Easter hits us straight in the middle of the month this year, and while a lot of us will be happy enough to get a long weekend and spend it eating copious amounts of chocolate eggs, why not work up an appetite with real eggs and other easter inspired meals? After all, chocolate always tastes so much better after you’ve had something savoury first.
If we’re lucky enough to have good weather on the Easter weekend and you’re having some family and friends over, why not have a barbecue to celebrate the start of spring? These recipes should give you an idea of what to serve, and even if the weather isn’t as lush as we’d all want it to be, you can still make delicious barbecued food thanks to some outdoor heating and a garden tent for shelter.
Real Egg Dishes
Traditionally, you may paint some eggs or draw little faces and characters on them if you’re feeling arty or have young children. But that’s not the only way you can use real eggs on the Easter weekend. You can start off your day right with this recipe for smoky curried breakfast beans, eggs and sausages – a perfect breakfast meal to cook or enjoy any time of day, perhaps brunch or late lunch? Depending on how much of an early bird you are, all you need is your barbecue set up and a skillet to cook in.
Also using the skillet, you can cook up various flavours of omelettes, just sprinkle in your favourite toppings whether that be cheese, pulled pork, mushrooms, sautéed onions or anything else you can think of and then fold the omelette over. You can also add a drizzle of barbecue sauce or ketchup if you fancy it.
For another meal that uses eggs, why not bring back the pancakes? It’s been 40 days since pancake day after all. Try this recipe for spinach and artichoke stuffed pancakes, a rich and cheesy meal that looks similar to an omelette, perfect for a lunchtime treat.
Lamb Dishes
Lamb is a traditional Easter meal, perhaps because of the Christian title for Jesus as a “lamb of God”. But even if you’re not particularly religious and wondering what to put on the barbecue or have for Easter Sunday roast, try these dishes for inspiration.
For more traditional lamb dishes you can try out one of these recipes:
Shoulder of Lamb Stuffed with Nettles and Hazelnuts
You can ask your butcher to debone the lamb shoulder for you for this meal, which will leave you with nothing but the juicy meat. Believe it or not, nettles are edible and incredibly nutritious (once you blanch them in boiling water to remove the sting of course), they’ve even been recommended as a herbal remedy for hair loss by reducing inflammation in the scalp, amongst other benefits.
However, if you just don’t fancy the idea of eating nettles, spinach works fine too (and is similarly nutritious). Wrap up the lamb with the nettles or spinach inside using string to secure it, and then place it on the barbecue for 1 hour and 45 minutes. This meal will make a great alternative to an Easter roast.
For another recipe using lamb shoulder, try this one for slow cooked shoulder of lamb with harissa and green polenta. Slow cooking the lamb shoulder will make it tender enough to be shredded up and served with a number of extra flavours, including lemon, herbs and parmesan.
Rack of Lamb with Yoghurt and Hazelnut Dukkah
Cooking a lamb rack on a barbecue is one of the best ways to do it, as it leaves the chops nice and tender on the inside. Dukkah is a blend of nuts, seeds and spices of Egyptian and Middle Eastern origin (known as duqqa). You can use the blend recommended in the recipe linked above or you can experiment with different combinations of your own favourite seeds, nuts and spices. One thing is for sure, it adds powerful flavour to an already delicious bit of lamb.
Yoghurt is also always great to add to various foods, from this lamb and dukkah recipe, to cereals and protein shakes. It’s nutritious on its own too, but mixing it with nuts, seeds and meat will give you a high protein meal, perfect for building and maintaining your muscle mass.
Alternatives to a Lamb Roast
For alternatives to a lamb roast, you can explore other cultural dishes like this Greek recipe for lamb souvlaki with tzatziki, served with pitta or flatbreads and Greek salad with olives and feta as a side dish. You can swap the lamb for pork too if you’d prefer.
If you prefer something with a bit more spice, you can try making these spiced lamb chops with green chilli salsa, it’s up to you how much you want to dial up the spice for this.
If you want to feel like you’re having a takeaway without having a takeaway (and enjoy the tasty results of your own efforts rather than risking potentially disappointing fast food) then try making these easy spiced lamb kebabs. Using minced lamb, which is full of flavour and easy to cook, you can mix it up with spices and salt and then shape it into logs or even flatten them into patties which you can then serve with pitta, flatbreads or burger buns.
You can also go Tex-Mex with these spiced lamb fillet tacos with chipotle sour cream. Using lamb neck fillets rubbed with spices, you can quickly cook the food over a barbecue with medium-high heat until the meat is tender and pink. You can then chop it up and place it into some corn tacos, then add herbs and a smoky chipotle sour cream, hot sauce or any other condiment you feel will mix with it – perhaps some yoghurt and mint sauce or regular sour cream if you’re not a spice fan.
If you don’t eat red meat, you can also try this maple glazed salmon with cucumber salad recipe. Salmon is also associated with Easter due to the tradition of abstaining from red meat during Lent and Good Friday, with people consuming seafood instead.
Happy Easter!
Now that we’ve given you some inspiration for a proper Easter meal to cook on your Outback barbecue, we hope you enjoy tucking into your chocolate eggs for dessert. Check out our full recipe page here for more inspiration, and if you do decide to make one of our Easter meal ideas, tag us using @outbackbbqs. We can’t wait to see them!
