Ottolenghi Obsession Onset: A Weekend Challenge

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The first time I visited the restaurant Ottolenghi in London, my mind was pretty much blown. I was on my first business trip abroad and I went for breakfast at the Notting Hill location with a friend right after getting off the red eye from New York. Which instantly cured my jet lag. I could not get over the giant piles of delicious vegetarian salads. I’d never seen anything that looked so delicious. And he had a cookbook! But it was only available in a UK version with metric measures, worthless to me at home in my US kitchen.

So imagine my delight when Chronicle published an American version of Plenty a few seasons later! It’s a treasure trove of inspiration but also a huge source of frustration. Ottolenghi’s recipes, while consistently the most delicious thing that you have ever put into your mouth, are also pretty consistently extremely time consuming and often use weird ingredients that you might have trouble finding or spices that you will only use once. Unless of course you cook from the book like every night. 

That doesn't stop me from using it and there are a few recipes (which I'll show you!) that are much less daunting and can be done very quickly. This... is not one of them... 

That said, as a Sunday project to prep for consumption throughout the week, the recipe for “Very Full Tart” is well worth the effort. The ingredients are straight forward and it’s actual a fun way to test your kitchen IQ because it showcases a couple of really wonderful basic techniques. You'll be a master of roasting and caramelizing by the time you are done (techniques that take a while but require little active work and deliver a huge flavor punch). 

The big hack here, is to use a frozen pie crust (the kind already in the tin that costs $3 at the supermarket). It will save you the extensive pre-baking time and means you also won't have to invest in a tart pan or pie weights.  

This recipe will leave you with enough food for multiple lunches or dinner or, frankly, breakfasts. It’s just as delicious (I think more delicious) at room temperature as it is hot..

But for the love of God, do NOT try making this on a weeknight. You will hate yourself forever. Consider this a #weekendchallenge. 

“Absurdly Overflowing” Mediterranean Vegetable Pie

Serves 4-6

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

roughly 6 tbsp olive oil

1 medium eggplant, cut into 2-inch dice

salt and black pepper

1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice

1 small zucchini, cut into 1-inch dice

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

8 thyme sprigs, leaves picked

1/3 cup ricotta

4 ¼ oz feta

7 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 medium eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1 frozen pie crust

We’ll start by roasting a boatload of veggies. Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Grab a pepper and use a paring knife to cut around the stem and lift out the seeds. Shake the peppers to get rid of all the seeds and discard the stem and seeds. Do this to the other pepper as well and place both prepped peppers in a small ovenproof dish, drizzle some oil over them and put the dish on the top shelf in the oven.

Get a big mixing bowl down and add the eggplant and 4 tablespoons of olive oil with some salt and pepper. Spread the eggplant out on a large baking pan (line it with aluminum foil to save on clean up!) and place it in the oven on the shelf below the peppers.

After 12 minutes add the sweet potato dice to the eggplant and stir gently. Return it to the oven and roast another 12 minutes. Then add the zucchini the same way and roast another 10-12 minutes. At this point the peppers should be nicely browned and the rest of the vegetables will be done cooking. Take them all out of the oven and reduce the temperature to 325˚F. Cover the peppers with foil and let them cool. Then peel the skin off them and tear them into rough strips.

Now grab a frying pan and heat 2 tablespoons of oil in it over medium heat. We’re going to caramelize us some onions, aka make them absurdly delicious by cooking them for a long time in their own sugar. Sauté the onions with the bay leaves and some salt for 25 minutes, until they are brown, soft and taste like heaven. Remove from the heat, discard the bay leaves and set aside.

Now I’m going to save you a bunch of time. Get your frozen pie crust out of the freezer. Congratulations you just saved yourself 45 minutes of pre-baking. 

I’d also highly encourage you to place the pie crust on a foil covered baking sheet before you start assembling. It makes it easier to transfer into the oven because it’s going to weight a lot. And also if the custard overflows or spills over it will catch on the foil and you have less clean up. 

Scatter the cooked onion over the bottom of the crust and top it with the roasted vegetables, trying to keep them even. Scatter half the thyme leaves on top. Then place chunks of both cheeses around on top of the veggies and arrange the tomato halves around artfully just making sure the cut-side is facing up.

Last step. The custard. Whisk the eggs and cream in a bowl with some salt and pepper. Pour that mixture over the tart but be careful not to overfill. The top of the tomatoes and the cheese should remain exposed so that they brown nicely. Scatter the rest of the thyme on top and throw this beast in the oven.

I’ll be honest. The cooking time or the oven temperature in Ottolenghi’s otherwise fantastic recipe is off. I haven’t been able to figure out which one it is yet. Ottolenghi says it should take 30-45 minutes to bake but having done this recipe multiple times now, I will tell you it takes longer for the custard to cook and set all the way, and (unless you are secretly Rocky…) you don’t want to go eating raw eggs. After 45 minutes test the filling by cutting into it. If it still looks liquid-y, put it back in the oven and bake it some more. And just check it every 5 minutes until you feel like it’s done. I’ve never had to leave it in for more than an hour and 10 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it cool.

Hint: I personally like this tart better at room temperature than hot. But delicious either way. 

You’ve got enough to share it with your office crush. So you should probably do that. Surefire way to impress!