Top chefs share their favourite Easter recipes for a family feast
Stuck for ideas about what to cook for your family feast this Easter? Some of Melbourne’s best chefs share their favourite recipes to help get you started, writes Dan Stock.
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For Shane Delia, Easter means one thing: time with family.
When he was a kid that meant heading to his grandmother’s house for a huge Maltese feast for lunch.
Then they’d be packed in the car to celebrate with his dad’s side of the family over dinner. And in between, a lot of chocolate.
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Now forging his own family traditions, this year will see the extended Delia clan descend on the Maha chef’s home, where he’ll be cooking a lunch of grilled meats and big salads and a family favourite dish — his mum’s stuffed eggplants.
“It’s a dish Mum used to cook for me as a kid and I now cook it for my kids and they love it,” he says.
Shane says Easter is always a more relaxed time for the host than at Christmas.
“There’s a lot less pressure, it’s a lot more enjoyable, people are happy to kick back and relax,” he says.
And Easter has one built-in advantage over cooking a Christmas feast.
“With Easter, you don’t have to worry about dessert, at least that’s taken care of!”
Shane Delia’s ‘Mum’s stuffed eggplant’
Serves 4
STUFFED EGGPLANTS
Ingredients:
3 medium sized eggplants
400g pork mince
1 zucchini, grated
½ brown onion, grated
4 large cloves of Australian garlic, grated
3 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
2 tsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
50ml olive oil
¾ cup curly parsley, chopped
Method:
1. Cut eggplants in half and scoop out a small amount of the flesh to create a cavity to hold the stuffing.
2. Season the inside of the eggplant with salt.
3. Keep the scooped out eggplant and roughly run a knife through it. Reserve for later use.
4. Mix all other ingredients together until the pork mince is well kneaded and combined.
5. Evenly fill the eggplant cavity with the pork mince mixture.
COOKING STOCK
Ingredients:
1 onion, grated.
4 large cloves of Australian garlic, grated.
250g cooked chickpeas.
1lt good chicken stock.
2 cups washed basmati rice.
Eggplant off cuts.
100g butter.
1tsp sea salt depending on saltiness of chicken stock.
The zest of 1 lemon.
Method:
1. In a heavy duty, oven-safe pot melt the butter.
2. Add the onions, chickpeas, eggplant off cuts, and garlic. Sweat off until all have softened.
3. Add the stuffed eggplant to pot, with the stuffing side facing up.
4. Add the stock and bring to the boil, cover with lid and cook in a preheated 200C oven for 20 mins.
5. Remove and sprinkle rice around the eggplant but not on the eggplant itself.
6. Place the lemon zest around the rice to flavour it.
7. Place the lid back on and cook for another 15 minutes.
8. Allow to rest with the lid off for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
DRESSING
Ingredients:
4 spring onions, sliced
1tsp sea salt
40g walnuts, roasted and smashed
Juice of one lemon
300ml olive oil
1tsp harissa paste
Method:
1. Mix all ingredients together and allow to marinate for minimum of 1 hour.
2. Spoon generously over the stuffed eggplant when serving.
LOAVES AND FISH
“For all the family at Easter, or other holiday times, I am only too happy to cook for everyone,” says legendary chef Jacques Reymond.
This year he says the plan is to start with natural oysters he’ll serve with a crisp Australian riesling, before moving onto dishes served straight from the oven to the table, such as the salmon en papillote he shares here, as well as Flinders Island salt grass lamb racks with garlic, thyme and olive oil cooked on the barbecue.
And it wouldn’t be Easter without chocolate and so the Reymond clan will finish with Kathy Reymond’s dark chocolate mousse which Jacques tricks up with a dollop of vanilla chantilly and caramelised rice puffs and serves with a Rutherglen muscat.
“The salmon is an easy and great fun dish. Bring it whole to the table and open the top with a knife. The aromas from the steaming salmon are spectacular and your guests will be entertained as it is great fun to serve,” he says.
