2–4 teaspoons of water, to loosen the mixture (this will vary according to different makes of tamarind paste).
- Put 1 tablespoon of oil into a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the garlic and cook for 90 seconds, stirring, until fragrant and lightly coloured, then stir in the spinach and ⅛ teaspoon of salt and cook until wilted, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate and wipe out the pan.
- Add the remaining 2½ tablespoons of oil plus the turmeric to the same pan, stirring to combine, and return it to a medium-high heat. Once hot but not smoking, crack in the eggs and quickly sprinkle the whites with the chilli slices. Season the eggs all over with a good pinch of salt and use a spatula to separate the whites so that the eggs are not joined together. Fry for 3–4 minutes, spooning some of the oil over the whites. You want the whites to be crispy around the edges and the yolk to be runny (fry them for longer if you like your eggs more cooked).
- When ready, use a spatula to transfer the eggs to the plate of spinach, drizzling with any extra turmeric oil in the pan. Top with the pickled shallots and then drizzle with some of the tamarind dressing, serving any remaining alongside.
Baked polenta with feta, béchamel and za’atar tomatoes
Yotam and Noor say: “It’s not a pizza, insisted Noor, when referring to this baked polenta, which does in fact look like a giant pizza. It ended up with multiple names at the Test Kitchen such as: ‘polenta-pizza’, ‘polizza’ or ‘polenta not-a-pizza’. It really is a happy-looking pie, with its yellows and reds and wonderfully golden edges. Serve with the chicory salad (p. 84) or anything leafy and green. You can keep this gluten-free by swapping out the flour for gluten-free flour, if you like.”
Serves 4–6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 80g unsalted butter
- 50g plain flour
- 750ml whole milk
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 200g quick-cook polenta
- 65g pecorino romano, roughly grated
- 180g Greek feta, roughly crumbled
- 5g oregano sprigs (try to use the softer sprigs)
For the za’atar tomatoes
- 400g datterini or cherry tomatoes
- 120ml olive oil
- 1½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2 tbsp za’atar
- ½ tsp caster sugar
- 5g parsley, roughly chopped
- 5g oregano leaves, roughly chopped
- Salt and black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 150°C fan.
- Make the za’atar tomatoes. Put the tomatoes, oil, vinegar, garlic, ½ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper into a medium baking dish, roughly 30cm x 20cm. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40–45 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until the tomatoes have just burst but aren’t completely falling apart. Remove the foil, gently stir in the za’atar and sugar and leave to cool completely. Once cool, stir in the herbs (gently, so as not to break up the tomatoes).
- Turn the heat up to 230°C fan. Line a large baking tray roughly 40cm x 30cm in size with baking parchment.
- Put 40g of the butter into a medium saucepan over a medium- high heat. Once melted, add the flour and cook, whisking continuously, for 30 seconds or until it smells like popcorn. Slowly pour in 350ml of the milk, whisking continuously to avoid any lumps, then add the garlic, ½ teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper, turn the heat down to medium and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until quite thick and no longer floury-tasting. Set aside and cover with a piece of baking parchment, to stop a skin forming.
- Meanwhile, prepare the polenta by first putting the remaining 400ml of milk, 300ml of water, 20g of the butter, 1¼ teaspoons of salt and a good grind of pepper into a medium sauté pan (or saucepan) over a medium-high heat. Once it gently bubbles, turn the heat down to medium-low, slowly add the polenta, whisking continuously to incorporate, and cook for 2 minutes, to thicken. Add the pecorino and the remaining 20g of butter and stir with a spatula until incorporated. Quickly transfer to your prepared baking tray and spread out in a large oblong shape about 1cm thick and 38cm in length. Spoon over the béchamel and spread it so it covers the surface, leaving a 1½cm rim exposed around the edges. Top evenly with the feta and the oregano sprigs and bake for 22 minutes, or until golden and bubbling on top and starting to brown around the edges. Leave to cool for 5–10 minutes.
- Spoon about half the za’atar tomatoes on top of the baked polenta, serving the rest in a bowl alongside. Use a pizza cutter to easily cut into slabs and serve warm.
Extracted from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things by Noor Murad and Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Press, £25), out now.
Photography: Elena Heatherwick
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