Food & Drink 

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Easter promise

Treat friends over the bank holiday weekend with this impressive but easy entertaining menu

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Recipes Jennifer Joyce
Photographs Michael Paul

Menu Watercress salad with orange, asparagus and parmesan Pork loin with apricot, sage and pine nut stuffing Potato gratins with garlic and red Leicester Spring vegetables with tarragon butter Limoncello syllabub with crushed amaretti Blood orange Campari cocktails Goat's cheese balls with chives and pink peppercorns

Watercress salad with orange, asparagus and parmesan

30 minutes
Easy

Use non-stick or silicon-coated baking paper for the parmesan wafers or they will stick.

Parmesan 50g, grated
Watercress 150g, woody stems removed
Red chicory or radicchio 2 handfuls of leaves
Asparagus 1 bunch, blanched for 2-3 minutes
Oranges 2, segmented over a bowl to collect the juice
Pitted black olives 12

Dressing

Sherry vinegar 1 tbsp
Orange juice 2 tbsp
Dijon mustard 1 tsp
Extra-virgin olive oil 4 tbsp
Sugar 1 tsp

• Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Cover a baking sheet with non-stick baking paper. Divide the parmesan into 6 evenly spaced small piles on the baking sheet and flatten them into circles. Bake for 6-8 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven, let them sit for 1 minute to set then put on a rack to cool.
• Put all the dressing ingredients into a small bowl, season and whisk well.
• Arrange the watercress, red chicory, asparagus, orange segments and olives on each plate. Just before serving, trickle a little dressing over and top with a parmesan wafer. Serves 6

Pork loin with apricot, sage and pine nut stuffing

2½ hours
Easy

Butter
Celery 2 sticks, diced
Onion 1 medium, chopped
Sage chopped to make 3 tbsp
Thyme chopped to make 2 tbsp
French bread 30g, cubed
Pine nuts 30g
Dried apricots 10, chopped
Boned pork loin 2 kg, butterflied flat

• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan then add the celery, onion, 1 tbsp sage and 1 tbsp thyme. Season and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Tip the bread, pine nuts and apricots into a bowl and pour the onion mixture over. Season again and mix well. Lay the meat out flat and spread the stuffing over it. Roll up and tie with string.
• Sprinkle the outside of the joint with the remaining thyme, sage and some seasoning. Put in a baking tin and cook for 2 hours. Leave to rest for 20 minutes, remove string then cut into thick slices. Serves 6

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