Yotam Ottolenghi's three-course feast | Food (2024)

Grilled leeks and spring onions with dolcelatte and pickled onions (main picture)

Prep 5 min
Cooking 25-30 min
Serves 4

This is an intense starter with sweet, sour and oniony tones. A slice of good bread alongside is almost mandatory. The three main elements – the leeks and spring onions, the cheesy cream and the pickled onions – can all be made a few hours ahead of time (the cream needs refrigerating, mind) and put together at the last minute.

Put the first eight ingredients in a small bowl with an eighth of a teaspoon of salt. Thoroughly massage the onions in the mixture, then leave to pickle for at least an hour.

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Lay the leeks cut side up on a 25cm x 35cm oven tray and season with a quarter-teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper. Drizzle over two and a half tablespoons each of the oil and of cold water, and roast for 15 minutes, until the leeks are beginning to soften and blacken around the edges. Scatter the spring onions over the leeks, add a pinch of salt and half a tablespoon of oil, and return to the oven for eight minutes. Turn the oven grill to its highest setting, then grill the vegetables for four minutes until they are charred and soft, but not burned. Leave to cool.

Once the leeks and spring onions are cool, use a fish slice to slide them on to a serving platter (so keeping the leeks cut side up). Drop dollops of the cheese-and-cream mixture haphazardly all over the vegetables.

Combine the chives with the remaining tablespoon of oil, then dribble all over the top of the vegetables and cheese. Spoon on the pickled onions (including their pickling liquid and aromatics), and serve at room temperature.

Giant prawns with grapefruit salad and fenugreek creme fraiche

Don’t be put off this glorious salad if you’ve never butterflied a prawn: you’ll soon get the hang of it and it’s a neat skill to have up your sleeve. Serve with steamed rice and maybe some stir-fried Asian greens.

12 giant prawns, shell-on and patted dry (950g net weight)
90ml vegetable oil, for frying
Salt

For the marinade
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1½ tbsp fenugreek seeds
1½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp turmeric powder
1½ tsp caster sugar
1½ tbsp lime juice
4 tbsp vegetable oil
120g creme fraiche

Using strong kitchen scissors, snip off and discard the legs from each prawn. Next, snip down the centre of the back of their shells, starting just below the head and going right down to the tail. Next, cut down the centre of the head, starting from the base of the neck. Do not remove the shell.

Using a serrated knife, cut through the line you’ve made with the scissors, splitting the flesh of the head and body lengthways; don’t cut all the way through to the underside: you want the prawns to stay intact. Remove and discard the central “vein” (the intestinal tract; it’s safe to eat, but the prawns look more attractive without it), then clean the head cavity with kitchen paper. Lay the prawns shell side up on a board and press down on each one with the flat of your hand, so it butterflies open. Turn over the prawns so they’re now flesh side up, and set aside.

For the salad, peel the grapefruit and cut away any white pith, then release the individual segments by cutting in between the white membrane. Cut each segment lengthways into 5mm-thin slices – you should end up with about 80g of prepared grapefruit pieces.

Gently toss the shallot, chilli and herbs with the oil, lime juice and a generous pinch of salt, then toss in the grapefruit slices.

Move the prawns to a plate and keep warm, wipe clean the pan, then repeat with the remaining prawns.

Once all the prawns are cooked, drizzle the pan oil from the final batch over them, then arrange on four individual plates and serve with the salad, a spoonful of the creme fraiche mix and a wedge of lime.

Sweet and salty deconstructed cheesecake

The three components can all be made in advance: keep the cheesecake mix (which lasts for three days) and compote (which lasts for five) in the fridge, and the crumble (which lasts for three) in an airtight container at room temperature.

100g feta
300g cream cheese
40g caster sugar
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest (ie, from 1 small lemon)
130ml double cream
2 tbsp olive oil, to serve

For the crumble
100g blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped
30g unsalted butter, fridge-cold and cut into 2cm dice
80g ground almonds
25g caster sugar
1 tbsp black sesame seeds (or white sesame seeds, if you don’t have black)
⅛ tsp salt

Using a spatula, break down the feta in a bowl and whip until it’s as smooth as possible. Add the cream cheese, sugar and lemon zest, then whisk to combine. Pour in the cream, whisk gently until the mixture has thickened enough to hold its shape but is still light, then put in the fridge to set for at least two hours, and ideally overnight.

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. To make the crumble base, put the hazelnuts, butter, ground almonds and sugar in a large bowl, then rub in the butter using your fingertips until the mix is the consistency of breadcrumbs. Stir in the sesame seeds and salt, spread out on a baking tray and cook for 12 minutes, until golden brown.

To serve, spoon a large scoop of the cheesecake mix into individual glass bowls or on to plates, then divide half the crumble mix between all the portions. Spoon the compote on top, scatter over the remaining crumble, drizzle with olive oil and serve.

• Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London.

Food stylist: Emily Kydd. Prop stylist: Jennifer Kay.