Zahav Home

Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook have a new cookbook!

This is a bonus FREE post to celebrate the release of my friends Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook’s new cookbook, Zahav Home. Tomorrow I will drop another post for paid subscribers with a delicious no-churn roasted sesame ice cream recipe and some more reflections on the week we’ve had (and my, was it a week).

Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook have a new cookbook, ZAHAV HOME, dropping on Tuesday, and she’s a beaut.

You may know Mike and Steve as the team behind their flagship Israeli restaurant, Zahav, in Philadelphia, along with Goldie (felafel), Laser Wolf (grill/shipudia), Dizengoff (Hummus), and Kfar (bakery/ cafe)–some of which also have locations in New York (and, soon, Miami). Their previous two award-winning cookbooks featured the foods of Zahav Restaurant and the the people in Israel who inspired Mike’s culinary journey. 

Their new book, Zahav Home, was born of COVID-19, where for months on end Mike and Steve worked from home and cooked for their respective families. These two started out as line cooks, one after the other, at a Philly restaurant, then reconnected and the rest is history.

This nearly two-decade legacy of partnership and friendship shows in everything they do, including the book. The food is relaxed but completely true to who they are, with unbuttoned techniques that are technically sound but lickety-split simple. There are lots of roasts and ribs, as well as many salads and dips that would be as at home on one of their restaurant tables as they will be on your home table.

Down below I’m sharing a recipe for butternut squash baba ganoush from the book, Brilliantly simple, it is crowned with pomegranate seeds, which will make it a high-holiday hero as much as a weeknight staple.  

Butternut Squash Baba Ganoush with Pomegranate Seeds & Pepitas

Serves 4

Baba ganoush is traditionally made with eggplant, but the combination of roasted vegetable and creamy tehina is too good to dedicate to just one produce item. At Laser Wolf, Mike and Steve use grilled kale for an irresistibly smoky version. Here, they  use the ubiquitous-for-good-reason butternut squash, but this is a perfect opportunity to experiment with the fun squash varieties that show up in the market this time of year (kabocha, honeynut, crookneck, Blue Hubbard—just save spaghetti squash and other stringy varieties for another dish!). The addition of pomegranate and toasted pumpkin seeds make this dip a fall fantasy.

2 pounds butternut squash

¼ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup Basic Tehina Sauce (recipe below)

1 pomegranate, seeded

½ cup pepitas, toasted in a dry skillet

Preheat the oven to 425 F/210 C

Cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.

With the tip of a sharp knife, score the insides of the squash in a crosshatch pattern, then slather the cut sides generously with the oil and season with the salt.

Roast, cut side up, until very tender, about 90 minutes. You may notice the flesh separating from the skin. When cool to the touch, scoop out the flesh and transfer to a large bowl. You’ll need about 2 cups squash; save any leftover squash for another recipe. Stir in the Basic Tehina Sauce (recipe below) until it’s nice and creamy and evenly mixed.

Scatter the pomegranate seeds and pepitas on top. Serve with pita or your favorite cracker.

Basic Tehina Sauce

5 garlic cloves

5 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1½ lemons)

¾ teaspoon salt

1 cup tehina

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

About ¾ cup very cold water

In a food processor or high-powered blender, puree the garlic, lemon juice, and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Blend until you have a coarse puree. Let the mixture stand for 5 to 10 minutes to let the garlic mellow.

Pour the mixture through a fine-meshed strainer set over a large mixing bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids.

Stir in the tehina and the remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt.

Whisk everything together until smooth, adding water a few tablespoons at a time.

Continue adding water until you have a thick yet creamy sauce.

Tehina will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week or frozen for up to a month.