Jacques Reymond’s salmon in papillote
Serves 4
DRESSING
Ingredients:
100ml pure virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves finely diced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 small birdseye chilli, deseeded and diced finely
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp mirin
3 drops of sesame oil
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Method:
Mix all ingredients together.
SALMON
Ingredients:
4 x 180g Tasmanian Atlantic salmon fillets
1 small fennel, sliced finely
1 zucchini, sliced finely
4 slices of orange
8 small grape tomatoes cut in half
1 red large shallot, sliced
2 stalks of spring onions, trimmed and sliced on an angle
60g butter, cut in small cubes
6 basil leaves
Salt and pepper
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Lay a sheet of foil on a baking tray and place a sheet of baking paper on top. Lay down the zucchini, fennel, shallots and butter. Place salmon on top of vegetables and arrange on the salmon fillets the tomatoes, spring onions, orange slices and basil leaves, season lightly.
3. Pour dressing over the salmon. Cover with another sheet of foil, close tightly on each side and cook for 15 mins.
4. Serve the dish with all the garnishes and plenty of cooking juices.
Note: Never cook directly on foil as your dish will taste steely. Always use a sheet of baking paper.
HAPPY SNAPPER
For Bellota head chef Nicky Riemer Easter is all about big, easy seafood dishes.
“Anything that uses local seafood, anything that can be popped in the oven with minimal fuss and means I can hunt for Easter eggs,” she says.
“Snapper is my favourite fish, but this recipe is great for any whole fish — think big John Dory or flathead or flounder.
“I like to bake the fish in my oven, but this recipe works great on any barbecue that can be closed like an oven. The bigger the fish the more people you can feed!”
Nicky Riemer’s whole baked snapper
Serves 4 (or more, depending on the size of your fish)
Ingredients:
1 x 2kg whole baby snapper, gutted and scaled (ask your friendly fish monger to do this)
3 assorted colour capsicums, thickly sliced into rounds
6 kipfler potatoes, unpeeled, sliced into long pieces
4 shallots, peeled and halved
6 small sweet tomatoes, halved
4 small red chillies, halved
2 lemons
½ cup of semi dried tomatoes
2 tbsp capers
1 cup white wine
Salt
Olive oil
Fish marinade:
3 garlic cloves
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Spanish sweet smoked paprika
½ tsp ground fennel
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp ground cumin
2 tsp of sea salt
Method:
1. Preheat oven on 200C (fan forced).
2. Score the skin of the snapper with a sharp knife at 3cm intervals, just about 1cm deep into the flesh.
3. Combine all of the above ingredients to make the marinade, then rub well in to the whole fish, including inside the fish and the scored skin.
4. Mix all the vegetables with the capers, white wine, chilli, a generous slurp of olive oil and season well with salt. Spread on a large flat baking tray, cover in foil and bake for 15 minutes
5. Remove the tray from the oven, place the marinated fish on top and bake a further 25 minutes (longer if the fish is bigger), until the skin of the fish looks like it is pulling away from the flesh.
6. Remove when done, season with a bit more salt and slurp of olive oil. Serve immediately with chunks of lemon.
Note: If you choose a bigger size fish, just increase all the ingredients by a touch. If you a great big snapper (4kg or more) that can fit on your BBQ I would double everything.
SHOULDER SEASON
“Greek Easter without lamb is like a plumber without a spanner,” George Calombaris says — and he’s not joking.
Lamb will be, of course, a feature on the MasterChef judge’s feasting table this year and this vampire-busting slow-cooked shoulder featuring 40 cloves of garlic, symbolising the 40 days of fasting prior to Easter Sunday, is a knockout.
George Calombaris’s lamb shoulder
Serves 8
Ingredients:
1 whole lamb shoulder, shank on
40 cloves garlic, peeled
50ml extra virgin olive oil
Flaked sea salt to taste
3 whole brown onions
500ml chicken stock
1 lemon
1/2 tsp mountain oregano
30ml red wine vinegar
Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 160C.
