Yotam Ottolenghi’s Californian recipes | Food (2024)

Cobb salad with mango and lime dressing (pictured above)

Cobb salad is (almost) as American as apple pie, and is all about the shameless display of abundance (hence the even longer-than-usual ingredients list here). Pick and choose from my selection, and add some of your own, so long as you keep to the spirit of plenty and fun.

Prep 35 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 4

For the dressing
200g ripe mango chunks (ie, from 1-2 mangoes)
75ml fresh lime juice (ie, from 3-4 limes)
60ml olive oil
2 anchovy fillets, drained and roughly chopped
1½ tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/375F/gas 5. Lay the prosciutto on a large oven tray lined with greaseproof paper and roast for 15 minutes, or until it is starting to crisp up, then leave to cool completely.

Meanwhile, boil the eggs in boiling water for seven minutes, then drain and run under the cold tap until cool. Peel and cut each egg into four wedges, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Put a teaspoon and a half of oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the asparagus, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, and cook for four minutes, turning a couple of times, until softened and charred, then transfer to a plate.

Pour another tablespoon of oil into the same pan, add the corn kernels, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and charred in places – about four minutes – then transfer to a bowl. Pour another tablespoon of oil into the pan, turn the heat to high and, once it’s very hot, add half the prawns, half the garlic, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, and cook, turning occasionally, for three minutes, until just cooked through and browned. Transfer to a separate bowl and repeat with the remaining prawns and garlic.

In a large bowl, toss the lettuce, coriander, a third of the dressing, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Spread out on a large platter. Top the lettuce with separate piles of tomato, avocado, onion, corn, asparagus, eggs, prosciutto and prawns. Squeeze the half-lime over everything, drizzle half the remaining dressing on top and serve the rest alongside.

Steak and cheese tacos with jalapeño and orange

You can use ready-made corn tortillas, if you prefer, but the real deal are hard to beat. You can make them a few hours ahead of time, too – just cover them with a tea towel, and later warm them through in the pan after cooking the steak. Cheese can be a bit messy to fry, so just use uncooked if you prefer.

3 jalapeño chillies, halved lengthways and finely sliced (remove the pith and seeds if you prefer less heat)
1½ tsp chilli flakes (or red bell pepper flakes if you prefer less heat)
60ml sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing and frying
Salt
125g masa harina (Mexican corn flour) - from supermarkets or online)
360g skirt steak, in one piece
140g piece mature cheddar, cut into 12 x 5mm-thick rectangles (optional)
1 small orange, skin and pith removed, then cut into segments (discard any pips)
1 tbsp coriander leaves, finely sliced
2 limes, cut into wedges, to serve

Put the masa harina, a good pinch of salt and 250ml hot water in a medium bowl and stir until it comes together into a dough. Once it’s cool enough to handle, knead vigorously until you end up with a smooth ball the consistency of Play-Doh, then divide into 12 30g pieces. Lightly grease a work surface and your hands with oil, roll each piece into a smooth ball, and cover with clingfilm.

Put a nonstick frying pan on a high heat and, once it’s smoking, add a teaspoon and a half of oil. Fry the steak for a minute and a half to two minutes on each side, or until well browned on the outside and still rare inside. Transfer to a board, season generously with salt, cover with foil and leave to rest while you cook the tortillas.

Once all the tortillas are done, reduce the heat under the pan to medium-high. In two batches, lay in the cheese slices and leave for a minute or two, until they form a crust on the bottom and start to melt. Using a butter knife, carefully lift out the slices (they will be melting and hot) and put on a plate, so they don’t stick.

With a very sharp knife, cut the steak against the grain into 24 slices, each about ½cm thick. Top each warm tortilla with two slices of steak and one slice of cheese. Cut any thicker orange segments in half lengthways and top each taco with a couple of pieces.

Sprinkle over the coriander, drizzle over some jalapeño oil and serve at once with the lime wedges alongside for squeezing on top.

Salted coffee, pecan and lime rocky road

Rocky road may have originated in Australia in the 1850s, but it is incredibly popular in California, and indeed across the entire US, where you can find it in all sorts of combinations of chocolates and nuts. Here, I’ve given it a grown-up twist by adding coffee, cardamom and lime zest.

125g milk chocolate
125g dark chocolate
125g unsalted butter, cut into 2cm cubes
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
1 tbsp lime zest, plus 1 tsp extra to garnish
100g mini white marshmallows

Heat the oven to 175C (165C fan)/365F/gas 4½ and line the base and sides of a 20cm square tin with baking paper.

Put the biscuits in a zip-lock bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into 1cm-2cm pieces. Tip into a bowl with all the other crumble ingredients and mix to combine. Transfer to an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper, spread evenly and bake for 17 minutes, stirring once, then leave to cool completely.

Put the lime zest, marshmallows, crumble and melted chocolate mix in a large bowl and stir to combine. Transfer to the lined tin, and press down to even it out. Sprinkle all over with a small pinch of flaked salt and the extra zest, then refrigerate to set: at least four hours or overnight. To serve, cut into 25 squares.