Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

Plenty Reviews

• 
  ·Karen·

  NEW! With ADDED UPDATES!
  
  
  This cookbook is so full of ZING and OOMPH that it can hardly be contained on the shelf, it buzzes and fizzes and sizzles and clamours to be taken down, lovingly caressed, and drooled over.
  
  How fusion is this? Ottolenghi was born and brought up in Jerusalem of an Italian-born father and a German-born mother. He obviously has zero preconceptions or fixed ideas in his head about what to eat with what: dinner in our house this evening consisted of roast sweet potatoes, spiced with ground coriander and salt, served with a crême fraîche dip that was jazzy with vivid flavours of grated ginger, lemon grass, and the zest and juice of two limes. And all on the table within thirty five minutes - yeah! And fantastic - oh wow yes. Yes.
  
  Another true revelation: the roast parsnip and sweet potatoes with cherry tomatoes and a caper vinaigrette, five stars for that one. And also the lentils with Gorgonzola and semi-dried tomatoes, that could turn into my new version of soul food.
  
  Great stuff here too:
  
  
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyl...
  
  You'll never eat meat and two veg again.
  
  Update: Chickpeas with Carrot and Swiss Chard, another excellent combination. The amounts are a bit nouvelle cuisine though. Recipe for 4? Only if you have at least one course before and two to follow, like a dégustation menu or summat. Us two ate it ALL.
  
  ANOTHER UPDATE! See how much fun this is? I want to cook from it every day
  Asparagus has begun to appear on the market stalls now - Asparagus Mimosa - makes that satisfying pee smell.
  
  Lentils with Celeriac and Hazelnuts and Mint: weeeeeell, a little mint goes a long long way. But lovely variety of textures and the mint softened a bit as you went along.
  
  But gorgeous: Ragout of Mushrooms with a poached egg. The recipe called for a duck's egg, but not knowing any friendly ducks, we made do with a normal, run of the mill, (organic) chicken egg, cooked to perfection using Ottolenghi's method: Let the egg slide gently into boiling water and then remove from heat immediately. Allow to sit for six minutes. The slight disadvantage is that you can only do one egg at a time - or use loads of pans - but then the eggs keep in warm water. And we only needed two, so not too long a wait. And the whole thing was probably vastly improved by the use of baker hubby's own sourdough bread, which more than compensates for the lack of duck's egg or truffle oil.
  
• 
  Mir

  
  Jonathan Lovekin's food photography is splendid, if not exactly ground-breaking. (Is there ground to break in food photography?)
  
  
  
  It may seem a bit odd to start a review of a cookbook by talking about the illustrations, but in this case I think they're one of the main selling points of the book. This isn't a criticism of Ottolenghi's food -- the recipes are interesting and most of them look quite tasty. However, Ottolenghi is a famous chef and food columnist, and almost every recipe (in fact, every single one I looked up, although I didn't check them all) is available on the internet. Also, the index is not great (it's arranged by primary ingredient but secondary ingredients are not listed), so I found it actually easier to google specific recipes rather than searching through the book. In short, I enjoyed the book but am glad I got in from the library as I don't need to own another large cookbook that I rarely consult.
  
  Most recipes involve a large variety of ingredients -- ones most casual cooks are unlikely to have at hand -- and a number of steps and preparations that might be intimidating to inexperience cooks; however, most of the recipes are not technically difficult. That is, they rarely involve things needing to be cooked to very precise temperatures or times, or by methods that can easily go wrong (sauces that "break" for instance). Also, he often notes which steps can and can't be done ahead of time, which is helpful in planning.
• 
  Ivonne Rovira

  As so often occurs — especially with cookbooks — how much you’ll appreciate Israeli-born and London-based celebrity chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook Plenty depends on who you are. Serious foodies eager to try vegetarian and vegan dishes will thrill at the intricately crafted dishes with exotic ingredients like Taleggio cheese, quail eggs, duck eggs, tamarind pulp, truffle oil, preserved lemon, grapeseed oil, ground dried Persian lime, the Middle Eastern grain called freekeh, kaffir lime leaves — well, you get the idea. For serious foodies, this book is a five-star find!
  
