Whether you’re a Michelin star chef, or can’t cook an egg to save your life: the pandemic had us all cooking from home. This inspired Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad from the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen team to write OTK Shelf love: a cookbook that focuses on cooking from your ‘shelf’. Translation: from your fridge, pantry, freezer and veg box.
Is this a lockdown / pantry cookbook?
The title of the book and the marketing leading up to publication certainly made me believe it was a lockdown cookbook. My guess was: lots of basic weeknight recipes with pantry ingredients, like canned chickpeas, za’atar and tahini. Anyone who has ever cooked an Ottolenghi recipe probably has at least some of these lurking in the back of their pantry, right?
Well: this book is not that! Yes, it contains a lot of bean and legume recipes. But since the book also has sections for the fridge, freezer and even a veg box – this book basically covers all types of recipes. And almost all of them also include fresh ingredients like herbs, vegetables, fish, or meat.
Is this book any good?
Oh my god: yes! In my opinion, it’s filled with total comfort food. With many oven recipes and one tray bakes. There’s more warm vegetable dishes than cold salads. The ingredients are familiar for most Ottolenghi fans. And it contains some meat and fish recipes and also a small sweets section. What I also like is that there’s some step-by-step photography for the more complicated dishes.
I feel like you could best compare Shelf love to Ottolengi’s Simple cookbook. Because the recipes are not too complicated and the book focuses on dishes you would make for and share with your family and friends. However, most recipes in Shelf love do take quite some time to prepare. So for me, it’s more of a weekend project cookbook. But it will give you a lot of leftovers!
What I cooked so far
Peas, tahini and za’atar
Who doesn’t like a good dip? This comes together in a flash. It looks beautiful too, with the spring-like topping of radishes and un-mashed peas. It’s vegan, so anyone can eat it.
Green cannellini and tahini
This was one of the recipes that drew me to this book. It looks ánd tasted so smooth, warm and creamy! Yet there’s a nice pang from the garlic, lemon and chili. Just give me a bowl of this and a spoon and I’m done!
Greens and chermoula potato pie
My favorite thing about this pie is that it doesn’t use eggs. Which I personally find a bit overpowering in many quiches. I made it with both kale and spinach as greens. I also used 2 ready-made pastry sheets, to cover my tart tin completely. This pie is very light (because no eggs) and fresh (because of the grated lemon, dill and feta cheese). I adore the potato topping! Served it as lunch with a salad for my parents, who loved it too.
Brussel sprout and parmesan salad with lemon dressing
I could eat such a zingy, fresh salad any day of the week. I love the sourness of the lemons, with the salty cheese and the bitter vegetables. It works in all seasons too.
Fish koftas in ancho chilli and tomato sauce
I absolutely loved this original fish dish, I already made it twice. I used cod. The sauce is utterly delicious and the koftas stay nice and firm while cooking. However, I did keep them in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up, before adding them to the sauce. I always do this with delicate fish or vegetable balls. This makes a great dinner party main!
Sweet spiced mushroom and rice
The perfect autumn flavored, rich side dish. (Or vegan main, as the book suggests.) Some of the ingredients are chopped very roughly or left whole (the mushrooms). I will chop them up smaller next time, because I find that more pleasant to eat.
Verena’s road trip cookies
Perfectly sweet and chewy. I personally love cookies with oats and raisins. These are great to bring to friends or work (happy happy co-workers!). The recipe says to keep the dough in the fridge. I did – overnight – and afterwards, the dough is very firm and hard to ‘scoop’. But trust the process: in the end it all works out perfectly!
What’s on my list to cook
Also, I can’t wait to try the roasted potatoes with aioli and buttered pine nuts… Or the burnt aubergine, tomato and tahini… Or the Mac ‘n cheese with za’atar pesto. I’ll share them on @thecookbookbar once I’ve made them. This cookbook will be one I’ll come back to time and time again!
Other sources of information
- This book was accompanied by a recipe video series on YouTube
- More recipe videos are featured on the Food52 YouTube channel
