This is the third Ottolenghi cookbook I have purchased. I have never been disappointed by any of them. I was attracted to this one for its simplicity and ease of preparation.This book is extremely well organized and user friendly. Recipes are categorized by type of food and classification of meal. These meals are rich in flavor, but quick and easy. Some ingredients might be unusual, but if you have a well balanced pantry and spice collection, you’ll be just fine.I love the use of acronym “SIMPLE” to code each recipe by its characteristics:S)hort on timeI)10 ingredients or lessM)ake aheadP)antryL)azyE)asier than you thinkOne or some of those letters will be listed at the beginning of each recipe to give you an overview of the dish’s characteristics.The first recipe I made was the “Spinach and Gorgonzola Stuffed Baked Potatoes” (photo attached). It was a big hit in my household. The recipe are not fussy. I did not have Gorgonzola, but the instructions said any blue cheese would do. I did not have large russets, so I used the small russets I had on hand.The book concludes with meal plans based on time of week, type of meal, nationality, and season of the year. After that, there is discussion on some of the more unique ingredients. Finally, there is a very well-structured index.Overall, I am very pleased with this book. I’ve reviewed it from cover to cover, and I know I will be using it for years to come. There are plenty of well-styled photos to entice. This book is definitely two thumbs up!
I am no professional chef, but I’m an experienced home cook. And I found these recipes to be very doable, and I think many of these I could do with my twelve year old little cousin.I do encourage anyone who buys this to take two minutes to read the introduction written by the author, so that you understand how to look at this book. He makes a good point that “simple” is different for each person, as it was for each person who helped put the book together. For example, simple for one person may mean, put it together and let the oven do its thing while you do something else, or simple is few ingredients, or simple is prep fast, or simple is make ahead on Sunday so you can just assemble it quickly after work on Monday. That’s how the SIMPLE system helps you choose recipes. There’s something for everyone.I’ve included a picture of the inner cover with a brief description of the SIMPLE grading system, and each recipe has one or more of these letters to categorize the recipe. So don’t expect every recipe to meet all 6 criteria.The introduction goes over ingredients:For those who are intimidated by the “Ottolenghi Ingredients” (see picture)If you live in Texas, I was able to add these following ingredients into my curbside pickup at H-E-B. Saves time searching! I was able to find Sumac, Za’atar, Pomegranate Molasses, Ground Cardamom, Tahini, and Date Syrup (Molasses)—not Ottolenghi ingredients, but a unique ingredient used in a recipe. All for reasonable prices. Note, each store will vary, so if you can do curbside pickup—find the closest “big” H-E-B close to you and go town. Curbside is something I’ve come to embrace during the pandemic, and it saves so much time when it comes to finding special items.If you don’t have an HEB, then your local grocery store with a good international section that includes middle eastern ingredients/brands like SADAF etc, may have these.Black Garlic I found at our local 99 ranch market which is an Asian grocery store, so if you have one in town, check it out.I found Harissa at our local Kroger’s but not Rose harissa, but I do have rose water and will try to simulate the taste.There are recipes for Rose Harissa online and the ingredients are quite attainable, so you could make a batch to jar and use for months. The recipes I have found involve both petals and rose water, but I will omit the rose petals and try mixing the proportions for harissa to rose water to at least get the floral element.I’ve seen you can find many of these ingredients at the middle eastern grocery store. Many Asian Supermarkets have a good Indo/Paki/Middle Eastern section—you might find them there tooIt’s more likely cheaper to buy in store than online.[UPDATE: I went to our local middle eastern grocery store, Phoenicia— all or most of these ingredients are $6 at most. Awesome!!]BUT EVEN IF you don’t have these, and don’t have these special grocery stores, and don’t feel like buying them online and paying more for them—improvise! He offers substitutions if you can’t find the fancy stuff, and the internet has all the substitutions you need when you’re missing something.That’s what you would do when you’re cooking “normal” things at home right? I don’t have heirloom tomatoes, but I have normal tomatoes! I don’t have date syrup, but I have honey. So take a chance and you might be pleasantly surprised, or disappointed—but that’s the fun in learning and gaining experience with cooking.With that being said, any substitution means it will deviate from the original taste intended, but if you like it, and your loved ones like it, then the substitution was a win and you didn’t need to buy a $13 ingredient you may only use once or twice.I say this so that people will not hold back from this book because of these special ingredients.At the end of the introduction, he clarifies certain ingredients to be EXTRA clear—and I really appreciate that he took the time to be very clear throughout the book to help the reader be successful in following the recipes.The book is beautiful with many pictures and of most of the recipes. Its layout is user friendly. And Ottolenghi is very detailed in his instructions.Cut it this way, and lay it on the dish this way, in this direction.Most recipes are very approachable. And if you understand the SIMPLE system, then you can choose a recipe that suits your needs at that moment. There are soo many great recipes here, so don’t be discouraged to try new things!UPDATE:I have made about 5-6 recipes already, and now that I’ve acquired the rest of the ingredients and have found a middle eastern grocery store to replenish my ingredients—I can forsee many of these becoming go to/staple recipes in our house.I also highly recommend using this book alongside Adeena Sussman’s “Sababa” cookbook. She offers recipes to many of these special ingredients, spice blends, and condiments.