  Incipient vegetarians will also love this cookbook. Every single recipe is vegetarian, and many are vegan. Too many are billed as appetizers (“starters” in Brit-speak), but most of those could be stretched into a nice dinner. The variety of vegetable-based dishes will astound the reader, many with a Middle Eastern flair.
  
  While foodies and vegetarians may love this book, Midwestern soccer moms — short on time and access to exotic ingredients — not so much.
  
  Still, even for cooks whose idea of exoticism runs more towards tabbouleh, coq au vin, from-scratch burritos, or tres leches cake that starts with a cake-mix box, there are about one or two dozen gems in Plenty — definitely worth the price if you can get the cookbook in the Kindle format for $3.99 on sale, as I did. Otherwise, check the book out of the library and copy down the dozen recipes that you can adapt and actually use.
• 
  Lynne King

  What a fabulous selection of vegetarian recipes and photos. I cannot wait to start cooking! I'm not a vegetarian but it makes me tempted to become one.
  
  I would recommend this to everyone, especially those who don't like cooking, as it definitely encourages one to do so.
  
  Also a super birthday or Christmas present.
  
• 
  claire

  This is a fabulous cookbook. Without exception, everything I've tried here was fantastic and met with compliments to the chef. One thing to keep in mind, if you're cooking for large groups, or even if you're not, but especially if you are, read the recipes carefully and make sure you have all the ingredients he calls for--some of which you may have to special order if you don't live in a big city.
  
  Also I wouldn't recommend using more than one of his recipes for one meal, unless you have an entire day to prep and plate everything and your kitchen timing is exceptional. Most of the ones I've tried are slightly complex--with the "Lentils with Broiled Eggplant" for instance, you are doing a fairly simple dish in 3-4 stages using stovetop, oven, and mixing several things at different times.
  
  It IS worth the effort, but you have to plan ahead for these recipes in my experience. Partly I think it's because he's plating these dishes for a restaurant and he's got at least a little help to do that. What I usually do is choose one as a main dish and then prepare things I'm familiar with to accompany, or I just choose a side dish or dip to go with an easier-to-prepare meal.
  
  Great food & presentation, flavor combinations you've probably never heard of or would ever come up with on your own (if you're American), and a dash of humor in the recipe descriptions make this one of my new faves.
• 
  Kat

  Plenty by the British Yotam Ottolenghi is Amsterdam's most popular cookbook this year and supposedly the most popular vegetarian cookbook in The Netherlands ever.
  And not without a reason. I've never come across a more interesting selection of delicious vegetarian recipes and love the fact that Ottolenghi brings a wide variety of vegetables, herbs and spices into the spotlight.
  
  Snapshots from an article in Amsterdam's newspaper Het Parool:
  
  
  
  Anyway, I tried out a first - and probably the easiest, ha! - dish from Plenty. And although my version looked nothing like the one in the book, it was still very, very yummy (pumpkin= comfort food). I can't wait to work my way through the rest of his recipes!
  
  
  
• 
  Antonia

  Although I love delicious warm food, cooking is something I would never enjoy no matter what.Stirring pots on the stove has never been a pleasure, nor has my imagination for mixing ingredients been more than blunt. After so many failed attempts and wasted time following cooking blogs recipes I decided it was time I only trust chefs with excellent reputation. For more than 2 years now Ottolenghi's book has been my secret and most valuable ingredient in the kitchen. I have already cooked most of the recipes (Middle Eastern/Mediterranean origins) and I am more than happy that I am no longer stressing about what the outcome of my "horrible" cooking would be. I have even dared to offer some of the dishes for friends and family gatherings which has raised great compliments and praises.
• 
  Juli

  I had a difficult time figuring out who exactly this book is for. Intro gives the heavy suggestion that this isn't just for committed vegetarians, and that a major purpose was to give some recipe suggestions for folks concerned about the environmental impact of meat consumption (me!), so I was excited to read. Things get a little weird when the author gets defensive about vegetarians giving him grief for suggesting pairings of these recipes with meat of some kind, and the defensiveness against highly specific feedback crops up here and there again throughout the rest of the book. It's tiresome, but it's not the worst.
  
