Ottolenghi keeps it simple in his new cookbook

Show of hands: how many of you have preordered Yotam Ottolenghi’s upcoming cookbook Simple? Oh my, that’s a lot of hands (mine included)! Four of Ottolenghi’s books command the #1, 2, 6, and 8 spots in the EYB Library by number of bookshelves. It’s no wonder, as his approachable recipes burst with flavor, color, and texture. 

His latest effort, due out this fall, continues in this tradition, but takes a new approach. The recipes in Simple  contain all the inventive elements and flavour combinations that Ottolenghi is loved for, but with minimal hassle for maximum joy. In an interview with TasteCooking, the chef explains the impetus for the new book. It started when The Guardian asked him to create a small seasonal booklet of simplified recipes. 

This gave him pause, “because, you know, I love my ingredients and the processes involved, and looking for things that are special and a little bit exotic,” he explained. However, after speaking with people on what they felt constituted a ‘simple’ recipe, he found a way to keep all of the flavor while reducing the work. The 140+ recipes in Simple are organized in different categories, because everyone their own particular idea of what simple means. 

For example, recipes coded ‘S’ represent “Short on time,” with each recipe taking less than an hour to make. The ‘E’ by a recipe means “Easier than you think”, while ‘I’ designates that there are 10 or fewer ingredients. I will be heading straight for ‘L’, which means lazy, e.g. slow-cooking or long-marinating dishes with a lot of hands off time.