Za’atar Salmon & Tahini From Ottolenghi Test Kitchen Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What to serve with Ottolenghi salmon? ›

Crusty bread or crisp roast potatoes make lovely accompaniments. If you want to get ahead, make the fragrant oil the day before. First make the oil. Put the oil, anchovies and tomato paste in a small saute pan on a medium heat and cook, stirring, for five minutes.

Put the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, half a teaspoon of salt and 100ml water in a small saucepan. Whisk to a smooth paste, then put on a medium-low heat and whisk in the yoghurt bit by bit, until the sauce starts to steam.

From this, Ottolenghi has developed a style of food which is rooted in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean traditions, but which also draws in diverse influences and ingredients from around the world.

The next time you make salmon, pair it with one of these delicious veggie side dishes. Veggies like zucchini, broccoli, cucumber and spinach are perfect sides for summer. Plus, these healthy sides are easy to make, only taking 30 minutes or less to prepare.

Bitterness is generally part and parcel of tahini - it's how ground sesame seeds taste. What you will find, however, is that some tahini can taste more bitter than others. This is down to a few things; like how that particular tahini is processed, or the levels of something called oxalic acid in the hulls of the seeds.

If it is too bitter, stir in 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup or honey. And if the flavor is too sharp, mellow it with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon olive oil.

Lime Juice – Freshly squeezed is best! The acidity helps cut through some of the bitterness of the tahini. If preferred, lemon juice will also work.

The only real criticisms heard by the industry about Ottolenghi's earlier books were that that the ingredients lists were too long, and the recipes too complicated. "So Simple was simply genius," says Jane Morrow. Each book is very much a hands-on process, with a core team of long-term collaborators.

We cook a fair amount of Ottolenghi recipes at home, because he's one of the regular food writers in our regular newspaper (The Guardian). They are usually fairly simple recipes that focus on a good combination of flavours - even as home cooks, they're not nearly the most complicated things we make.

What is an Ottolenghi salad? ›

Mixed Bean Salad

by Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi. from Jerusalem. Crisp and fragrant, this salad combines lemon, tarragon, capers, garlic, spring onions, coriander and cumin seeds to bring its base of of yellow beans, French beans, and red peppers to life.

Roasting salmon fillets in the oven gives you beautiful, succulent fish that doesn't require constant attention. This method, which we recommend if you're cooking four or fewer fillets, has you sear the fish in a pan on the stovetop first, which crisps the skin delectably.

For smaller, crispy, skin-on Salmon; a crispy pan sear is recommended. For bigger fillets, and succulent, skin-off King Salmon; the best method would be cooking in an oven.

Serve up with a super-simple salad – toss a handful of seasonal leaves in extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice and pop in the middle of the table.

Serve with bulgar, rice, couscous or bread, alongside sautéed spinach or Swiss chard.

This is such a great side to all sorts of dishes: roasted root vegetables, slowcooked lamb or pork.

While the salmon will cook on both sides, the process should always start by adding the fish to the pan skin-side down. The skin is tough and durable, and can withstand more time on the hot surface of the pan without overcooking the salmon.