Every time I make an Ottolenghi recipe I’m convinced that he’s finally lost his mind. Really turmeric black sesame seeds and parmesan together? Three tablespoons of fresh oregano? A heaping half cup of tahini? And as my fear grows—you see I also understand the ingredients of the time bubble and trust that we invest in new recipes that when punctured lead to the kind of frustration that can only be rectified with a searing review—I wonder if this will be the day that I finally make an Ottolenghi recipe that just plain sucks. And without fail we sit down to something spectacular in a way I hadn’t even considered. I’m in awe of his talent and relieved that I ignored every instinct not to follow his recipe faithfully.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
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 smitten kitchen | 2021-07-07 12:00:03 |  53,121 Views |
How to Make Zucchini Ricotta Galette | Smitten Kitchen with Deb Perelman
This was no different. It looks like a basic pesto pasta right? But it’s not really. Sure there’s basil and olive oil. But it’s missing the other ingredients of pesto genovese — garlicky roasted pignoli and parmesan. Instead basil is mixed with flat-leaf parsley and the zest of a whole lemon tablespoons of capers and torn chunks of fresh mozzarella are stirred in. The star of the show is three zucchini thinly sliced fried until golden brown and then soaked in a little red wine vinegar to create something that’s neither crunchy chip-like or pickled but more intriguing than all three. And then there’s the edamame yes the soybeans popular in East Asian dishes here in a pasta-pesto combo. I couldn’t do it! I thought it was too weird and wanted to buy peas which would be fantastic here. But as I walked away from Greenmarket I felt sad (probably because I was still carrying over 10 pounds of stuff I didn't really want to buy as usual) because they weren't there yet.
Now I know that not everyone enjoys roasting vegetables for a weeknight meal. But I would argue that this is the easiest way to do it. Roasting a gazillion thin slices would take forever and never brown as evenly. And—does anyone else do this?—at least according to my measuring cup the zucchini absorbed about a tablespoon of oil during the frying. Considering how much I would use for roasting or sautéing I would consider this a pretty good deal.
The resulting dish was one of the best things we’d eaten in a while a gloriously green complex vegetarian summer pasta dish that had me kicking myself for suggesting to my husband that he take the leftovers to work in case you were wondering if I’m actually a nice person. I mean sometimes I am? Just not with Ottolenghi leftovers it seems.
