Easter lunch is one of the most indulgent and enjoyable meals of the year. With spring well under way and the cold days of winter behind us we’re ready to fill our tables with flavour and delicious, nutritious food. It’s a truly celebratory time and asking family and friends to join you around your dinner table is one of the most enjoyable ways to mark it.
But, let’s be honest, we don’t always relish the time and effort required to prepare such an important meal. This Easter, Lidl have taken a lot of that effort away with a range of ready-to-cook or pre-prepared mains, sides and desserts, to help you conjure up a masterpiece without all the hassle. Here’s Lidl’s easy-cook Easter dinner.
The main course
Irish lamb leg with apricot and cranberry stuffing (serves four to five)
Roast lamb is the centre piece of this great traditional dinner. It’s perfectly timed for the season and Lidl’s fresh Irish stuffed carvery leg of lamb captures everyone at your table's imagination with minimal fuss. It’s a succulent and tender part-boned joint stuffed with apricots and cranberries and comes ready-dressed with aromatic rosemary. 11 per cent of this 1.8kg leg of Irish lamb is the fruit-filled stuffing so you can expect it to pack a full-flavoured punch. It’s also simple to prepare: preheat your oven to 180 degrees or gas mark four; put the stuffed joint in a baking tray and cover with aluminium foil; cook in the centre of the oven for one hour and 20 minutes – or two hours if you prefer it well done; remove the foil and cook for another 10 minutes. Once you take it out of the oven let it stand for 15 minutes before carving.
Tasty alternative mains
A great vegetarian option is the Lidl Deluxe butternut squash and goat's cheese wellington. A crisp, golden, generously filled puff pastry pie. It also comes with a mushroom, stilton and cranberry filled version.
For a seafood option why not consider the Lidl Deluxe yellowfin tuna steaks. Coming in packs of two, they're quick and easy to prepare and stuffed full of flavour and nutrition.
The sides
No meal is complete without a range of side dishes, but preparing them all can be a complex task of timing and ingredients. Lidl have a great selection of sides to suit all meals.
Deluxe vegetable parcels
Lidl have put together a wide range of vegetable parcels for a special side dish including chestnut, mushroom, brie and cranberry version and a spinach, vintage cheddar and garlic wellington. Full of flavour and ready to cook.
Potato gratin
Gratin is a cookery technique that originated in France and comprises ingredients topped with a crust of breadcrumbs, grated cheese, egg or butter. It creates a deliciously savoury side dish but can take time. Lidl Deluxe have two ready-to-heat options for your Easter feast: one with Emmental and one with broccoli florets.
Stuffed mushroom with leek/cheese
The Lidl Deluxe versions come with stuffed leek or leek and cheese stuffing and make a great alternative side dish, stuffed mushrooms can also double up as a terrific starter.
Buttery roast potatoes
No roast dinner is complete without roast potatoes. But cut out the potato peeling by picking up a pack of Lidl Deluxe buttery roast potatoes. Ready to cook from chilled they are a terrific quick and easy way to prepare roasts.
The desserts
There’s a distinctly international feel to this range of ready-to-serve desserts that create a very adult take on the sweet side of Easter. While we don’t recommend you try them all they certainly offer something for everyone that takes a seat at your table.
Premium tiramisu
For most, tiramisu is the quintessential Italian dessert. Its rich coffee flavour is its main selling point, layered with a whipped mixture of eggs, sugar and mascarpone cheese and topped with cocoa. Very few guests will refuse it, making it a much-loved dessert. The Lidl Deluxe version is rich and indulgent, allowing the flavours of mascarpone cheese, marsala wine and coffee-soaked sponge to bring an elegant end to your meal.
Crème brûlée
This French dessert is a firm favourite and its vanilla-rich custard and hardened caramelised sugar creates a delicious contrast. The Lidl Deluxe version comes in packs of two individual servings and is served chilled.
Sticky toffee/chocolate pudding
Lidl Deluxe is serving two takes on pudding this Easter with a buttery and moist date sponge smothered in a rich sticky toffee sauce or, for the chocolate lovers among you, they also offer a fine chocolate sauce version. Both are decadent, rich and stuffed with flavour.
Raspberry pavlova
Pavlova is a fantastic centrepiece for your dessert trolley. Originally created in honour of the Russian ballet dancer, Anna Pavlova, in the 1920s, it is a deceptively light and delicious meringue-based cake. Making one from scratch can be a complicated business of egg whites and sugar so the Lidl Deluxe version filled with sweet raspberry sauce and whipped cream, topped with juicy raspberries, is a great alternative. Simply defrost and serve.
Premium profiteroles
Another French classic, profiteroles are cream-filled choux pastries dripping in chocolate. It's a perfect Easter dessert but one that can be very tricky to make yourself. The Lidl Deluxe premium profiteroles come ready-filled and drenched in rich dark chocolate. They just need to be chilled and served.
Q Awards
Lidl's Deluxe Irish stuffed carvery leg of lamb was highly commended at the 2018 Q Awards – the Irish Quality Food Awards.
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