A Feast for Easter—and Springtime—from Our Test Kitchen

We always included the tastes of spring: asparagus , strawberries, lemon and of course eggs! Traditionally we served ham. My mother always served an Easter lunch but I have had the tradition of brunch with my family as we don't often do a big breakfast and it's such a treat. Deviled eggs are usually on the buffet, and an asparagus Gruyere frittata, fruit salad with a dustng of lime zest and dab of honey, and my sons' favorite - sugar bacon - bacon rolled in brown sugar and cinnamon and baked under the broiler until it's crisp and sticky - delicious, roasted asparagus with a vinaigrette and sweet breads - often cinnamon rolls or Mom's cinnamon coffee cake. Or sometimes Italian Easter Bread with the colored eggs baked into the twisted ring of sweet dough. It's often my husband's birthday and either a carrot cake or "Lemonade" cake with strawberries will be our dessert.

My pashka. Start with 1 lb cottage cheese. It has to be good; in England I use Longley Farm, and I don't know what the US equivalent is. Put this in muslin on Thursday or Friday, to eat on Sunday, and weight it -- a 2-lb tin is what I use. On Saturday, push the cottage cheese through a food mill into a large bowl. Separately, beat 4 egg yolks till thick. Add 3 oz vanilla sugar, beat in, then 4 tbsp. double cream. When all well mixed, add 5 oz melted unsalted butter, cooled, and stir again. Add 3-6 oz mixed candied fruits (I use cherries, lumps of candied peel cut up, raisins) and 1-2 oz pistachios, whole and green (Not the salted sort!) Now add to the cottage cheese and blend all together. Rinse some cheesecloth, put the mixture in, and suspend to drain in the fridge. I usually use a sieve, which makes a dome shape. Let it drip overnight. Then turn out of the cheesecloth 1-2 hrs before serving, decorate, and put back in the fridge till serving time.
This serves 4-6 people, depending on greed. It scales up very well. I've made it for 70 people at an Easter wedding. I've made it every year for the last 40 or so. But some people don't like the richness and sharpness. The original came from an American cookbook of the 70's, called Feasts for all Seasons, and I adapted it to this version.

Does anyone eat traditional ham, sweet potato, asparagus?

Polish White Borscht (Bialy Barszcz)
Ham
Kielbasa
Spanakopita
Lamb
Veggies
We use the red eggs from the Greek tsougrisma (τσουγκρισμα in Greek) (cracking eggs for luck...) in the Polish borscht to blend our two families' cultures.

My family Easter meal has roast lamb (shoulder if it's only family, because it's sweeter meat but harder to carve; leg if there are visitors) (has to be on the bone); a spring-like stew of fresh globe artichoke hearts, peas, fava beans for the veggies (and some for the rest of us); little new potatoes; some form of salad; and then finish with my version of Russian pashka. I make it with cottage cheese, lots of dried fruity goodies and pistachios for the colour, and shaped into a pyramid with XB (for the Russian for Christ is risen) written on it in small coloured sweets. They would be Smarties in England, M&M's in the US? I'll supply the pashka recipe if anyone is interested.

squid rings carbonara , it looks like pasta but there is none
pea and edamame hummus
black rice
roasted honey carrots
lemon curd pavlova with pineapple and mango coulis
chocolate bark

its all about the colors and textures
and its just delicious

I usually serve ham or lamb but one year I served paella because I had just taken a paella class and wanted to reinforce what I had learned. It was a huge hit! Looked beautiful on the buffet, too.

I usually cook a rabbit. Because it's both delicious AND twisted.

I love to serve pea and mushroom crostini, baked mustard chicken with panko herb crust, potatoes colcannon, spinach salad with a warm bacon honey dressing and carrots with butter and chives, homemade biscuits and vanilla ice cream and berries for dessert.

I want to eat all of these.