We are home for Easter this year and decide to make a few of our favorite dishes: Pomegranate Brussels Sprouts Salad, Artichoke Risotto, and Italian Springtime Lamb. First, though, we admire our table of chocolates, including Leonidas chocolate eggs sent to Jennifer from her Brussels office and Lindt bunnies that we received from Lufthansa last week when flying back from Frankfurt.
Table O'Chocolate
We start with the Pomegranate Brussels Sprouts Salad, making a dressing of pomegranate molasses, Dijon mustard, agave nectar, salt, and olive oil. We add to the dressing 1 pound (.5 kg) thin shaved Brussels sprouts, one bunch of thin-sliced kale, pomegranate seeds, chopped Marcona almonds, and crumbled Gorgonzola dolce.
Ingredients
Shaving Brussels sprouts, assembly
Mixing with the dressing
For the Italian Springtime Lamb, we start with a 5 pound (2.25 kg) trimmed, boned, and butterflied leg of lamb pounded to a 1 inch (2.5 cm) thickness. We warm olive oil in a pan and toast garlic, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and chopped walnuts. When fragrent and starting to brown, we add chopped spinach and raisins. The lamb is spread with mustard, covered with the spinach mixture, rolled up with the filling inside, and tied with butcher's twine every 2 inches (5 cm) or so.
The lamb is seared on all sides, transferred to a roasting pan, and roasted for an hour to an hour and a quarter. Meanwhile, we preapare the gremolata, heating panko bread crumbs in olive oil until brown, then adding chopped parsley, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, and salt. The lamb is sliced and served with a sprinkling of the gremolata.
Preparing the lamb
Adding the spread
Tying and searing
Ready to roast, gremolata
For the artichoke risotto, we cook artichoke hearts in olive oil and set aside. We then cook shallots in olive oil and butter and add Arbario rice and cook until the rice is sizzling. We add dry white wine and [homemade] chicken stock, cup by cup, as the stock is absorbed by the rice. Twenty or so minutes later, we have a creamy risotto into which we stir peas, feta, chives, mint, and the artichoke hearts. with a splash of lemon juice.
Artichoke risotto ingredients
Snacks while we cook
Artichokes and risotto
Lamb and risotto are ready
Plating
Dinner is served
And, for desert, we open the Leonidas chocolate eggs just arrived from Brussels.
Desert
What a great Easter dinner. We can't wait for the next major cooking holiday (we have two turkeys, a duck, octupus, and lobster in the freezer just waiting for an excuse to thaw)!