This book is exactly what it claims! I’m make the preserved lemon roast chicken, the chicken Marbella so far. All the lamb recipes including the lamb Shepard’s pie with a tahini crust sound amazing! As do all the glorious veggie recipes. More and more I find I want to cook simply. There are many make ahead ideas in this book!We are having friends over this weekend and I plan on making the chicken Marbella again... and also, the gluten free cut out cookie recipe (with orange zest and five spice)!I can’t wait to try the Gorgonzola, spinach and walnut stuffed baked potatoes, the red lentil coconut curry soup, and some of the wonderful potato and bean mashed!Thank you Ottolenghi and team for creating another beautiful book.On a side note... the binding doesn’t have the luxury feel and pillow like cover I loved so much in some of his other books. But I’m careful with it and imagine it will last us some time.Update: the Brunsli cookies are delicious!! Simple, delicious and naturally gluten free. Serving these tomorrow when we have guests over.Update: 1/3/18 the curried lentil, coconut and ginger soup is amazing!! I have a bad cold and this is sure hitting the spot. I added a picture above. Perfect balance of spicy, creamy and herbaceous! Great way to use up all those delicious cilantro stems as well. This will become a staple at my house for sure.
If you don’t know ottolenghi’s amazing cookbooks.. this is a great intro. For the average American home cook.. be prepared to source some exotic ingredients ..(rose harissa-a must for this particular book, black garlic, sumac, preserved lemons etc)... it have a well stocked ottolenghi pantry.. and still had to find the rose Harris’s and black garlic..also.. even though the book is titled “Simple”.. a one pot wonder.. quick and easy weeknight supper.. this book is notThat being said.., these recipes pay off big time for your effort. I love this book.. two recipes in (asparagus with dill, fried capers, and almonds, and amustard cauliflower). .. have been very good..On the other hand.. some other recipes have had mixed results.. slow cooked chicken with crispy corn crush.. was bad.. a soufflé type crust and bland stewed chicken.. rice noodle salad. bland..Be sure and weigh your veggies.. one medium/small/large veggie is not the same as a usa medium/small/veggie..And more than likely add more spices and salt.. many recipes seem blandI really wish the title wasnt simple.. may recipes take multiple pots/pans and steps... some truly are simple.. some truly arent.Updated to four stars!Have continued cooking from this book.. yes.. I hit a rough patch with a few underwhelming recipes.. but most have them have be been so good!!! I have currently cooked 63 recipes from this book so far.. whew! Maybe the most from any single book for me. I can not recommend this book enough!
I got this cookbook as a gift and love it so much that I bought it for a gift for a friend. Everything we have made has been delicious and easy to make. Highly recommend this cookbook to anyone who likes to eat.
Just what a person needs to add some variety to cooking without adding crazy items to your pantry. Need to eat cleaner but I am easily bored and do not want recipes involving many ingredients or steps
very interesting recipes and easy instructions. Great pics also
This item would make a wonderful, thoughtful gift for my aunt, who seems to already have everything, but she loves the kitchen and exploring new culinary experiences. I plan to share this idea with others as a helpful suggestion for finding unique presents for similar individuals who appreciate quality and delicious food.
Great price but the book doesn't look new.
For some reason I thought this cook book was complicated even if it’s called Simple. I tried one recipe and I did not like it and never tried another.
Very nice but a lot of repeats that I have
I love the way the recipes are explained, it looks as everything can be so simple and in fact it is once you have the right ingredients.
