Midweek Meals: Five ideas for Easter dinner — and an eggs-cellent dessert

Make the most of seasonal ingredients and leftovers with these recipe ideas

Easter dinner ideas - and an eggs-cellent dessert

Slow roast shoulder of spring lamb with wild garlic aioli and fresh mint chutney

recipe by:Darina Allen

When wild garlic is not in season, double the quantity of parsley, it will still be delicious

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 3 hours 0 mins

Total Time

 3 hours 20 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Irish

Ingredients

• 1 whole shoulder of spring lamb on the bone, weighing approximately 3.6kg (8lb)

• Maldon sea salt and freshly-ground pepper

• For the aioli:

• Homemade mayo or good quality mayonnaise

• 1-4 cloves of garlic, depending on size

• 2 teaspoons chopped parsley

• 2 teaspoons chopped wild garlic leaves (Allium ursinum)

• 4 -6 tablespoons lamb cooking juices

• For the chutney:

• 1 large cooking apple (we use Grenadier or Bramley Seedling), peeled and cored

• a large handful of fresh mint leaves, Spearmint or Bowles mint

• 50g (2oz) onions

• 20-50g (1-2oz) castor sugar (depending on tartness of apple)

• salt and cayenne pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

2. Place the lamb shoulder in a wide roasting tin or oven tray with the skin side up. Score the skin to encourage the fat to run out during the cooking and to crisp up the skin. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Place in a roasting tin, transfer to the oven and roast for 30 minutes before turning the temperature down to 160°C/325F/Gas Mark 3 for a further 2 ½ to 3 hours or until the meat is soft and succulent and will lift off the bones.

3. Mix the crushed garlic  into the mayonnaise for the aioli. Finally add the chopped parsley and wild garlic. Taste for seasoning and correct if necessary.

4. Next make the fresh mint chutney. Whizz all the ingredients in a food processor, season with salt and a little cayenne pepper. Cover and keep cool.

5. To test if the lamb is cooked to a melting tenderness, pull the shank bone and it and some of the meat should come away easily from the bone.

6. When the lamb is cooked, remove from the oven. There will be plenty of fatty cooking juices. Strain these through a sieve into a bowl. Keep the lamb warm in the oven with the temperature reduced to 100°C/200°F/Gas Mark ¼.

7. When the fat has risen to the surface of the lamb cooking juices, skim carefully and thoroughly with a spoon.

8. Thin out the garlic mayonnaise with 4-6 tablespoons of the degreased juice to achieve a consistency similar to softly whipped cream or in other words the mayonnaise should now just lightly coat the back of a spoon. Taste and correct the seasoning.

9. Bring the remaining juices to a simmer and taste and correct seasoning.

10. To serve the lamb, a tongs or serving fork and spoon are the best implements to remove the meat from the bones. Prise largish pieces off the bones and serve on hot plates with some of the hot cooking juices, aoili and the chutney drizzled over the top…

Shepherd’s pie

When cooking your Easter roast lamb this year double up on your vegetables. This way you can use the leftovers for a low-energy second meal the following day.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Irish

Ingredients

• Leftover roast lamb, shredded

• Cooked carrots and cabbage, chopped into bite-sized pieces

• Any other cooked vegetables you have to hand or failing that handfuls of frozen peas and sweetcorn

• 400ml gravy

• 8 potatoes worth of mash

Method

1. Take a large roasting dish and place the lamb at the bottom along with chopped vegetables. Pour the gravy on top and stir well so that everything is coated.

2. Spoon the fluffy mash over the mixture and spread out to the edges. Use a fork to ruffle the surface. For maximum crispy bits dot with knobs of butter before roasting in the oven at 180ºC for 30 minutes (until cooked through).
   
   Note: If you assemble this meal it will keep in the freezer for up to two months if well wrapped. That’s a night off the cooking in the future.

