“Our Simple Cuisine Is the Solution to Your Problems”: Yotam Ottolenghi Unveils 135 New Recipes, Eight Years After His Bestseller Simple

Yotam Ottolenghi’s next cookbook promises 135 recipes that can be prepared in less than 30 minutes. Simple Too, published by Hachette Cuisine, is due out on 10 September, eight years after Simple became a bestseller.

The Anglo-Israeli chef spoke to Le Figaro about how he develops his recipes and offered an advance preparation of braised halloumi with tomatoes and black-eyed peas.

Ottolenghi’s cooking is associated with za’atar, sumac, tahini and pomegranate molasses. His 2018 book Simple sold one million copies in France, helping establish him as one of the most prominent contemporary cookbook authors.

He trained at Le Cordon Bleu and leads 13 restaurants in London, Edinburgh, Geneva and Amsterdam. His first London restaurant opened in Notting Hill in 2002. He has also written books including Plenty, Jerusalem, Flavour and Comfort, published in 2024, and regularly contributes recipes to The Guardian and The New York Times.

Simple Too was co-written with his collaborator Verena Lochmuller. Ottolenghi’s first cookbook, published in 2008, was co-written with the Palestinian chef Tamir Samimi.