Easter 2024: recipes to savour the spirit of spring

Marking the end of Lent, Easter is often a time where families and friends can come together to share a good meal. When it comes to celebrating the event, "go big", suggested Bon Appetit. With a "showstoppingly full" table, everyone is likely to leave satisfied and satiated. Here are a selection of some enticing Easter recipes.

Roast leg of lamb

The centrepiece of an Easter feast is often lamb, and this succulent recipe by Ben Ebbrell from Sorted Food will make the perfect star of the show. Tender and juicy with fragrant herbs and spices, it is seasoned and slow-roasted to perfection.

Ingredients:

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• 2 kg leg of lamb
• 10-12 anchovies
• 5-6 cloves of garlic
• 10-12 sprigs of rosemary
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C.
• Place a 2kg leg of lamb onto a wire rack set over a roasting tin.
• Make 10-12 deep incisions into the lamb by stabbing it all over.
• Stuff 1 anchovy, ½ clove garlic and 1 sprig rosemary into each incision.
• Rub the whole leg in 2 tbsp olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.
• Roast for 1h 25m for pink meat and around 1h 45m for well done.
• Once cooked, remove from the oven cover with foil and rest for 30 minutes.

Tips:

• Alternatively, set the oven temperature to 150°C and slow-roast the leg of lamb for 4 hours, so it can be pulled like a pork shoulder. This would be great in shepherd's pie or tacos.
• The anchovies don't make it fishy. They season the meat and make it more savoury.
• Use thyme instead of rosemary or any other hard herb.
• Season with a generous amount of salt: 3 or 4 heavy pinches.
• A lot of lamb fat will render out during cooking. Use it as fat for roast potatoes.

Maple breakfast tacos

This recipe by Maple from Canada UK offers an interesting twist on breakfast, where sweet and savoury flavours come together. Crispy tortillas cradle fried eggs, paired with rich tomatoey kidney beans, topped with a maple syrup and green chilli sauce.

Ingredients:

For the maple syrup and green chilli sauce: 

• 2 green peppers
• 8 green chillies
• 10g coriander
• 2 kiwi fruit
• 1 garlic clove
• 13g grated ginger
• 2 limes, juiced
• 120ml pure maple syrup

For the tacos: 

• 4 tortillas
• 4 fried eggs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 4 chopped tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 can of kidney beans
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander
• 1 bag rocket salad
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Method:

• First, make the maple syrup and green chilli sauce by putting all ingredients, except the maple syrup, into a blender and blending into a chunky sauce.
• Scrape the sauce into a shallow saucepan, add the maple syrup and 100ml water and bring to a simmer. 
• Simmer for around 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauce becomes syrupy and glossy.
• Being careful not to burn the sauce, continue to simmer and stir constantly for 5 more minutes, until it has reduced and easily coats the back of the spoon.
• Pour the sauce straight into a sterilised jar.
• Finally, for the tomato sauce, pour the olive oil into a saucepan on medium heat, add the onion and cook until translucent.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, garlic and maple syrup.
• Cook for 5 minutes then add the kidney beans and season with salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, for the tacos, preheat the oven to 180°C and put the tortillas straight on the wire racks of the oven, and cook for 5 minutes, or until crispy.
• Assemble the tacos by spreading 3 tbsp of tomato sauce on each taco. Top each with a fried egg and 1 tsp of the maple syrup and green chilli sauce. Garnish with chopped coriander, rocket and lime wedges. 

Triple cheese hot cross buns

Hot cross buns are an Easter classic, but this recipe by Harry Hook for Trewithen Dairy offers a savoury twist. With a pillowy-soft interior, a trio of cheeses offers rich flavours. Serve them with more cheese, chutney, or even Marmite.

Ingredients:

• 175ml Trewithen Dairy whole milk, plus 30ml for brushing
• 50g Trewithen Dairy unsalted butter, cubed
• 510g strong white bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
• 1 egg, beaten
• oil, for greasing
• 100g mature Cheddar, grated
• 60g Parmesan, grated
• 100g semi-hard cheese like Sharpham Rustic Chive and Garlic, crumbled
• 2 tsp mustard powder

Method:

