The ETDT recipe edit: Inspo for the Easter weekend.

I used to wonder why people liked the regular recipe slot on my website when there were so many recipes and cookbooks out there but then realised that was precisely the point. I was saving them the time and trouble of deciding what to make.

If you Google Easter recipes for instance you get a stupefying number of options from 70 on Country Living to 148 on jamieoliver.com. Even when the numbers are lower they’re still daunting: 25 easter recipes you’re going to want to cook every year. Really? (All 25? Never having tried them before? Give me a break!) 

So here are a modest 10 that appealed to me tied into different meal occasions over the holiday weekend. You don’t have to make them all. Obviously

The brunch dish
Smoked salmon kedgeree
So many breakfast dishes involve plating up individually but a big sharing dish of kedgeree is not one of them. Ritz it up with smoked salmon and it goes particularly well with a glass of fizz

The Sunday roast
When it comes to the big occasion Diana Henry can do no wrong, witness this roast leg of lamb with basil, pecorino, garlic and wine (photo ©Laura Edwards above) from her one tin recipe book From the Oven to the Table. Easter lamb with a clever twist.

Or if it’s chicken you’re aching for after this week’s Friday 5 how about Nigel Slater’s latest:  Roast chicken with new potato and tarragon stuffing. Can’t go wrong with Nige.

A sexy side
Parmesan-crusted smashed potatoes
Cheese, potato, garlic … all my favourite things in one recipe and crispy to boot. What’s not to like?

The veggie option
I made this Rachel Roddy Torta Pasqualina or spinach pie with a group of friends on Zoom during the first lockdown and it was so delicious I don’t know why I haven’t made it again. A good option for Easter Saturday or Bank Holiday Monday 

The spring salad
Spring panzanella
Tomatoes are so rarely ripe, in the UK at least, that panzanella never seems that attractive an option but this spring panzanella with cucumber, sugar snap peas and asparagus from the sassy Molly Baz would really hit the spot

An Easter pud
Nigella Lawson’s Lemon pavlova
Desserts go in and out of fashion but you have to ask yourself what is actually better than a pavlova? Especially from Nigella, the queen of pavs. And lemon is so Easter-y

Two Easter bakes
Am I the only one who finds Simnel cake boring especially when there are so many great Easter breads out there? This chocolate, orange and cardamom bread from Ottolenghi caught my eye, cos frankly anything with cardamom is a winner.

Or if that’s not chocolatey enough for you how about this gooey Dark chocolate espresso loaf cake from ‘the boy who bakes’ Edd Kimber which he descibes as ‘rich, dark, dense and moist like all the best chocolate cakes’. I think we can agree on that.

And the prize for the cleverest use of leftovers goes to …. Hot cross bun bread and butter pudding and honestly I think this is going to be better if you buy rather than make your own HXBs. Permission to cheat.

Happy cooking!