Last Sunday we had a lovely Easter diner. As these dishes can be appreciated on many other occasions as well, I want to share with you what we ate and how you can make them!

VEGGIE PLATTER WITH THREE DIPS

To start off our Easter diner, I served a platter filled with vegetables (cherry tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, chicory, radishes,…) and some crackers and breads with three dips.

How to make the three dips (for 6)

Guacamole:

2 avocados mashed, 4 cherry tomatoes finely chopped, 1 shallot finely chopped, fresh lemon juice of 1/4 lemon, 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander, pepper

Mix all the ingredients together.

Tomato salsa:

3 plum tomatoes (take out the seeds) finely chopped, 1/4 chilli pepper finely chopped, 2 table spoons of chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, pepper

Mix all the ingredients together.

Dill dip:

150 grams of greek yoghurt, 50 grams of mayonaise, 1 clove of garlic – minced, 1 shallot finely chopped, 2 tablespoons of finely chopped dill, 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, pepper

Mix all the ingredients together. Make the dip at least 2 hours in advance to let the garlic kick in!

WATERCRESS SOUP WITH CHICORY AND SHRIMPS

Ingredients (for 6):

200 grams of onion, 200 grams of leek (white), 200 grams of potatoes, 200 gram chicory, 200 grams of watercress, 100 grams of shrimps, 1.2 litres of water with one cube of vegetable stock, chopped parsley

How to make:

• fry the chopped onion and the leek
• add the stalks of the watercress and fry shortly
• add the chopped potatoes and 1,2 liter of water (with one cube of vegetable stock)
• bring to the boil
• when the potatoes are cooked, add the leaves of the watercress
• mix the soup
• bake the chicory in butter
• serve the soup with some baked leaves of chicory, some shrimps and chopped parsley

ASPARAGUS A LA FLAMANDE WITH SMOKED SALMON AND STEAMED POTATOES

Ingredients (for 4):

24 asparagus (cleaned), 6 hard boiled eggs, 1 pack of parsley (finely chopped), 300 grams of butter, 1,5 kg potatoes, 240 grams of smoked salmon, season to taste

How to make:

• peel the potatoes, cut into smaller pieces and steam
• clean the asparagus and put them into cold water, bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling, turn off the fire and leave in the hot water for another 10 minutes
• melt 300 grams of butter, take off the white of the melted butter. Pour the melted butter into another pan, but don’t add the last bit of the melted butter. Heat up the melted butter which you poured into the other pan once again (don’t boil the butter!).
• chop the hard boiled eggs finely, mix with the chopped parsley and add the melted butter
• serve a couple of steamed potatoes with 6 asparagus, 1/4th of the parsley/egg/butter mixture and garnish with 60 grams of smoked salmon

CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

Ingredients (for 8-10 pieces):

for the base: 240 grams of crushed oatmeal cookies and 80 grams of melted butter

for the first layer: 160 grams of pure chocolate, 150 ml of cream, 400 grams of cream cheese, 4 tablespoons of powder sugar

for the second layer: 160 grams of milk chocolate, 100 ml of cream

How to make?

The base:

• crush the cookies and add the melted butter
• press firmly into a baking tin (a high one with diameter 24 cm) and put in the fridge to set

The first layer:

• melt the chocolate au bain marie
• whip up the cream
• add the melted chocolate to the cream cheese and add the sugar
• fold in the whipped cream
• pour the mixture on top of the base and put in the freezer whilst you make the second layer

The second layer:

• heat up the cream
• break up the milk chocolate into smaller pieces
• pour the heated cream on top of the chocolate and leave for a couple of minutes until the chocolate is melted
• stir until the chocolate and cream come together nicely
• pour this mixture on top of the first layer and put in the fridge to cool for at least 3 hours

Decorate the chocolate cheesecake with fruit, chocolate, meringues,…

Bon appétit…