Plenty

Over the last few years my family has started eating less meat and we all feel better for it. It's difficult to find decent (mainly) vegetarian books, most contain the ubiquitous stodgy lentil loaf and broccoli quiche and too much cheese! In contrast Ottolenghi's book has a much fresher approach. If you love herbs and zingy flavours that burst in your mouth, this is the recipe book to try. Everything I've cooked from it has been really tasty; at the weekend I made a 2 course meal for a vegetarian friend (no desserts in this book so we had ice cream after as our 3rd course) and she loved it.I agree with other reviewers that there are a lot of ingredients in the recipes and some are hard to come by, but most things are available in my local sainsbury's. The recipes also work if you substitute ingredients, e.g, one herb for another does change the taste slightly but results are still good, so don't be afraid to tweak things. Due to the number of ingredients it isn't an everyday book for those on a budget. I am trying to save money myself but I can still afford to cook at least one recipe a week from this and if you grow your own herbs you will save even more.Since I already had so many cook books I was wary of buying another one to sit on a shelf so I went to his website and tried some of the recipes from it first. I tried roast sweet potatoes with maple and pecans and I cooked mushrooms with cinnamon and they were both amazing! I was delighted when the book contained more of the same inventive ideas.The hardback (or is it softback?!) is unlike any other book I own, it's got a padded white cover which I think is nice; very tactile. It's quite large, roughly A4 in size. Pictures are lovely too, but there isn't one for every recipe so if you choose by photographs this may not be so useful to you.Overall I'm very pleased with it and I'm looking forward to trying more recipes. FYI, I'm quite an experienced cook, perhaps beginners would find it a bit fiddly to make some of the dishes?

I bought this book in 2014 for my husband for Christmas and also have the kindle version of it too. It is a really great cookbook but some of the recipes look easy but they seem to have been made more complicated than they need to be.Yesterday I made the stuffed onions and honestly the length he goes to to create them is overkill. I simplified the steps and got a great result. I don't grate tomatoes and just used regular tinned chopped tomatoes and instead of using wine with the broth I used broth on its own. They came out perfect and everyone loved them. The sweet potato cakes were also easy and tasty but again I simplified them by putting the sweet potato in the oven and just scooping out the insides and mixing it with the suggested ingredients. He does tend to use castor sugar in most of the recipes but I just left it out and also lots of salt but I left that out too.The main ingredients in the majority of the recipes include fresh herbs, white cheeses such as feta or goats cheese as well as lemons or limes and yoghurt.I think this is an excellent book for quirky and unusual cooking ideas and I am happy with the choice of recipes. There really is something for everyone and lots of ideas that you can tweak to make them friendly to your taste. The black pepper tofu is amazing too.I use most of the recipes as side dishes rather than main meals as the portion sizes are quite small and seem to work well for us as side dishes to a main meal.For anyone who enjoys vegetarian cooking, this book is really wonderful. If you are not a vegetarian like me, then you will still find a lot of the recipes useful to go along side dishes.The index at the back of the book is very useful.

I bought this 9 odd years ago and for most of the years it served as an art food book, I’d get it and admire the photography and recipes then it would be put away. I eventually made the leek fritters first (turned out well). Years on I made the Winter Couscous and have made it numerous times since (a keeper), also the paella (keeper and made numerous times since). A crowd pleasing moment occurred in the last few weeks after making The Very Full Tart, I had so many compliments it seems like this is now going on the family’s ‘can you make that tart again’ request. So this is my thank you review to Ottolenghi for providing me with some gorgeous recipes that are absolute keepers for me now to be enjoyed time and again. Thank you x

What I like about this book is that it gives some interesting and creative new ways to cook ordinary vegetables. It does use some unusual ingredients, but most can be bought online if you are not near a suitable shop, and many are available in large supermarkets, not just specialist delis. I've tried 4 recipes so far and enjoyed them all. Looking forward to working my way through the book. Many of the recipes would work as standalone meals, while others are more suitable as side dishes or with 2 or 3 others in a mezze-style meal. It's worth reading the explanatory text as well as the instructions as Ottolenghi sometimes offers tips and ideas for substitutions if you don't have ingredients. I like that he's not too precious about following the recipes to the letter. There are lots of good photos and the recipes are clearly set out.A little complaint to the publisher and designer (and the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars): the spongy cover is easily pierced and damaged and is not practical for a cookery book. It looks scruffy and cheap when this happens and I doubt it will last for many years as I would expect from a cookery book. Please think about how a book will be used (yes, people do actually cook from recipe books, not just browse the lovely photos!). A normal hardcover would be more suitable.

It’s the best. Order it also for my daughters. Interesting menus great sauces. Fantastic

Livro óptimo! Adoro

Me encanta! Tengo otro libro de ese mismo autor y las recetas son buenísimas y llegó en tiempo.

O livro apresenta receitas criativas no preparo dos legumes, excelente para variar o consumo e comer pratos deliciosos.

Every dish I have made from this is a winner. It's definitely not just for vegetarians.