2. With a small knife, make 2cm deep incisions all over the lamb shoulder and insert a clove of garlic into each.
3. Peel and roughly dice the brown onions. Place into the bottom of a roasting tray. Rub the lamb shoulder with olive oil and sea salt and place directly onto the onions.
4. Add the chicken stock to the tray and cover with baking paper. Cover with foil and seal the edges shut. Place into the oven and cook for 2 hours.
5. After 2 hours, remove foil and baking paper and baste the lamb with the pan juices. Re-cover with baking paper and foil bake for another hour or until the lamb is falling off the bone.
6. Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
7. Increase the oven temperature to 200C. Remove foil and baking paper, spoon over some of the pan juices and return to the oven for 15 minutes.
8. After 15 minutes squeeze the lemon juice over the lamb. Season with the mountain oregano and return to the oven for further 5 minutes.
9. Remove the lamb shoulder from the tray and place onto a suitable serving dish.
10. Add the vinegar to the pan juices. Place the tray onto a stove top over a high heat. Bring to the boil and reduce until the pan juices thicken. Season to taste and spoon over the lamb.
FANCY FISH
“I think the best thing about the Easter break is the fact that we are coming off a huge summer and (the weather) is just cooling. The leaves are turning red and there is the distinct feeling you are about to eat more comforting foods,” says Sophie Cookes from Cookes Food catering.
“For my family, we like to eat lighter dishes that still give you the feeling of indulgence — such as fish that tastes of the sea and crumbly potatoes drunk on olive oil.”
Sophie Cookes’ Whiting with Potatoes
Serves 4
Ingredients:
8 whiting fillets — pin boned
12 cocktail potatoes
2 tbsp capers
16 quail eggs
2 leeks
1 bunch parsley
1 lemon
4 tbsp crème fraiche
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1. Halve the leeks lengthways and roast with a little olive oil in a moderate oven until tender — about 30 minutes at 165C. Once ready, toss the ribbons of leek through extra virgin olive oil and good quality red wine vinegar and season to taste. It’s not really pickling them it’s more just dressing them but who has the patience to wait for them to be pickled, certainly not me when the whiting is in the skillet
2. Boil potatoes until a knife easily passes through them. Drain in colander and toss, still steaming, into a bowl with extra virgin olive oil, lemon zest, juice of 1/2 a lemon, capers, parsley finely sliced and sea salt, then set aside.
3. Pop the quail eggs in a pot that’s at a rolling boil — set your timer for 2 minutes — then place in cold water for 5 minutes before peeling.
4. Season whiting fillets and pan fry in butter until golden. Dollop crème fraiche on a serving platter and place whiting fillets on top. Top with the leek ribbons and serve the potato on the side of the plate or as a side accompaniment, either cold or warm.
BUN FUN
“This is the ultimate family treat,” Wonderpop & Deli founder Ray Capaldi says.
“At Wonderpop we make fresh custard, however, this is a great simple way to impress kids and guests — they’ll be asking you for the recipe!”
Ray Capaldi’s quick hot cross bun pudding
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 6 pack hot cross buns
1 brioche loaf
1 litre custard
2 tbsp of vanilla essence or 1 fresh vanilla pod, seeds scraped
50ml melted butter
3 large whole eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
100g sultanas
50ml Earl Grey tea
Demerara sugar
Ice cream (to serve)
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan-forced). Grease a 5cm-deep, 17cm x 28cm (base) baking dish.
2. Whisk eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, melted butter and custard in a bowl. Cut the hot cross buns in half, soak the sultanas in hot tea.
3. Dice the bun bottoms, and cut the brioche into large dice and then mix with hot cross bun bottoms. Add half the custard mixture into the mix, save the other half to soak the tops. 4. Arrange the diced bread mixture in the prepared dish. Sprinkle with half the soaked sultanas, then place the hot cross bun tops over the diced mixture.
4. Pour the remaining custard mixture over the hot cross buns tops. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden and set. Serve with ice-cream.
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