Easter hosting made easy
in collaboration with very.co.uk
Easter is my favorite holiday, there I said it! For me Easter is way superior over Christmas, there is less pressure of it being ‘perfect’, the weather in March/April is way warmer then in December and there are signs of spring everywhere and don’t get me started on the extra daylight. How lovely is it to see the sun and it not being dark out at late afternoon!
Easter for me is getting together with your friends and family, Easter egg hunts in the woods and sitting down at the table sharing food. Dishes that are easy to prepare and are made for sharing. Food that is simple to make so I can enjoy the company of my friends instead of being in the kitchen the whole time. Food I can make in the Ninja Crispy as this little machine makes cooking effortless and fast!
On my Easter brunch menu is my all time favorite salad, a lukewarm crispy potato and green been salad tossed with brie, dill and chili flakes. I’ve been making this salad for years and years but the Ninja airfryer has made its preparations even easier. A few hours before my guests arrive I wash and quarter the new potatoes, wash and trim the green beans and place them in the larger CleanCrisp glass container, it holds 3.8L. The storage lid goes on top and the ingredients can sit in the fridge until I’m ready to cook them. They will be cooked straight from the fridge without having to change containers, such a time saver.
To make the salad:
Wash and quarter 500 grams of new potatoes
Wash and trim 200 grams of green beans
Sprinkle the potatoes and beans with olive oil, pepper, salt and garlic powder and cook on the air frier mode for ten minutes. Stir and cook for another 8 minutes. Keep an eye on the beans, they might have to come out sooner.
Once cooked mix with a bag of rucola, lemon juice, olive oil, fresh dill and chopped up brie. I also like a sprinkle of chili flakes. Serve when the beans and potatoes are warm.
The Ninja Crispi has heat resistant feet so can be placed straight on the counter, as does the heating element. When opening your Crispi to toss the food it can stand on the container without any damage to your worktops.
And of course we need some bunny themed food for Easter, and it can’t be easier then these bunny bagels. Made from only two ingredients and baked in the Ninja Crispi giving the outside a crisp texture but leaving the inside soft. I made these in advance and kept them fresh in the lidded glass container. The Ninja Crispi is a true multitasker making food preparation so easy.
To make the bagels you mix together
250 grams of self raising flour with
275 grams of greek yoghurt. It has to be greek yoghurt, not greek style or normal yoghurt, that won’t work as well.
On a lightly floured surface briefly knead the dough and divide in 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a sausage and shape like a little bunny.
Brush with a beaten egg and bake in the air fryer setting for 8 minutes. Turn over a bake for another 4 minutes until golden.
Let the bagels cool down on a wire rack and store them in the same glass container you backed them in. The lid will keep them fresh, I prefer eating these on the day you baked them but they will be fine for two days.
With the food prepped and my guest arriving shortly I set the table. I’m loving this Very Michelle Keegan Speckled dinner set that comes with 4 bowls, 4 dinner plates and 4 side plates. The irregular speckle and soft brown tone looks great on my wooden table. Especially pared with the Morris & Co Strawberry thief table runner and my mismatched glassware. Don’t try too hard making your table setting perfect, a few glass jars with spring flowers, a beautiful placemat and a pretty plate makes any table look good. The woven placemats are also by Very, I love how they bring the whole table setting together.
The Ninja Crispi comes with pretty glass containers so I can skip a seperate serving dish and serve the food in the container it has been cooking in, like I did with the baked eggs. This might be my al time favourite brunch dish and it is so easy to prepare in advance. Just add the eggs when your friends sit down at the table and the air fryer will cook them to perfection while you enjoy a cup of coffee.
Baked eggs:
In the smaller of the two glass container, and without the crisper plate insert, mix a tin of tomatoes with a finely chopped onion and two finely chopped peppers. Add chili flakes or Moroccan spices ( I do both!) and cook on air fryer setting for ten minutes. Stir and cook for another ten minutes. Now you can either set this mixture aside until your guest have set down or you crack the eggs right away. Make little hollows in the tomato mixture and add your eggs. Cook for another ten minutes and check if the egg white is firm, if not cook for a few minutes more.
Take the glass container straight to the table and dig in! No need to transfer into another dish, the Ninja glassware is pretty enough to be used as a serving dish. This saves on dishes to wash up too :D
For an extra bit of Easter flair I came up with two very easy to make bunny crafts, a little wire crown for your boiled eggs and a napkin folded into a bunny shape.
For the napkins, these are matching Morris & Co ones to the table runner, fold your napkin in half with the point facing up. Fold the point over to the middle and fold once more, then pull the ends up and tie in place with a little piece of yarn. You now have a bunny face to hold your boiled eggs warm and in place.
To make the little bunny crowns for your eggs you need bendable wire, like florists wire. Bend it around the top of your egg and twist the end around to keep in place, wrap the wire around itself so you reach the front and create a bunny ear. Wrap the wire around the crown base to keep the ear in place and create another ear. Now cut of your wire with a 6 cm tail and wrap this around the crown until you reach the back and tie in place. You might want to use craft pliers for this.
Of course need a little pudding too and if you found plenty of chocolate eggs on the egg hunt you can spare a few to turn into these cute cheesecake eggs.
Slice open an egg with a warm knife, take your time for this as the chocolate egg will break easily.
Wisk a small tub of double cream plus 50 grams of sugar into stiff peaks and mix in a tub of cream cheese. Fill your eggs with the cream mixture and top with half a peach or nectarine. I used tinned peaches but you can use fresh ones as well. The eggs I used were rather large so we shared one cheesecake egg between two adults, if you make smaller ones you can have one each or make a really big one for the whole table to dig into.
Easter hosting is all about ease for me, time spend chatting with my guests, enjoying moments at home, creating memories and slowing down.
As I got to prep all the food before hand and the Ninja Crispi made the cooking a fast process I could join in with all the Easter fun. Now who is going to help me with the dishes?
