Rivky Kleiman has been keeping us all well-fed for years, first as the co-author of the two Bais Yaakov cookbooks, and then as the author of Simply and Simply Gourmet, in addition to having a regular column in Mishpacha’s Family Table section.  Putting together a Pesach cookbook definitely isn’t a project for the faint-hearted, but Rivky’s inspiration for Simply Pesach & Beyond was twofold.  In addition to wanting to put together a top-notch collection of recipes for a gluten-free family member, Rivky wanted to create a Pesach cookbook with recipes that were so good that people would want to make them throughout the year.

Calling All Cooks!

Having both of Rivky’s year-round cookbooks, I pretty much knew what to expect when I opened up Simply Pesach & Beyond – plenty of delicious goodies, some of which would pull together without any fuss, while others would involve a few more steps, but would be well worth the effort. As someone whose approach to Pesach cooking involves eyeballing quantities, measuring in seven ounce disposable plastic cups, and sautéing vegetables in foil plans with a plastic fork, I had to wonder – was this a book that was going to work for me?  Or maybe it was better suited to people who enjoy rolling out dough and actually know what it means to chiffonade your basil?

It took me less than two minutes to see that this book is intended for a global audience, no matter how much (or how little) they enjoy patchka-ing in the kitchen.  There are plenty of recipes here for every type of cook, all clearly marked as to their level of difficulty.  Best of all, other than the baked goods, the vast majority of the dishes featured here using ingredients that you probably already have.

Testing, 1, 2, 3…

With so many goodies to try out here, it might have been difficult to figure out which recipes I wanted to make, but my search criteria as I leafed through the gorgeous pages of Simply Pesach were relatively, well, simple. I was looking for recipes that I would want to eat even when it wasn’t Pesach, or Pesach recipes that weren’t too hard to make, because complicated recipes just aren’t my thing, especially Pesach-time.

Photo by Sandy Eller

Since we don’t eat gebrokts and I am always looking for something that can resemble pizza, I knew right away that I wanted to try out Rivky’s quinoa pizzettes.  I loved the idea that these were super easy to make – you just boil up some quinoa, mix in some eggs and spices, par-bake them, then add your favorite toppings and finish baking. Clearly no one is going to taste these three-inch pizzas and say, omigosh, I can’t believe this isn’t chometz, but I’m okay with that because they were quite good and incredibly versatile. In addition to pizza sauce and cheese, these would work well as a base layer for pulled beef, and the fact that quinoa is a protein means these cuties might even keep you and your family from having those Pesach munchies all day long. 

Photo by Sandy Eller

Despite my hard-and-fast rule of not making anything that involves beating up egg whites for Pesach and never deep frying anything any time of year, I knew I was going to make Rivky’s sesame-less chicken from the moment I laid eyes on the recipe.  Even with beating up the egg whites by hand, this really wasn’t that difficult to make and the results were excellent and good enough to make all year round, especially if you, like me, have a sesame-allergic kid.  Will I make this recipe on Pesach? Probably not, because of my aforementioned aversion to egg whites and deep frying.  Should you make this recipe on Pesach? Yes, you absolutely should. And please invite me over, because I enjoyed this so much, I would happily eat it again!

Photo by Sandy Eller

With baked goods always posing the biggest challenge when it comes to Pesach cooking, I decided to give Rivky’s snickerdoodles a try.  The shift from potato starch and matza meal over the last few years has given us tons of recipes using almond flour, tapioca flour (which I have never owned), and things like arrowroot flour and xanthan gum (which I really don’t ever plan on buying).  But having spotted a can of tapioca flour in my kosher supermarket’s clearance bin a few weeks ago, and with my almond-allergic daughter not joining us for Pesach this year, the snickerdoodles seemed like something that made sense to make.

And I’m really glad I tried them.  Even without taking out my mixer, these came together in practically no time at all.  I was pleasantly surprised to see just how much they spread out on the cookie sheet, so that my little one-inch balls turned into sizable (though not particularly thick) cookies.   I’m really not a ginger person, so I just skipped it, which is why the cookies probably ended up being a little on the sweet side for me, but they were delicious and I know that these will be gone in a flash when I serve them. 

Beyond the Recipes: The Hidden Gems

While of course a cookbook is all about the recipes, I always love the extra sections, and find that they can be a treasure trove of useful information.  Rivky doesn’t disappoint in that department, which is particularly helpful since there are times when Pesach cooking is a little tricky. Simply Pesach’s page on gluten-free baking offers nine helpful suggestions for negotiating potential pitfalls, and two pages on kitchen staples and tips also yield plenty of sage advice that even seasoned cooks will appreciate.

Most of the chapters here are pretty much what you would expect out of any cookbook, but there were two that aren’t typical.  It’s Not Pesach Without is a godsend whether you need a lokshen recipe, want to make your own sweet or savory crumbs, or you realize that while you love eating charoses, you have no idea how to make it. Double It! is a unique chapter that includes eight recipes, each of which appear in two different recipes. Rivky’s white wine onion sauce, for example, is used in in both the mushroom thumbprints and the mushroom-onion cheese quiche, so instead of making it twice, you can follow the double batch recipe, and then just use half in each dish.  And if you aren’t making them both at the same time, this recipe freezes and defrosts like a charm. 

There are ten chapters here– Starters, Brunch, Lunch & Beyond, Salads, Soups, Fish, Poultry, Meat, Sides, Desserts and Baked Goods – with more than 140 of Rivky’s gorgeous recipes.  Some are more gourmet and have multiple components, like the crispy chicken scallopini bowls that consist of portobello mushroom and wilted spinach salad served in a baked crepe bowl, and is topped with seasoned chicken and a shallot dressing.  Others are equally gourmet but incredibly approachable, like the Asian-inspired flanken roast.  Classics like French onion soup share space with a lasagna that uses roasted zucchini slices in lieu of pasta, and with so many of us looking at a three day yom tov, switching things up with lemon-dill turkey London broil and a DIY seared tuna platter definitely makes sense.  The flavors in Simply Pesach really make each dish pop, with plenty of spices, fresh lemon and lime juice, maple syrup, wine, and coconut aminos, a great stand in for soy sauce that is a relative newcomer to the Pesach landscape.

The baked goods and desserts here really deserve special mention, and not just because they are my favorite part of every meal.  It isn’t that hard to turn out a good soup or salad on Pesach, but cakes, cookies and pastries that are actually worth eating are much harder to create.  You might want to consider hanging up signs on your walls advising everyone that all of your baked goods are shehakol, and not mezonos, because it’s hard to believe that these are a) Pesachdik and b) gluten-free. Rivky’s meltaway babka and her lemon loaf, the recipe she describes as the most difficult one for her to develop, are both on my to-bake-before-Pesach list, because I’m all in when I find a recipe that looks both yummy and effortless.

A Cookbook for All Year

While I keep referring to this book as Simply Pesach, it is the & Beyond part of the title that make it a real keeper.  It’s not just the fact that everything here is gluten-free, which is a game changer on Pesach for people who don’t eat gebrokts, and 365 days a year for people who are off gluten for whatever reason. The fact is that so many of these recipes are dishes that are so good, you may just find yourself incorporating them into your year-round repertoire. Simply Pesach & Beyond definitely lives up to its name – don’t be surprised if you end up buying a second copy to use in your kitchen all year round.

Exclusive Recipes

Sesame-Less Chicken

Snickerdoodles

Quinoa Pizzettes