HOMECOMING

Eat your brussels with plenty of texture (well roasted or raw) and coated in punchy flavours, such as salty parmesan, umami anchovies and spicy mustard. Serve this salad as a side to a Sunday roast or do what we did and eat it alongside the cheesy polenta and tomato sauce.

When feeding a crowd, we are huge fans of large cuts of meat or large whole vegetables, slow-cooked with minimal work and maximum flavour. Serve this pork with the lime and poppy seed slaw with curry leaf oil, or with a good-quality shop-bought slaw.

THE YEAR IS 2020. It doesn’t need an introduction, more of an acknowledgement, that this is the year in which the rug was pulled out from under the world’s feet. Unstable ground had us grabbing for what was true and familiar and, to no surprise, all steps led to our kitchens. We did what we all do best, and began creating recipes based on what we had in our store cupboards and fridges, our freezers and pantries. We grabbed and raided and rummaged and emptied. We stripped down our kitchens to build up our tables and soon realised that any recipe – any food, any dish – can be made unequivocally ‘Ottolenghi’ with the right know-how, the right willingness to work with what you have. So 2020, the most momentous of all years, brought with it the first OTK cookbook.

We want you to take these recipes and make them your own, turning this cookbook into a handbook – one to write and scribble on, to stain with turmeric and book, the most haggard-looking book on your shelves, indicating that it serves its purpose and then some. We want, more than anything, for you to show this book some love. Shelf Love. Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love