Fresh quick and easy recipes to celebrate spring
recipes: Livia Sala
BOILED EGGS AND SHRIMPS BAVAROIS
medium – prep: 35 mins + resting period cook time: 10 mins. Kcalories 205 per serving – Serves 8:
- 8 eggs
- 200 ml fresh cream
- 150 g boiled and shelled shrimps
- 1 bunch chives
- 1 bunch thyme
- 1 bunch basil
- 50 g mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 2 little glasses of brandy
- 8 g leaf gelatin
- salt
- pepper
- Put the eggs in a small pot, cover them with water at room temperature, bring to a boil and cook them for 8 minutes. Cool them under cold water and peel them. In the meanwhile, soak the sheets of gelatin in a cup of water at room temperature.
- Flavor the shrimps with a squirt of brandy and with the chopped herbs. Let them stand in a fresh place.
- Squeeze the gelatin and melt it with the rest of the brandy in a small pot over low heat. Whip the cream and add the mustard and the mayonnaise first, then the melt gelatin. Let it cool down a bit and then add the shrimps and 4 boiled eggs, that you previously chopped up. Stir gently.
- Put the mixture in a 18 cm springform mold and let it firm up in the fridge for a few hours. Delicately remove the bavarois from the mold onto a plate and decorate it with the remaining sliced eggs. If you wish, you can garnish it with small dried flowers.
EASTER BREAD RINGS
medium – Preparation: 30 minutes + resting period – Cook time: 25 minutes – 720 cal/serving – For 4 ring:
- 500 g Manitoba flour
- 80 g butter
- 5 whole eggs and 1 yolk
- 250 ml milk
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 bag dried yeast
- 1 teaspoon anise seeds
- salt
- pepper
- Mix the yeast with the flour and make a well on the work surface.
- Lightly beat one egg with lukewarm milk, a pinch of salt and the sugar, then pour the mixture in the center of the well. Start adding the flour and then add the softened butter in small bits. Work the dough into a smooth and elastic ball and put it in a large floured bowl. Cut a cross on the surface of the dough and let it rise until its volume doubles.
- Work the dough a little bit more, adding a pinch of pepper and the anise seeds. Divide the dough in 4 and make a small loaf (3 cm diameter) out of each part. Fold the loaf in half and gently twist the 2 parts together in a ring shape.
- Place the rings on a baking tray covered with parchment paper, put a washed egg at the center of each ring and let rise for half an hour in a warm place. Brush the surface of the rings with the beaten yolk, a bit of water and a pinch of salt. Oven cook at 180° C for 25 minutes.
SALMON DEVILED EGGS
easy – Preparation time: 20 minutes – Cook time: 10 minutes – 130 cal/serving – For 4 serving:
- 4 eggs
- 40 g smoked salmon
- ½ tablespoon mustard
- 2 full tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon dried capers
- 1 bunch dill
- Tabasco sauce
- Worcester sauce
- 2 tablespoons gomasio (sesame salt available in ethnic food stores)
- red beet sprouts
- salt
- pepper
- Put the eggs in a small pot, cover them with water at room temperature and bring them to a boil. Lower the heat and cook for 8 minutes. Cool them under cold water and peel them.
- Cut the bottom of the boiled eggs uncovering the yolks. Gently pull them out and put them in the cup of the hand blender.
- Roughly chop the salmon and add it to the yolks, together with the mustard, the sour cream, a squirt of Tabasco and of Worcester sauce. Add 4 tablespoons of water, a pinch of salt and pepper and blend into a cream (if necessary, add a little bit more of water). At the end, add the chopped capers and dill.
- Place the eggs upside down on the gomasio so as to cover their edges, and stuff them with the cream using a pastry bag. Place the eggs in an egg box and garnish them with the sprouts.
SAVORY CAKE WITH FAVA BEANS, PECORINO CHEESE AND OLIVES
easy – Preparation time: 25 minutes – Cook time: 50 minutes – 670 cal/serving – For 4 servings:
- 180 g flour
- 6 medium eggs
- 100 ml milk
- 100 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 60 g grated Parmesan cheese
- 80 g fresh pecorino cheese
- 150 g peeled fava beans
- 60 g oven cooked pitted black olives
- 1 teaspoon of yeast for savory cakes
- butter and flour for the mold
- salt
- pepper
- Put 3 eggs in a small pot, cover them with water at room temperature, bring them to a boil and cook for 6-7 minutes. Let them cool down and peel them. Parboil the fava beans and remove their skin.
- Put the remaining eggs, the oil and the milk in a bowl and mix them. Add the flour sifted with the yeast, the Parmesan cheese and the pecorino cheese grated with a grater with large holes. Roughly chop the olives and add them to the mixture together with the fava beans. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Butter and flour a one-liter plumcake mold and pour half of the mixture in it. Place the eggs in the mold (cut the ends if they don’t fit in) and cover them with the rest of the mixture. Oven cook at 180°C for about 40 minutes. Let the cake cool down before slicing it.
BOILED EGGS AND VEGETABLE STEW
very easy – Preparation time: 20 min – For 4 servings:
- 4 eggs
- 8 spring onions
- 600 g peas
- 800 g fava beans
- 200 g snow peas
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 bunch chives
- 1 clove of garlic
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- Put the eggs in a small pot, cover them with water at room temperature, bring to a boil and cook for 8 minutes. Cool them under cold water and peel them.
- Shell the peas and the fava beans and blanch them for a few minutes in lightly salted water together with the snow peas. Peel the fava beans if the skin is too thick.
- Lightly squeeze the garlic and let it brown in a saucepan with a bit of oil and the fennel seeds. Remove it when it starts to become brown. Wash the spring onions and cut the eggs in half. Brown them for a few minutes and then add the rest of the vegetables. Cover with a lid. Cook for about ten minutes, gently stirring the eggs and the vegetables every once in a while. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the parsley and the chives.