  Thing is, this book doesn't exactly spell out accessibility where ingredients were concerned. I really knew I was in the weeds when a recipe for potato salad called for 10-15 quail eggs. Additionally, the average ingredients list length is about thirteen items long, which I would say is a tad excessive for ANY recipe, whether meat is involved or not.
  
  The author does the absolute bare minimum in recommending where to find ingredients, and mostly only for things any person can readily find--and that those things are no good. Like when he suggests getting goat cheese--which you can arguably find in any grocery store these days--from a farmer's market, fine, but that his personal favorite is "Caprini freschi, from Piedmont in Italy." If you're buying figs, "no matter what you do, don't buy under-ripe supermarket figs that have been cargoed here from the ends of the world." Of finding quality tomatoes for a mozzarella and tomato salad, he writes, "I would ditch the idea at once if I couldn't get a ripe summery tomato, juicy and sweetly intense, a tomato that has never seen a fridge or a chilled truck, only soil and sun. You can actually get such tomatoes if you look hard enough. The best tomato I ever had was homegrown in the village of Monarola in the Cinque Terre, northern Italy. I'll never forget it."
  
  Great. Booking my flight now.
  
  And as a personal criticism: dude suggests cilantro on everything. EVERYTHING. Look for his defensive suggestion on cilantro fitting fine into any/all Italian cuisine. Cilantro appears again without mention in a Japanese-inspired recipe for soba noodles. Absolute madman.
  
  Overall, I think the guy just wanted to maybe write about all the amazing places he's traveled and all the good food he's eaten there, but was pressured into throwing together recipes from his column in the Guardian instead, leaving behind this weird and bitter taste of resentment. I was quite disappointed, but will at least try out a handful of recipes... that is, if the stars align and I find locally-sourced ingredients that were grown in a secluded, sun-dappled glade and hauled into town in a wooden cart towed by kind, hearty oxen or whatever.
  
  ALSO - the ebook formatting is royally messed up. No matter what size you change your font to, headers for recipes are inexplicably paired with photos from the previous recipe, squishing them down in blue font at the bottom of the photo page, not heading the actual recipe page. Just a whole nightmare of an experience to read.
• 
  Trish

  This is a beautiful cookbook with spectacular ideas. Stuffed onions? It makes you want to try everything the same day you see it. I tried a few...didn't have time for the whole shebang, but I came away with the thought that the individual pieces here are excellent. Unusual, really, but excellent. In the time I had the book I did have a little trouble figuring out exactly how to use some of the dishes with my repertoire. They are good, undoubtedly delicious. But not by themselves, especially. They'd have to fit with with whatever else was going on.
  
  The book is not vegan, but I think many of the recipes could be veganized easily. And the vegetarian dishes are pretty restrained on the animal products.
  
  Everything just looks so good! I will say I didn't like the Roasted Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes with Caper Vinagrette as much as I anticipated, mostly because it was a little sweet for me. We had two roasted already sweet vegetables, which has the effect of concentrating the sweetness. Ottolenghi then adds some sweetner in the vinagrette, which I thought unnecessary. Also, much as I love the idea of capers with this meal, it seemed like gilding the lily. It's hard to make the argument for further dressing roasted vegetables, already so easy and so good. Small quibble. It was great cold, maybe even better.
  
  Tried the Barley Salad with Pomegranate, an excellent filling salad that is great for travel/work/leftovers. And it is just too easy to modify to suit what one has on hand.
  
  Would love to work with this a little longer.
• 
  Canleen

  The most influential author in my life at the moment
• 
  NannyOgg

  I have the budding suspicion that the title “Plenty” is a result of negotiations between the publisher and Ottolenghi, who had possibly called his book “Plenty of Oil” originally. Every 4th or so recipe involves shallow frying something spongy like eggplants or tofu, and every now and then the end result is then mixed in a sauce made of a whole stick of butter or the like. Vegetarian cookbooks are supposed to help me “reduce my meat consumption”, but now I wonder if eliminating me by ways of a heart attack is what they really meant by that. (And I am also very curious whether Abbey Sharp*, who has this book displayed on set in the background, has ever actually opened it and looked at the recipes. I have questions.)
  
  The dishes range from “okay” to “pretty tasty”, but not “OMG-I’m-gonna-make-this-every-week” tasty, and some list ingredients that are as easy to find in a grocery store for common mortals as bottled teardrops of a 13-week-old unicorn harvested at the second full moon of the year while wearing a pink tutu. I am also not willing to sell my house for some saffron.
  