• Heat the milk, butter and 50ml water in a saucepan over a low heat for 1-2 mins until the butter starts to melt. Remove from the heat and stir until the butter has completely melted. Leave to cool slightly. 
• In a large bowl, combine 450g of the flour with the salt and yeast. Make a well in the centre, then pour in the warm milk mixture and beaten egg. Mix together to form a dough.
• Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and stretchy. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm or a shower cap and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size – approximately an hour and a half.
• Once the dough has doubled, tip out onto a lightly floured work surface. Flatten the dough slightly and scatter over the Cheddar, 30g of the Parmesan, semi-hard cheese and mustard powder, pressing into the dough. Pull up the edges of the dough to enclose the cheese mix, then knead for 2 mins to evenly distribute the cheese and mustard throughout the dough.
• Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Divide the dough into 12 and shape each one into a bun. Place each bun on the baking sheet, leaving at least 2cm between each bun. Cover loosely with oiled clingfilm. Leave to rise again in a warm place for an hour. Preheat the oven to fan 200°C.
• Gently brush the tops of the buns with milk. Mix the remaining 60g flour with 7 tbsp water or until you have made a smooth paste. Transfer to a disposable bag and snip one corner to make a small hole. Pipe a line across each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses. Finish with the remaining 30g of grated Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, or serve slightly warm. 

Lemon sponge layer cake

Each layer of this soft lemon sponge layer cake by Doves Farm is rich and zesty. With the right sweet to sharp ratio, these sandwich layers are covered with cream cheese icing.

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

• 100g softened butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 lemons, rind and juice
• 100g Doves Farm Organic Self Raising White Flour
• butter, for tins

For the filling and topping: 

• 50g granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp lemon marmalade
• 50g softened butter
• 50g cream cheese
• 125g icing sugar

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C, 160°C fan.
• Rub some butter around the inside of two 15cm/6” tins or insert cake liners.
• Beat together the butter and sugar.
• Break the eggs into the bowl, one at a time, and beat until incorporated.
• Finely grate the lemon rind into the bowl and beat again.
• Sift the flour into the bowl and stir to incorporate.
• Squeeze the lemons (keeping two left-over lemon halves for later), add the juice to the bowl and mix well.
• Divide the mixture between the prepared tins. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
• Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.
• Meanwhile, slice the left-over lemon halves into fine, thin strips.
• Put the lemon strips and sugar into a saucepan and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally as the sugar melts into a syrup.
• Tip the lemon and syrup onto a plate and leave to cool.
• Spread the lemon marmalade on one sponge layer and place the second sponge layer on top.
• Beat the butter and cream cheese together in a bowl. Add the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
• Spread over the top and sides of the cake, then decorate the top with the prepared lemon rind.

Smoked 'Atavi' tagliatelle with Delica pumpkin, burrata & crushed figs

The smoked goodness of 'Atavi' tagliatelle is suffused with smooth pumpkin and bursts of burrata in this Easter recipe in collaboration with Ollie Dabbous. The warm dish is topped with delicate crushed figs. 

For the raisins:

• 1 jasmine teabag 
• 50g golden raisins 

For the pumpkin sauce:

• 50g salted butter 
• 100g white onion, peeled and sliced 
• 400g Delica pumpkin, peeled, deseeded & roughly chopped into 2cm pieces (net weight) 
• pinch of sugar 
• pinch of salt 
• 300g milk  

For the roasted pumpkin:

• 200g Delica pumpkin, peeled and chopped into 2cm pieces
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• pinch of sugar 
• pinch of salt 

For the pasta:

• 400g Atavi pasta (tagliatelle) smoked 
• boiling water (10g salt per litre) 
• 20 cooked chestnuts 
• basil leaves 
• 2 ripe figs
• 2 burrata 
• crushed black pepper 
• aged Parmesan 
• garlic oil 

Method:

• For the golden raisins, make a cup of jasmine tea and pour over the golden raisins. Leave to soak overnight or for at least an hour. 
• For the pumpkin sauce, melt the butter in a pan and add the onion. Cover and sweat, without letting it colour, for 10 minutes. Add the pumpkin and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the sugar and salt, then add the milk and 400g water; bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 mins then blend until smooth. Pass through a sieve. 
• For the roasted pumpkin, mix the pumpkin, oil, sugar and salt together and roast in the oven at 180°C for 20 mins until golden and tender. 
• Cook the tagliatelle for seven minutes in the boiling salted water then drain well. 
• Warm 600g of the pumpkin sauce in a pan then toss in the tagliatelle, the roast pumpkin, soaked raisins and chestnuts. Allow the pasta and sauce to combine for 3-5 mins. 
• Place some basil leaves in 4 serving bowls. Add ½ a fig to each bowl and crush. Swirl the tagliatelle and place on the left of each bowl. Place ½ a burrata on the right and season with black pepper. Scatter with more basil, grate over the parmesan, and drizzle generously with garlic oil.