Easy vegan Easter lunch recipes
Happy Easter count down everyone! Here at Naish Farm, Honeybuns Bakery HQ, we’re lucky to be bordered by woolly hedges and a magical ancient drove way. As well as being stunningly beautiful, our dapple shaded drove offers up edible delights throughout the year. Blackberries, hazelnuts, young nettles and wild rose hips can all be gathered.
As you can see, ’tis now the season for wild garlic which thrives in damp and wooded spots along the path way. In a couple of weeks’ time their lacy white flowers will blossom.
According to the highly entertaining website EatWeeds,
‘The herb was carried in people’s pockets to ward off flu during the 1918 pandemic in Ireland.
In other parts of the British Isles, the leaves of wild garlic were worn under the soles of the feet to prevent people from catching coughs and colds.’
If you’re curious, there is a wonderful article here on The British Landscape Club explaining the role of droveways,
‘the roads linked the wild corners of Britain- particularly Scotland, Wales and the Westcountry – with the growing demands of towns and cities where livestock could be brought to market.’
With Easter being so early this year, it’s perfect timing to pick this flavoursome plant and work it into your Easter menu planning. If you are planning to pick your own wild garlic, do check our tips for safe foraging.
Now we’ll show you how to pull together a super simple, and speedy plant based lunch; leaving you more time to hunt for those elusive chocolate eggs. Cooking for vegans or coeliacs? With these delicious Spring time recipes, we’ve got most ‘free from’ bases covered.
Don’t worry if you cannot source wild garlic, regular garlic will do just fine.
Free From Easter Lunch Menu, adapted from recipes in our Honeybuns All Day Cook Book.
Serves 4 people (plus leftovers!)
All dishes are vegan, dairy free and gluten free.
VEGAN STARTER
Home made pea soup with wild garlic pesto
PLANT BASED MAIN
Aubergine Mousakka
GLUTEN AND DAIRY FREE DESSERT
Millionaire’s Slice Stack (available to buy from our online shop)
Step 1: How do I make my wild garlic pesto?
INGREDIENTS
- 40g pine nuts, toasted (pumpkin seeds, almonds or peanuts work well)
- A bunch of wild garlic leaves – approx. 12 leaves (as a guide use 2 cloves of regular garlic instead)
- 3 tbsp olive oil, plus more to add later
- Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
- 40g pitted black olives (if you prefer super savoury, then try capers)
To toast your nuts or seeds pop in a hot oven for 5 minutes. This is worth doing as you’ll get a gorgeously enhanced flavour and crunch.
Then simply blitz together all the ingredients in a food processor. Once you’ve got the texture you like, I prefer chunky bits for texture, you can add more olive oil to loosen the mixture up.
Step 2: Here’s how to make the soup
INGREDIENTS
- 550ml vegetable stock (we use the gluten free Knorr vegetable stockpot ones)
- 500g fresh or frozen peas
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- 2 tbsp home made wild garlic pesto (Short on time? A shop bought vegan pesto will do just fine. We love the black olive pesto by Wicked Kitchen
- Pop your vegetable stock in a saucepan and add all the other ingredients. Simmer for 5 minutes, allowing the flavours to mingle and to thaw out the peas (if using frozen).
- Then pop everything in a food processor and blitz
- You can then decant the soup mix into a saucepan ready to heat up.
- I’ve not mentioned salt, but it can be added if you prefer.
Step 3: Here’s how to obtain your super easy, super quick 100% vegan Moussaka recipe
- Just click here to this tried and tested favourite Moussaka recipe from our previous blog.
Step 4: Now for the centre piece plant based chocolate caramel dessert stack
Either click here to make our Easy Peasy Millionaire’s Shortbread from scratch.
Or let us take the strain and buy a tray bake from our online shop.
You then need to:
- Cut your wheat free Millionaire’s Shortbread tray bake into 15 squares.
- Find a cake stand or use a pretty plate on top of an upturned china cup
- Arrange your squares in a stack
- Melt some vegan gluten free dark chocolate in the microwave and drizzle over your stack.
- Then go crazy with the decorating. We’ve got some top tips at the end of this blog.
TOP TIPS
- The soup and the pesto can be refrigerated (or frozen) in advance, thus leaving you even more time to hunt those pesky chocolate eggs down!
- If you’re missing the parmesan in this vegan pesto, you can always try adding grated Violife – it’s a good alternative
- If you fancy a kick try adding chilli (fresh or flakes) to the soup
- Similarly, the Moussaka can be made in advance. Left in the fridge for a couple of days before re heating will allow time for all the lovely roasted veggie flavours to properly mingle.
- Fuss free easy cake decorating tips for your chocolate shortbread include: strawberries, raspberries and blue berries, wild flowers, pressed or fresh from the garden, mini free from Easter eggs, a dusting of icing sugar, pretty candles
- All left overs- from the pesto to the cake can be safely frozen for up to 3 months.
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Do let us know how you get on with the recipes. We’d love to see you pics.
Wishing you a gorgeously happy Easter from us all here at Honeybuns,
Emx
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