Our Easter Lunch

This year our Easter lunch was supposedly more low-key than previous years. At the last minute, it was just my brother-in-law’s family who came over as my sister-in-law made her way to Naples.

However, low-key doesn’t mean less food.  Somehow when we planned the menu, it looked simple and not excessive.

We had the usual appetizers of pizza al formaggio and corallina but then my brother-in-law also brought over a danubio, which are rustic brioche rolls with savory fillings.  He made them with three different fillings using salsiccia, prosciutto crudo and prosciutto cotto with various cheeses.

They also made a plum cake of zucchini which we also had as an appetizer.  By the time we were finished with appetizers, we were already full.

Zucchini Plumcake

Thankfully, we decided not to have a pasta dish and went on to the second dish of meat (lamb and veal) with roasted potatoes and mixed salad greens.

After lunch, my 5-year old niece was begging us to let her open her eggs.  When she got permission to do so, she was as excited as opening presents on Christmas Day.  The fact that she loves chocolate obviously added to the excitement.

While my niece was trying to sneak more chocolate than she is allowed, my brother-in-law was looking forward to the pastiera as it’s only made once a year using the family recipe from Naples.

I had never thought that I would like a dessert with wheat in it but I love the texture of it all.  My sister, however, found it strange and only liked the crust.

Even though it was a simple lunch, we were as full as previous years and the day after, we always suffer from a good amount of leftovers and a food hangover!

How was your Easter lunch, what dishes did you have and was there also lots of leftovers?

P.S. You would think that after all that food, we would be done cooking but my sister had asked me to teach her how to make brioche veneziana. I am not sure what came into me but I said “Let’s do it this evening” and we did.