  I was looking forward to this book and really wanted to love it, but I often find myself just avoiding it and selecting something with a better result to effort ratio instead. It is 3.5-star cookbook for me.
  
  *Dietitian with a YouTube channel I used to watch
• 
  Sue

  About 35 years ago I became a Lessmeatarian, but it was only when Mark Bittman introduced me to the term that I knew anyone had described my eating philosophy. The beautiful cookbook Plenty puts not-meat front and center with big, bold dishes that feature vegetables and grains. Whether you use these recipes as mains or as sides is beside the point. Ottolenghi presents intensely flavored dishes, not uncomplicated, I might add, which will energize the taste buds no end.
  
  I received the book as a Christmas gift, and I’ve been trying recipes at about the rate of one per week since then. So far I have not hit a clunker. Though Ottolenghi has a fondness for crème fraiche and elegant cheeses, my favorite to date, Roasted Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes with Caper Vinaigrette, would also please a vegan.
  
  So far I’ve concentrated on winter roots and squashes, but as the growing season unfolds, I’ve got my eye on recipes with asparagus and cucumber. See? It’s also a reading book.
  
• 
  Sarah

  One of of my favorite cookbooks in a long time (I basically quit buying cookbooks after Mark Bittman's amazing
  How to Cook Everything Vegetarian because nothing was as good as that one), but I have made a bunch of stuff from this one and it's awesome. The instructions are particularly well-done and clear, and the photography is gorgeous. I will say that if you need a cookbook featuring only ingredients found in your local supermarket, this one will probably frustrate you. I live in a town with a lot of unusual markets and the like, so finding unusual spices and things for me is easy, but if that's a dealbreaker for you, then this probably will be a frustrating book. Highly recommended, especially for vegetarians (or people who are trying to eat less meat) who find a lot of the vegetarian cookbooks kind of blah--this one is anything but.
• 
  Lyn Elliott

  Terrific vegetable vegetarian cooking, light years away from the worthy stodgy of hunza pie and its ilk. (Yes, I did make it once, but only once). Ottolenghi's combinations are sometimes unexpected but always successful. And most make great accompaniments to meat if you're a carnivore, so it's still worth getting the book!
• 
  Jennifer (JC-S)

  ‘At the centre of each dish, .. is an ingredient, one ingredient.’
  
  In his introduction to this book, Yotam Ottolenghi writes that that each dish is based around one of his favourite ingredients. This has led to an idiosyncratic organisation of recipes: some components (such as aubergines) have their own chapter; others are organised botanically (such as brassicas) and others reflect associations that are part of the way Ottolenghi shapes his menus.
  These recipes are based on meatless dishes and reflect eclectic influences including the Middle East, South East Asia and Latin America. The book is full of delicious, mouth-watering recipes.
  
  The chapter headings may give some idea:
  
  Roots
  Funny Onions
  Mushrooms
  Courgettes and Other Squashes
  Capsicums
  Brassicas
  The Mighty Aubergine
  Tomatoes
  Leaves Cooked and Raw
  Green Things
  Green Beans
  Pulses
  Cereals
  Pasta, Polenta, Couscous
  Fruit with Cheese
  
  The recipes are accompanied by anecdotes and by mouth-wateringly beautiful photographs. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. The amount of preparation required varies between dishes: some are quick and easy, others will require more time. But it’s worth it. There is a recipe here for just about any occasion.
  
  I first borrowed this book from the library, but quickly realised that I needed my own copy.
  
  A note for American readers: the ingredients are listed in grams and millilitres rather than cups and ounces.
  
