Plenty

The cookbook that launched Ottolenghi from successful London restaurateur to international food icon. Plenty collects 120 vegetarian recipes from his Guardian column “The New Vegetarian,” and its impact on home cooking has been enormous. It proved that vegetable dishes could be just as exciting, complex, and satisfying as anything built around meat.

Why Start Here

Plenty is the natural entry point because it captures Ottolenghi’s philosophy in its purest form: bold flavors, beautiful presentation, and a genuine love for vegetables as the star of the plate. The book is organized by ingredient, making it easy to cook based on what you find at the market. The recipes are accessible to confident home cooks while still feeling inventive and surprising.

Starting with Plenty also gives you context for everything Ottolenghi wrote afterward. His later books, including Plenty More, Jerusalem, Simple, and Flavour, all build on the foundation laid here. If you connect with his approach to seasoning, texture, and color in Plenty, you will have years of cooking ahead of you across his broader catalogue.

What to Expect

A 288-page hardcover with stunning photography by Jonathan Lovekin. The recipes range from quick salads to more involved dishes, but most are manageable on a weeknight. You will want to stock your pantry with za’atar, sumac, tahini, pomegranate molasses, and good olive oil. The writing is warm and personal, and the food consistently delivers on the promise of the photographs.