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A Middle Eastern Valentine’s Day menu from Yotam Ottolenghi

by Jessica Lockyer-Palmer

published on 11 February 2022

If you share our belief that a home-cooked Ottolenghi meal is the sixth love language, read on. At first glance, this menu of three simple dishes from across Yotam’s cookbooks might look like any other Valentine’s Day spread. Creamy mac ‘n’ cheese, simple side salad, indulgent chocolate tart – so far, so classic. But it wouldn’t be Ottolenghi without those transformative touches and there are plenty to enjoy here. A herbaceous za’atar pesto rippled through the mac, chopped lemon tossed into the salad, a shard of sesame brittle to finish off each picture-perfect tart; it’s the finishing flourishes that transform these dishes into a spread fit for an extra special occasion.

Centrepiece

The Ottolenghi Test Kitchen’s M.E. Mac ‘n’ Cheese with Za’atar Pesto

by Yotam Ottolenghi, Noor Murad

There’s mac ‘n’ cheese and then there’s the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen’s mac ‘n’ cheese, with feta for added tang and a herby za’atar pesto for a Middle Eastern twist.

From the book

Yotam Ottolenghi, Noor Murad

Side salad

Ottolenghi Cucumber Salad

Yotam Ottolenghi’s Cucumber, Za’atar and Chopped Lemon Salad

by Yotam Ottolenghi, Ixta Belfrage

Packed full of lemon, from the juice to the rind and flesh, this crisp, zingy salad promises the freshness you need to cut through the mac ‘n’ cheese.

Dessert

Yotam Ottolenghi’s Little Baked Chocolate Tarts with Tahini and Sesame Brittle (or marmalade)

by Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh
from Sweet

Round off your Valentine’s Day menu with these delectable chocolate tarts. Buttery pastry cases filled with a baked chocolate mousse and a hidden spoonful of tahini, finished with a decorative sesame brittle shard.

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