  Jennifer Cameron-Smith
  
• 
  Autumn

  Beautifully photographed veggie cookbook with roots in Middle Eastern Jewish cooking. Lots of eggplant and z'atar. I like British cookbooks because you can figure out what kinds of things are in upscale groceries over there. Apparently, it's MUCH EASIER to get halloumi. I'm interested in his carmelized potato tarte tatin thing, but I know I'm never gonna cook it because of my sad inability to carmelize.
• 
  Alexia Lucia

  MNAMDOPICI (on the can-cook/can’t-cook scale, this book might have almost maybe pushed me over the edge)
• 
  Kathleen

  There are some really delicious looking recipes, but goodness, most of them had a whole lot of ingredients. Maybe wrongly, but that usually turns me off.
• 
  Julie

  Visually stunning photographs of gourmet vegetarian faire! While on vacation, I attempted to take a photo of some food we were enjoying. Much to my surprise, I had a great deal of trouble! I now have a new appreciation for food photographers! Anyway, it's a beautiful cookbook with delicious sounding recipes. It's the kind of recipe book I would use on the weekend or when I have bags of time as the recipes are very detailed.
  
  Update: We've now tried four of the recipes with 50% sucess! The recipes are:
  1. Roasted parsnips and sweet potatoes with caper vinaigrette - fabulous! Anyone who says they don't like vegetables hasn't tried this recipe!!
  2. Leek fritters - Disappointing. Bland. Odd spice combination.
  3.Eggplant with buttermilk sauce - Blah! Boring. It couldn't decide whether it wanted to be sweet or savory! Recipe said to roast eggplant at 200-degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. I had to read it twice! I've never roasted anything at 200-degrees! Sure enough after 40 minutes the eggplant was still thoroughly uncooked! Sauce was quite runny, didn't look like fabulous illustration!
  4. Sweet potato cakes - delicious! The recipe included a sauce which was superfluous & didn't compliment the sweet potato cakes.
  
• 
  Deb

  A stunningly gorgeous cookbook with some spectacular recipes. I would like to give it a 4.5. The book has a wonderful feel to it--you just want to hold it and never put it down. So far I have just tried the Green Couscous, which was excellent, but I have a ton of dishes tabbed to make. A cookbook to savor.
  
  Here's a link to the Green Couscous recipe and photos on my blog:
  
  http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...
  
  Update:
  After spending six months cooking along with Ottoelnghi at I Heart Cooking Clubs. I have been able to try several more recipes from the book like Asparagus Vichyssoise, Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce, the Grape Leaf, Herb and Yogurt Pie, Celeriac & Lentils with Hazelnut and Mint Salad, Asparagus Mimosa, Shakshuka and my very favorite the Garlic Soup with Harissa (
  http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...).
  
  A gorgeous veg-focused book that has become a favorite.
• 
  Zanna

  A wide range of creative, tasty, makeable recipes, and a well-organised and attractive book. I didn't enjoy the writing style (I know, a minor point!) and I wish there were some breakfast/dessert/baking recipes - Delia's vegetarian collection, for example has them, even though most desserts and baking are vegetarian. She or her editors recognised that veg*ns are unlikely to buy her non veggie cookbooks... but still want pudding!
• 
  Penny Ramirez

  I read the intro, and skimmed through the recipes. Beautiful pictures, and intriguing flavor combinations, but really? Most of this was waaaaaay more work than I want to put into food. I suspect that it would be a challenge to get many of the spices (and some of the other ingredients) out here in exurbia - and I was slightly put off by some of the less than precise "oh, you'll figure it out" instructions.
  
  But I was enchanted by the pictures. Food porn at its best.
• 
  Kim

  The shakshuka. Just try the
  Shakshuka, that is all. (Although I won't object if you use a lot less oil than Mr Ottolenghi finds necessary.)
• 
  Kim

  Another totally inaccessible cookbook. Almost as frustrating at the momofuku cookbook.
• 
  Michelle

  I'm so torn about this cookbook. All the information and stories were great. Pictures were great. But half the time I had no clue what some of the ingredients were or even the title of the dish. Plus I've never seen such long lists of ingredients for every dish. Realistically I would not have a lot of the ingredients on hand. But if you have a plentiful stock of all the ingredient; the recipes would be nice to try. Way too difficult for my basic cooking skills. Probably awesome for those who have advanced cooking ability. Kudo's to the author for the detail and skill.
• 
  Sonja

  Echt een geweldig boek met fantastische recepten. De spotlights staan op groenten, veel smaken hebben een duidelijke match met het Midden-Oosten. Omdat Ottolenghi met veel smaken en aroma's werkt is de ingrediëntenlijst soms ellenlang. Exotische ingrediënten worden niet geschuwd. Maar hierin kun je ook de uitdaging zien! En je kan ze altijd vervangen door iets anders. Gelukkig maar, want er zijn geen oosterse winkels in de regio waar ik woon. Maar je leert ervan. Bijna spelenderwijs.
  