Greek Moussaka

recipe by:Darina Allen

This Greek peasant recipe, served in almost every taverna in Greece is one of the best ways to use up leftover lamb. There are many variations on the theme, some include a layer of cooked potato slices and raisins. I’m sure it’s not my imagination, but I

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 20 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Greek

Ingredients

• 350g (12oz) aubergines

• 350g (12oz) courgettes

• 1 x 400g (14oz) tin tomatoes (use at this time of year) but very ripe fresh tomatoes are best in summer

• 1 tbsp olive oil plus extra for frying

• 1 onion, finely chopped (include some green part of spring onion if you have it)

• 1 large garlic clove, crushed

• 450g (1lb) cooked minced lamb

• 1 tbsp chopped fresh marjoram or thyme

• 2 tsp chopped fresh parsley

• 1 bay leaf

• pinch of grated nutmeg

• 2 tsp plain white flour

• salt and freshly ground pepper

• 50g (2oz) raisins, plumped up in hot water while you prepare the other ingredients (optional)

• For the topping:

• 45g (1 ½ oz) butter

• 45g (1 ½ oz) plain white flour

• 600ml (1 pint) whole milk

• 1 bay leaf

• 2 egg yolks

• 2 tbsp cream

• 110g (4oz) grated Gruyère or mature Cheddar cheese or a mixture

• salt and freshly-ground pepper

Method

1. Slice the aubergines and courgettes into 1cm (½ inch) slices, score the flesh lightly with a sharp tip of a knife, sprinkle with salt. Leave for half an hour. Roughly chop the tinned tomatoes. Peel and chop the fresh tomatoes finely, if using. Keep the juices.

2. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy saucepan over a gentle heat, add the onions and garlic and cover and sweat for 4 minutes. Add the meat, herbs, bay leaf and nutmeg to the onions. Stir in the flour, cook for 1 minute then pour in the tomatoes and their juice. Bring to the boil, stirring, and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Season well.

3. Dab the aubergines dry with kitchen paper. Heat a pan-grill over a fairly high heat. Brush both sides of the aubergines generously with extra virgin olive oil, cook until richly coloured on each side. Brush both sides of the courgettes with olive oil, pan-grill until richly coloured on each side. As the courgettes are ready, transfer into the bottom of a shallow casserole. Tip the meat mixture onto the courgettes, sprinkle with the drained raisins if using, then lay the fried aubergines on top. See that the top is as flat as possible.

4. Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/Gas Mark 4.

5. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour. Cook, stirring for 1 minute, then draw off the heat, add the milk slowly, whisking out the lumps as you go. Add the bay leaf. Return the pan to the heat and stir until boiling. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 2 minutes until thickened. Whisk the egg yolk with the cream in a medium-sized bowl. Pour the sauce on to this mixture whisking all the time. Add half the cheese and pour over the aubergines in the casserole. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and bake for 30-35 minutes in the preheated oven until completely reheated and nicely browned on top. Serve with a good green salad.

6. Moussaka can be made up in large quantities ahead of time, cooled quickly and frozen after it has been closely covered with parchment paper.
   
   Note: In Autumn, if using fresh tomatoes at the end of the season, it may be necessary to use about 65ml (2 ½ fl oz) of stock to make the mince juicy enough.

Tomato, horseradish and herbs

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

Horseradish is such an unexpected delight when paired with tomatoes, turning a simple salad into something with a little bit more intrigue and complexity with the absolute minimum effort.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 10 mins

Course

 Side

Cuisine

 Irish

Ingredients

• 400g cherry tomatoes

• Handful parsley, chopped

• Handful marjoram, chopped

• Handful chervil, chopped

• Sea salt and black pepper

• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 1 thumb horseradish root, grated

• 1 tsp of caster sugar

Method

1. Slice the tomatoes in half and lay on a serving platter. Sprinkle the sugar all over, then season with sea salt and black pepper.

2. Drizzle over the apple cider vinegar and scatter the herbs on top. Grate the horseradish generously over the lot and serve.

Leftover Easter egg chocolate nests

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

A handy way to make use of some excess Easter eggs!

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 50 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 120g of leftover easter egg chocolate, smashed into small pieces

• 30g of butter

• 100g of cornflakes

• Small chocolate eggs

•  

Method

1. Put 12 bun cases into a bun tin.

2. Put the broken chocolate and the butter into a saucepan. Heat the saucepan over a low heat until everything has melted together.

3. Put the cornflakes into a big bowl. Pour half of the chocolate mixture over the cornflakes and mix everything together. Scoop the rest of the chocolate out of the saucepan with a spatula or wooden spoon and stir this in as well. All of the cornflakes should be covered.

4. Spoon the mixture into your bun cases and make a small hollow in the centre of each one so they look like little birds' nests.

5. Place the bun tin into the fridge so the nests can firm up. Put the eggs into each nest before you serve them to people.