Catering for Easter events
With Easter approaching, many people are starting to contemplate how best to cater for Easter functions. If you are looking to broaden your horizons this Easter, here are some ideas that are delicious, seasonal and appropriate for Easter function.
Lamb dishes
A lamb roast is a very traditional dish for Easter. However as Easter falls in autumn in Australia it's often not easy or cheap to get spring lamb in the shops. It can be easier and more affordable at this time of year to find other cuts of lamb such as mince and small fillets. Lamb koftas are a great option, combining lamb and spices (including finely diced onion, garlic, chilli, shredded mint, parsley, paprika, grated ginger, cumin or coriander) into patties which are shaped around a skewer and fried. These tasty koftas can be served with roasted vegetables and fluffy couscous.
Side dishes
To accompany a main of lamb koftas it can be great to include some other options, including side dishes of hummus and flatbread to snack on before and throughout the meal.
You can also add flavoured rice dishes including spinach rice where you cook baby spinach with rice and lemon juice. This dish can add a great pop of colour to the table. Tossing fried and crumbled halloumi or cubed fetta through the rice can also add some more texture and up the protein content of the meal so that any vegetarians have a good alternative to the meat mains.
Dessert
One of the main themes of any Easter Sunday lunch has to be the chocolate. A fun way to serve some decadent chocolate dessert can be to create a chocolate cut by blowing up small water balloons and dipping these into melted chocolate. You then place the coated balloons on a plate and put them in the fridge to harden. Once they have hardened you can pop the balloons and remove them, leaving a cute chocolate cup that you can fill with small Easter eggs to serve as a dessert. Guests can also eat the bowl, making it truly decadent.
Given the different season in Australia for Easter, it can make sense to tweak traditional Easter recipes to create a more seasonally appropriate menu. If the idea of catering your event seems overwhelming it can be just as easy, and often more affordable, to get a catering service like Essentially Gourmet to provide the food instead.