Deutsches Rezept (Ottolenghis Babyspinatsalat mit Datteln, Mandeln & krossen Fladenbrotstückchen) wie immer am Ende
Not AWOL but we have the In-laws visiting and I am cooking, cooking, cooking. Some dishes even got a photo (for example my wild card Jambon persillé aka Ham & parsley terrine) – add those to the other ones in my queue for a little bit of a pile-up…
When you are a bit in a side-dish rut, coming across one or even more that are absolute hits is like hitting the taste-lottery. Easy, if you cook your way through the now three Ottolenghi books and especially Plenty & the latest one, Jerusalem, have turned out as treasure troves of salads & sides with many repeat appearances on our table. There are great pairings to discover (like the fig & sweet potato dish that has been cooked in most kitchens by now) and new ingredients to shop for like dried limes (fantastic).
This Spinach salad is a real find and has appeared in several combinations in our house since we road-tested it at our Valentine’s Day Dinner where it had been initially paired with a quinoa & sweet potato salad and a Mediterranean take on sea bass. It works particularly well with roast chicken adding a Middle Eastern spin with its dark & sweet Medjool dates, lemony sumach tang, vinegar-sharp red onions, crunchy toasted bread and almonds. Top with some ricotta salata for an great invigorating lunch.
Ottolenghi’s baby spinach salad with dates & almonds
Feeds 4-6; barely adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi: Jerusalem
1 small red onion, sliced into thin halfmoons
100g Medjool dates (use 5-6) or the sweeter Deglet noor dates (8-10), coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons (30g) butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 sheet of Lavash, any other flat bread (ca. 120g) or 2 pita breads
80g (¾ cup) whole (or blanched) almonds, just roughly chopped
1 teaspoon sumac
½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper, red chilli flakes or cayenne pepper
salt
1 large bag of baby spinach (mine was 200g, for two as a main course I use 125g)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper
Marinate the sliced onion & chopped dates in the vinegar while you prepare the rest of the salad. Tear the bread into smaller pieces, melt butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy pan and fry the bread & almonds until golden brown and crispy. Mix with sumac, chilli and a little salt and leave to cool slightly. Arrange the spinach on a large platter or our into a salad bowl. Mix lemon juice & olive oil with the marinated onion slices & dates and rest of vinegar, season with salt & pepper and pour over the spinach, then sprinkle the crispy bread and almonds on top.
Ottolenghis Spinatsalat mit Mandeln & Datteln
Kaum adaptiert von Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi Jerusalem
1 kleine rote Zwiebel, in dünne Halbmonde geschnitten
100g Medjool or Deglet noor Datteln, grob gehackt
1 EL weißer Balsamico Essig
2 EL (30g) Butter
1 EL Olivenöl
1 großes Blatt Lavash oder anderes dünnes Fladenbrot (ca. 120g), alternativ 2 Pita-Brote
80g ganze Mandeln (ungeschält oder blanchiert), sehr grob gehackt
1 TL Sumach
½ TL Aleppo Chili- oder andere Chiliflocken oder Cayennepfeffer
Salz
1 große Tüte Baby Spinat (ca. 200g, für zwei als Hauptgericht nehme ich 125g)
2 EL Zitronensaft
2 EL Olivenöl
Salz & Pfeffer
Zwiebel und Datteln im Essig marinieren, währenddessen die restlichen Zutaten vorbereiten. In einer schweren Pfanne Butter und Olivenöl erhitzen, den Lavashfladen grob zerpflücken oder klein schneiden und zusammen mit den Mandeln braten bis das Brot knusprig ist und die Mandeln goldbraun sind. Mit Sumach, Chili und ein wenig Salz vermischen, dann leicht abkühlen lassen. Spinat auf einer großen Platte anrichten oder in eine Schüssel geben. Zitronensaft & Öl mit den marinierten Zwiebeln & Datteln verrühren, salzen & pfeffern und mit dem Spinat mischen. Das knusprige Brot & Mandeln über den Salat streuen und auftragen.
thejameskitchen 