Love the recipes . Nice pics . Easy to follow recipes
great recipes with pictures - guests have asked of the recipes
I love this cookbook. I got flavor and plenty as well and am making so many yummy things
I always enjoy reading his cookbooks but I’m finding in my old age that I need simpler, fewer ingredient recipes
I do own two other Ottolenghi cookbooks and bought this one on a whim after hearing rave reviews from a friend. I will keep my review simple and to the point (unlike the cookbook!): It Is Not Simple.The irony is that in the introduction, Ottolenghi writes at length about wanting to keep the recipes simple, including limiting himself to 10 ingredients but not including staples like oil or water or salt or pepper, which is fair enough, but 10 ingredients plus staples is a long list in my book. Especially when the list often includes things like preserved lemons, sumac, date syrup, nigella seeds, which aren't quite pantry staples for most people.While there are simpler recipes in the book, on the whole most recipes are very Ottolenghi, an intriguing, even bizarre, fusion of spices and herbs and ingredients. While I have cooked and enjoyed Ottolenghi recipes, I have learned from experience not to be taken in when he proclaims it's so easy or wonderful. Many of the flavor combinations are going to be highly subjective. And, like most Ottolenghi recipes, a hit or miss and also highly dependent on that one or two rare ingredient you need to track down or pay a small fortune for, like preserved lemons.Ottolenghi deserves his place in the annals of culinary history, but the same reasons making him famous are also the same reasons why his recipes are rarely going to be everyday cooking for most people. I won't tell anyone not to get the cookbook, but I will finish the review with the caveat to be aware that despite the title it is still very Ottolenghi, with all the bells and whistles.
A chronological account of Simple since I received it a couple of weeks ago: (1) I made the whole roasted cauliflower and decided that this is my new favorite way to make cauliflower, (2) I made the eggplant with anchovy sauce and was surprised by its deliciousness; I promptly ordered Ottolenghi's Plenty; (3) I made the harissa potatoes and ate the entire pan, then made it again for breakfast the next day. Seriously, I gained four pounds in two days because of these potatoes (I hope you have more self control than I do); (4) I made the sirloin/harissa recipe and decided that his meat recipes are as delicious as his vegetable recipes.I see myself using this cookbook much more often than Plenty. Both cookbooks are beautiful, but Plenty is more complicated and I am cooking for one.One note: although these recipes are simple for Ottolenghi, they aren't particularly simple. I can't find some ingredients (e.g., rose harissa) in my very well-stocked grocery store and many recipes are time consuming. Both the whole roasted cauliflower and the Harissa garlic potatoes used two different cooking methods (boiling and roasting) and took two hours. While most of that isn't active cooking, I won't be able to spend that much time cooking once I am no longer working from home.Despite those caveats, this is the best cookbook I have used in recent memory. I am planning to gift it to my friends who love cooking and eating.
I pre-ordered this book, because Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes are almost always huge successes for me. I like his sense of flavor and some of the surprising combinations he comes up with. I thought this book would be perfect for weeknight cooking. Unfortunately, I find the recipes aren't so much "simple" as "less complicated, sometimes, but also frequently less flavorful".First, the good. I do like that he lays out his criteria and has a SIMPLE acronym to advise which recipes meet which criteria. Unfortunately, it seems to be inconsistently applied throughout the book, but it's at least a start. He covers the basic pantry ingredients you'll need; I'm not sure I agree with all of them - for example, rose harissa is very difficult to find and quite expensive, at least in the US, and regular harissa works too - but it's nice to have that all covered in detail. And some of the recipes are very, very good, in typical Ottolenghi style. The rose harissa chickpeas with flaked cod are truly easy to make and extremely delicious. The lamb meatballs with feta are great for a weeknight, though you can bake them all the way through rather than fry+bake to make it even faster. There's a baked mint rice with an olive-pomegranate salsa - that salsa is 100% fantastic and I would eat it on anything. Very easy to throw together, too.The bad: A lot of the dishes just seem not quite complete. The slow-cooked chicken with crisp corn crust has turned out poorly for many people in a couple of cookbook clubs in which I participate. The crust seems to just kind of sink into a soggy mess. And the chicken itself is... I can see where he's going, but there are about fifteen other chili recipes I'd rather eat. The chicken marbella turns out with quite soggy skin, which could be remedied if he instructed air drying. Perhaps it's my American tastes but I don't prefer soggy poultry skin. The sauce itself was good but not amazing. The overall feel of the book just hasn't been inspiring to me the way Ottolenghi's other books are.In summary, the problem is perhaps that my expectations were too high; however, if you haven't cooked with Ottolenghi before, I would recommend a different book first, like Jerusalem or Plenty.