  Wel niet aan te raden voor de beginnende kok. Maar met iets ervaring en wat geduld zit er voor een ieder wel iets bij.
  
  De 128 recepten zijn een gegroepeerd in vijftien hoofdstukken zoals wortelgroenten, bijzondere uien, koolfamilie, tomaten, granen, maar ook peulvruchten en verse peulvruchten. Het hoofdstuk 'Pasta, polenta, couscous' is het enige hoofdstuk dat uitgaat van gerechten in plaats van een hoofdingrediënt.
  
  Het gehele boek overziend kan ik me van harte aansluiten bij Nigella Lawson: “De gerechten van Ottolenghi zijn van een onweerstaanbare schoonheid en zijn boeken hebben dezelfde uitstraling, levendige smaken, heldere kleuren en fantastische, eenvoudige ideeën voor gerechten die een combinatie zijn van Midden Oosterse en Italiaanse smaken.”
• 
  Sara Habein

  Plenty is the sort of cookbook that will make you hungry, even if you are actually eating while reading it. Whatever you might be eating does not seem nearly as satisfying as the dishes Yotam Ottolenghi collects in this rather sizeable volume, which includes recipes that previously appeared in the Guardian. Also? All of these recipes are vegetarian. Ottolenghi is not a vegetarian himself, but his restaurant in London’s Islington is known for its outstanding vegetable dishes, and I can see why. They make me wish that this neverending rain would knock it off already so that our Farmer’s Market can open. The sooner this happens, the sooner dishes like leek fritters and multi-vegetable paella can get in my belly.
  
  The photos in Plenty are stunning, absolutely stunning. Brightly colored and not overly styled, they are less about being a hip foodie and more about letting simple ingredients shine. Even foods I’m normally not too wild about — say, mushrooms — look delicious, so anyone into food porn may find this a bit of a one-handed read.
  
  (Full review can be found on
  Glorified Love Letters.)
• 
  Millicent

  This is the vegetarian recipe collection from Israeli Yotam Ottolenghi who is the owner of Ottolenghi restaurant in London, UK. I am flawed by this book. Rarely do I arrange more than one week of my dinners by the recipes in one book. I have been doing just that with this book for the last 3 weeks. The recipes are divided by:
  Roots
  Funny Onions
  Mushrooms
  Zucchini and other Squashes
  Peppers
  Brassicas
  The Mighty Eggplant
  Tomatoes
  Leaves, Cooked and Raw
  Green Things
  Green Beans
  Pulses
  Grains
  Pasta, Polenta, Couscous
  Fruit with Cheese
  
  His main additional ingredients were garlic, lime, white wine vinegar and lots and lots and lots of fresh herbs. Like his Persian Steam Rice with herbs uses a total of 10 cups of herbs for 1.25 cups of rice!
  
  I have made nearly half the recipes in this book. All were divine. I will never see vegetables the same way again. He imbues so many textures, and different flavors into minimally cooked, if at all cooked vegetables. I have only eaten on average two times meat a week for the last 3 weeks, which combined with daily superfood smoothies has really upped my energy levels.
  
  You must try this book. It is very inspirational. My favourite recipe was the Cabbage and Kohlrabi slaw with dried cherries - Divinity!
• 
  Cynthia

  i grabbed this off a library shelf without really looking at it and was surprised to find that it was a) all vegetarian and b) really a great cookbook. It's got surprising and unusual combos of ingredients that all seem really appealing, great presentations, great photos. A friend of mine used to say "if no one has ever put limes and potatoes together in a recipe, there's probably a reason." This book could be the exception that makes that rule, not that he's got limes and potatoes together anywhere but ... I mean, I never would have thought to pair pomegranate seeds with eggplants, but it looks pretty dang good the way he does it. And it has good chef tips on how to make veggie recipes really rich, like adding prunes to vegetable broth (who knew?). All the recipes have a kind of middle eastern feel to them but not so much that this feels like an ethnic or cultural cookbook.