From delicious desserts to the perfect roast, Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain shares her Easter recipes
WANT to make this weekend extra special for your little chicks?
Telly cook Nadiya Hussain has some top recipes to keep you busy while stuck inside at Easter.
She said: “It might be challenging to keep your Easter bunnies amused at the moment but there are still lots of tasty treats to make with the whole family.”
From delicious desserts to the perfect roast, Nadiya shares her picks for the whole family to enjoy.
- Recipes taken from Nadiya’s Bake Me A Celebration Story (Hodder Children’s Books, £14.99) and Time to Eat (Michael Joseph £20).
LAMB DANSAK
(Serves 4)
YOU NEED:
- 100g butter
- 5 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp garlic paste
- 2 tbsp ginger paste
- 200g onions, chopped
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp chilli paste
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 2 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1kg lamb (neck, shoulder or leg), diced into small cubes
- 2 tins of kidney beans, drained
To serve:
- Rice
- Cream
- Fresh chopped coriander
METHOD: Put the butter into a large pan with the oil and let it melt. Then turn up the heat, add the garlic paste, ginger paste, onions and salt and cook on a high heat until the onions are very brown and soft.
Keep a jug of water handy in case they start to stick – if they do, just splash in a little water.
Add the chilli paste, tomato puree, curry powder, garam masala and ground cinnamon and cook on a medium heat until the mixture really starts to thicken.
Add the lamb and leave to cook till it is browned. Then put a lid on the pan and let it cook gently for ten minutes. Put the drained kidney beans into a bowl and give them a little squash with the end of a rolling pin to help them break up a little.
Dansak is traditionally made with lentils but they take longer, so I use tinned kidney beans. Stir the beans into the lamb, pop the lid on again and cook for 20 minutes over a medium heat.
Cook some rice now, or, if you are still short of time, get a few of those pre-cooked rice packets into the microwave.
I like to serve this with a tiny splash of cream drizzled over and some chopped coriander. A pineapple salsa also works as a refreshing side – just toss chunks of pineapple with chopped red chillies, red onion and fresh coriander.
There is enough curry here for two meals, so you can freeze the leftovers.
CARROT AND CUMIN SOUP
(Serves 4)
YOU NEED:
- 500g carrots
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 250ml water
- ½ tsp salt
- 25g unsalted butter
- 800ml vegetable stock
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- large handful of baby spinach leaves
- 2 tbsp full-fat cream cheese
- pepper
METHOD: Peel the carrots and take off the tops and the tips. Chop into 1cm-thick coins and place them in a large saucepan.
Add the garlic, water, salt and butter to pan. Put the lid on and leave to simmer over a medium heat for at least 25–30 minutes or until the carrots are soft and a knife goes right through them.
Once carrots are soft, add the stock and cumin seeds, let it come to the boil then reduce the heat and leave to simmer for another ten minutes. Take saucepan off heat and add spinach and cream cheese.
With a stick blender, whizz soup until carrots are pureed. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Nadiya’s tip: Add half a teaspoon of ground cumin if you don’t have cumin seeds.
LAMB WITH RHUBARB AND ROSEMARY GLAZE
Serves four to eight (based on a 1kg of lamb)
YOU NEED:
- Whole leg of lamb, butterflied (get your butcher to do this or buy it done)
- Oil, for coating
- ½ tsp salt
- For the rhubarb glaze:
- 50g butter
- 2 large sprigs of rosemary, leaves removed and finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 400g rhubarb, thinly sliced
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp chilli powder
METHOD: Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. If the lamb is thicker in places, lay it on a board and make vertical slices, then open it up. This will help it cook evenly.
Pop it into a large roasting dish and drizzle generously with oil. Cover both sides. Sprinkle with salt – again, be generous. It is a lot of meat and needs seasoning well. Pop it into the oven for 40 minutes if you like the meat medium, or 30 minutes if you prefer it pink. While it is cooking, make the glaze.
Melt the butter in a pan. Add the rosemary and garlic and cook on a high heat for a few minutes. Lower the heat to medium and add the rhubarb, salt, honey and chilli powder, then stir. Increase the heat slightly and mix. As it cooks, it should resemble lava bubbling. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes until you have a rich, deep paste. If it starts to stick, lower the heat and stir frequently.
If you have a very tart batch of rhubarb, you might like to add an extra 1-2 tbsp of honey. Once the leg of lamb has been in the oven for the required cooking time, take it out. If there is any liquid in the base of the roasting dish, carefully drain it off.
Brush the glaze all over the top and base of the meat, then leave it fat-side up to finish cooking.
Once it has cooked for a further 20 minutes, take it out and leave to rest for at least 15 minutes before eating.
CHOCOLATE BAR PUFFS
(Makes 15)
YOU NEED:
- 2 x 320g sheets of ready-rolled puff pastry
- A little flour, for dusting
- 8 full-size chocolate bars (40g-50g), the kind that lend themselves to being melted, halved
- 1 egg, beaten
- Cocoa powder, for dusting
METHOD: Dust your rolling pin with a little flour.
Roll out one of the sheets of pastry, leaving it on the backing paper, and pop it on to a baking tray. Have another baking tray ready close by.
Place the bars evenly in line on the pastry, five across, three up, making sure to leave a good gap between the pieces of chocolate.
There will be one extra – you’re welcome, that’s for you!
Take the second sheet of pastry and roll it out to 1.5cm bigger on each side than the other sheet (this has to go over the chocolate, so it needs a bit more give).
Brush all the edges of the first sheet of pastry around the chocolate with most of the egg.
Now place the other piece of pastry on top. Using the side of your palm, press down gently around the cubes of chocolate to attach the top to the base.
Once it is all sealed, pop it into the fridge for five minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
Take the pastry off the tray and cut out the little chocolate-filled cubes. Brush with the leftover egg.
Divide them between the two trays and pop them into the oven for 30 minutes, switching the trays around halfway through so that they are evenly baked and have an equal amount of goldenness.
Once they are out of the oven, dust them with a little cocoa powder.
EASTER EGG ROCKY ROAD
(Makes 9 large squares or 12 smaller rectangles)
YOU NEED:
- 130g unsalted butter, plus extra for the tin
- 200g milk chocolate, chopped
- 3 tbsp golden syrup
- 200g digestive biscuits
- 150g sugar-coated mini chocolate eggs, roughly crushed in a food bag, plus 9–12 whole mini eggs for decorating
- Icing sugar, for dusting
METHOD: Line and lightly butter a 20cm square cake tin or a casserole dish about the same size.
Put the butter, chocolate and golden syrup into a microwaveable bowl.
Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Take it out and mix. Put it back in the microwave for another 30 seconds and mix again.
If it still hasn’t completely melted, return it to the microwave for ten seconds. When the mixture is glossy, runny and smooth, set aside to cool slightly.
Put the biscuits and the 150g of mini eggs into a freezer bag and roughly crush with a rolling pin.
They don’t have to be as small and even as crumbs they can be in small or larger pieces. Add the crushed biscuits and mini eggs to the melted mixture, then stir well until everything is covered with chocolate.
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Pour into the prepared tin or casserole dish and flatten with the back of a spoon.
Add the whole mini eggs on top, equally spaced out according to how many pieces of rocky road you want to make, and gently push them in. Pop into the fridge to set for at least two hours. Once set, take it out and sift over icing sugar to dust. Then Cut into squares and enjoy!
- Nadiya’s tip: Mini eggs can be a choking hazard for very small children. Keep an eye on your kids as they enjoy their rocky road.
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