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Our 10 best Jewish recipes of 2021

By Rob Eshman

This week, we're reviewing the best 2021 had to offer. Today, the mouthwatering recipes we'll be making for years to come.

Food historians will look back at the pandemic as a time that pushed even more Americans to discover that meals can be something you make yourself.

For those who already cooked regularly, quarantine, shortages and closed restaurants forced us to get even more creative, stretching ourselves into new techniques and cuisines.

These 10 best recipes of 2021 push beyond the obvious, add spice (sometimes literally, always figuratively) to routine, and make hard times much, much better.

My top eight are below.

Read the full list of 10 here.

Oat milk pumpkin pie
People devoured Carly Pildis’ test of five different non-dairy versions of pareve pumpkin pie. The best was made with Oatly oat milk, a result I confirmed in my own kitchen. The pie turns out creamy, perfectly sweet and far lighter than the usual. Get the recipe ➤

Sephardic chocolate cake
Jews fled Spain during the Inquisition; ended up in Bayonne, France; started the West’s first chocolate manufacturing industry there — and so you get Claudia Roden's birthday-favorite cake. Get the recipe ➤

Fresh fig salad
This works as a light salad, a relish for meat or fish — and the best mouthful of fall you can imagine. Get the recipe ➤

Za'atar roasted eggplant
This Ottolenghi-inspired recipe from Jake Cohen, a cooking phenom who wrote one of the year's best cookbooks, can easily be a main course. Get the recipe ➤

Persian meat and apple stew
Food blogger Sassooni adapted a stew that usually uses quince to apples; the result is warm and balanced. Get the recipe ➤

Red wine braised short ribs
In this rich, warm dish, Eitan Bernath shows his talent for simple, luxurious meals. Get the recipe ➤

Chickpea gnocchi
A vegetarian main course that uses everyone’s new favorite, the chickpea, as pasta. Get the recipe ➤

Chicken 'n' rice bake
Imani Jackson serves this comforting crowd-pleaser as a staple main dish at her St. Louis catering company. Get the recipe ➤

Read the full list

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