I understand why Ottolenghi’s other books had to come first. But I sincerely believe that this one is his best yet, especially for the way we American cooks operate.UPDATE December 2018: Check the equivalents/conversions as you study ingredient lists. Some conversions are incorrect in this first edition. If you are an experienced cook or baker, I believe that you will catch these mistakes--and I am not going to change my 5-star rating. But, be careful! And a plea to the publishers: Please edit this product page --in a prominent way--when the corrections have been made, so that people feel at ease with buying this book. It would be a shame for this book to fall short--just because conversions are screwed up!What is this book about? And how do these "simple" methods work? The “modus operandi”, or MO, goes somewhat like this: And it’s SIMPLE: (Please stay with me, as I work the way through these letters. The next paragraph gets to be long-ish.) Because these concepts drive the book, if you don’t care for or believe in these six methods, then maybe you won’t appreciate this cook book. On the other hand, if you currently think that you don't need to learn these S-I-M-P-L-E MOs, then maybe you are the perfect "target" for this book! Can I convince you to buy this book? These S-I-M-P-L-E cooking principles are important to accept, to grasp, and to own.If you are a somewhat experienced home cook with the ability to manipulate recipes, you’ve probably already tinkered with some from Ottolenghi’s previous publications and made them your own. So, you have already practiced SIMPLE and you beat Ottolenghi to the punch in a way, creating your own SIMPLE recipes, using the following techniques: Maybe you created a riff that does not take too long, (S = short on time). And you streamlined some ingredient lists, (I = ten ingredients or less). And I bet you’ve broken apart some recipe steps, so that you could do some in advance, (M = make ahead). For sure, if you’ve cooked from Ottolenghi’s recipes before, you’ve built up your pantry to come up with a quick (pantry-led) dish when you don’t have extra time to shop, (P = pantry). And you have developed some steps to keep your hands and mind free to do other things, such as slow cooking, marinating ahead, building an entire meal in one pot or one sheet pan, ( L = lazy cooking). And last but not least, you know those techniques and recipes that you’ve mastered—and therefore embraced as being E = easy: Where you say to yourself, “Oh, I can do that, no problem!” Well, in this book Ottolenghi encourages us to try some recipes that might seem intimidating in some way, but, as he puts it, “are easier than you think.”Where some cookbooks falsely claim to be “easy”, or “week night” cooking, most of the recipes in this book actually are. Just get thoughtful about the concepts and just don’t balk! Grasp these concepts or methods and fine tune your planning skills. You will be a better--and more creative--cook for it.On to contents: Veggies are overwhelmingly in the forefront—in their own chapters, Raw Veg and Cooked Veg—but also throughout all the other chapters. (Except the Dessert chapter, which is, of course, led by fruit.) I remember writing in my review of one of his other books, and it continues to be a fair warning for this one: If you do not have opportunities to find fresh herbs, you cannot substitute dry herbs and get proper results. I didn’t really check to see if I could say that every recipe uses fresh herbs, but I believe it is safe to say that most recipes require fresh herbs. Once one buys an Ottolenghi cook book, if you have a yard, you will be incorporating herb plants into your flower beds…..And you will need to buy quality spices, too, if you want these recipes to excite and astound you. There is a huge difference between the taste of grocery store shelf and bulk bin spices and what you get from an experienced spice merchant. The quality of the spices you use can make or break these recipes. Do an internet search of spice houses to find one that appeals to you. For an example, take in the scent and taste of cumin from an established and experienced spice merchant and compare it with what you last bought at the grocery store. You will be amazed at the difference.The veggie dishes are fabulous! The day this book arrived in the mail, I was able to whip together a handful of veggie dishes—just with what I already had on my shelves and in the frig. See? SIMPLE. A tomato and cucumber raita uses a green chile paste with preserved lemon. Another tomato/bread salad mixes in anchovies and capers. I had just bought three bags of Moon Drop grapes. They are a long cylinder shape and so sweet. And I had all the ingredients for a marinade for the grapes that were then skewered and grilled. I had ingredients at hand for a green onion and herb salad, with cukes, bell pepper, mint, and cilantro. And also, all I needed to make Roast Ca...
