Serious Entertaining: Easter In a Flash

You think Easter and you think lamb, peas, spring vegetables, chocolate eggs, and ok, maybe bunnies. And while the Easter feast doesn't have quite the same reputation for being an all-day affair as, say, Thanksgiving or Christmas, the prospect of roasting a leg of lamb or glazing a ham is still a little intimidating.

Here are some ideas for a quick Easter dinner that comes together quickly, but is still dressed to impress.

Appetizer: Country Ham Biscuits

Glazed ham is a classic main course for Easter. For a quick menu consider getting your ham fix with some tender biscuits with crisp country ham. If you can't get your hands on a good quality, thin-sliced country ham, you'll do just fine with some prosciutto or Spanish jamón serrano.

Salad: Spring Salad

Nothing says spring like green vegetables, and this Spring Salad with Asparagus, Peas, and Snap Peas with a Poached Egg on top is about as green as it gets. The recipe calls for ramps, which if you're lucky enough to find at this time of year, are excellent when dragged through the egg yolk. But the salad will do just fine without them.

The best part? Once you've got your vegetables blanched and chilled and your vinaigrette made, the salad requires no work to serve. Just toss it all together, and top with your eggs. What's that? You didn't know that you can poach eggs in advance? Absolutely, you can! Just check out that link for a foolproof poaching method, along with directions for how to make them ahead.

Main Courses: Rosemary and Garlic Lamb Chops

Here's the only part of the meal you'll have to do a la minute, though really, after its hour-long rest in a garlic and rosemary marinade the cooking time for these Garlic and Rosemary Lamb Chops is only a matter of moments. You finish off the sauce while the lamb rests. Serve them alongside the spring salad, or toss together a simple green salad to go with them.

Dessert: Meyer Lemon Mascarpone Cake

And for dessert, we're at that magical time of year when fresh spring produce is finally starting to appear, but great citrus fruit is still available (and cheap, no less!). Celebrate the awesome lemony-orange flavor and mild tartness of Meyer lemons with this Meyer Lemon Mascarpone Cake. Bake it the day before and serve it chilled for easy entertaining.

Get The Recipes:

• Spring Salad of Asparagus, Ramps, Snap Peas, and Peas With Poached Egg and Lemon Zest Vinaigrette
• Tender Lamb Brochettes with Thyme and Haricots Verts
• Meyer Lemon Mascarpone Cake