Matt Preston, Alyce Alexandra and Jessie Inchauspé reveal their go-to Easter recipes and tips for a stress-free long weekend.
Catching up with friends and family over a home-cooked meal is one of the greatest joys of the Easter long weekend.
But if you're tasked with feeding your guests, it can be stressful devising a menu and entertaining while you're tied to the kitchen.
Renowned chef Matt Preston, bestselling cookbook author Alyce Alexandra, and the glucose goddess Jessie Inchauspé are here to help. Read on to discover their go-to Easter recipes and tips for a successful Easter weekend.
How do you spend your Easter long weekend?
Matt: Camping with three other families.
Alyce: I usually spend it with my parents and sisters. We usually go away somewhere and there's lots of food, we play a lot of cards and bake a lot of bread – we're all quite keen on baking.
Jessie: This year I will be on a trip to Brazil during Easter! So I will hopefully spend it on the beach getting some rest before my new book launch.
Do you have any Easter traditions when it comes to cooking?
Matt: I like to bake bread in the coals of the fire in the morning and always design a special cocktail for each trip. The most notorious is my “Billy Tea” made in a swung billy with ice, 500ml ginger beer, 500ml apple juice and whisky to taste. When you pour it out it looks just like weak milky tea but kicks like a mule. Serve with lots of sliced lemon.
Alyce: Hot cross buns are definitely a big part of the weekend and in the lead-up. I actually like making hot cross bagels, which is a bit unconventional. You have the fruit and spices from hot cross buns made into a bagel instead – that's become a bit of a tradition. My sister is vegan so we also make vegan hot cross buns so nobody misses out.
Jessie: Not really, I know lamb is a traditional dish but I don't like eating lamb. So maybe just hunting for chocolate eggs (I love LOVE chocolate), after having a vinegar drink to reduce the glucose spike, and hunting is an active movement so it helps with the spike too.
Do you have any go-to Easter recipes?
Matt: Butterflied and marinated leg of lamb over the fire with a big crisp green salad on the side. Greek yoghurt and fresh mint marbled warmed mint jelly is served on the side. Fire-warmed flatbread is a great cutlery saver.
Alyce: On Good Friday we're definitely keen on the seafood. What we usually make is a mussel risotto. Mussels are one of my favourite seafood options, and from a sustainable, ethical and cheap perspective, they literally tick every box I care about. Traditionally, seafood is quite expensive so from a cost perspective mussels are definitely appealing. When making it, use the water you used to steam the mussels as stock in the risotto so you have a beautiful seafood flavour through the rice. The water would otherwise be discarded so it is frugal and delicious.
Jessie: At the moment I'm feeling really inspired by my baked fennel and amazing chicken and orange salad from my new book, The Glucose Goddess Method.
What are your top tips for people entertaining friends and family on the long weekend?
Matt: It’s far easier to do it with a kitchen and a gas BBQ but we’ve learnt that eating out in the bush focuses us on the people and not the food which is sort of the point of these sorts of festivals. Everything is great just so long as you’ve kept the Easter eggs cool enough!!!
Alyce: When we cook a big meal every person is allocated a dish or component of the meal. I find that's a stress-free way of entertaining. It is a holiday for everyone and no one ever, including me, cooks the entire amount. Homemade bread is also my favourite thing to make. No matter what you serve at lunch, if you have crusty bread straight out of the oven everyone thinks you're a legend. It's a great way to make a meal really impressive. If you're making a salad, I like options that are pickled or coleslaw and anything that uses vinegar in the dressing rather than a fresh leaf salad. They are really good to make in advance, you can do them the day before and they taste better the next day. I think strategically about what I am going to cook so I can do less on the day. I hate the idea of entertaining and being in the kitchen the whole time – that's not fun for anyone. For dessert, definitely make something in advance because once it's time for that you're relaxed so you want to keep it that way. Frozen desserts can be made days in advance, as well as tarts or cheesecake.
Jessie: In my opinion, the most successful entertainment leaves people feeling really good. So I love offering my guests my fancy courgette rolls recipe as a starter to share. The fibre in the veggies, when we eat them first, helps reduce the glucose spike of the meal. So people leave feeling energized and good!
This article was originally published March 2022. Updated March 2023 to include responses from Jessie Inchauspé.
Discover a few dishes Matildas players love and learn how to make them yourself.
Three Penguin Random House staff members tried the Glucose Goddess Method for themselves. Read about their experiences here.
Your favourite cookbook authors have spoken, and these are their favourite food memories. From ice cream in Paris to takeaway pizza, read about their most-treasured gastronomical moments.
Peek inside Jessie Inchauspé’s new book and get a sense of what you can expect from this full-fledged guide to getting off the glucose rollercoaster once and for all.
Discover famous chefs’ favourite ingredients. From French butter to chocolate, these are the five must-haves that cooking pros keep on hand.
The surprising science behind the order in which we eat our food.
In his new book, Big Mouth, Matt Preston shares some of his favourite foods.
Want to try something new? These popular audiobooks from different genres will help you explore new subjects and themes while listening. You might just discover an unexpected favourite!
If you love dessert but hate the sugar crash that follows, this trick is for you. Jessie Inchauspé – AKA The Glucose Goddess – shares her top tip for enjoying sweets, so you can have your cake and eat it too!
For most of us, energy peaks and troughs throughout the day are something we accept as part of life – but what if it didn’t have to be that way?
Picture books read aloud by Matt Preston, Zoë Foster Blake and more!