Your Sicilian food must haves for Easter. We ask the experts – the Sicilian Nonnas!

With Easter just around the corner, I asked four Sicilian Nonnas what one should eat for Easter in Sicily.

Francesca | 80 | Catania

Francesca is the nonna of 3 grandchildren

For the Easter holidays the tradition in Sicily is to prepare lamb in the oven with potatoes. For the sweets, we make Easter sheep, cassata siciliana and cuddura cu l’ova, of these the cassata siciliana is my favourite.

Anna | 74 | Belpasso

Anna is the grandmother of 4 grandchildren

In every family it changes, but on my menu there is lasagna, baked pasta, cannelloni, lamb with roasted potatoes, falsomagro with a side of peas, roasted artichokes, sausages and desserts such as colomba or cannoli and Easter eggs. Also the cicilio (or cuddure) which are a mixture of biscuits in which boiled eggs are placed above and baked.

Baked pasta or lasagna, then as the tradition goes there is roasted lamb with potatoes, some make chicken instead of lamb for those who don’t like it. Or a roast beef, cut into slices.

The minimum essential things, you can make stuffed carcofi with garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs and cheese, obviously the things that are cooked change from family to family, then the cannoli, which are always present, in summer and winter, when it is ricotta period they are made with ricotta but there are also pastry shops that make them with cream. The Colomba is bought. For cannoli it is easy to find the cannoli shells and then you make the cream or sweet ricotta yourself. House wine. Amaro, everyone uses Amaro Averna, the majority.

Chocolate Easter Eggs are used for the children, but I tell you the truth if someone gave me one I’d love it. When my husband was around he would buy them for the girls (their daughters) and also for me.

Enza | 73 | Catania

Enza is the grandmother of 2 grandchildren

In first place is the lamb in the oven with potatoes, I also make the stuffed rabbit it is called the buttoned-up rabbit (il coniglio abottonato) with garlic, parsley and pecorino romano, it can be baked or roasted, as you like. Then the cuddure cu l’ova, if you take a tour of the pastry shops here you will find these. More than chocolate eggs, normal eggs are used, made either with bread or with biscuits such as the cuddure. Another typical dessert is the buccidati (or cuddureddi), they are round and colourful sweets filled with dried figs.

Pietra | 82 | Catania

Pietra is the grandmother of 11 grandchildren and the great-grandmother of 1 granddaughter

Each family has their own tradition, in our family the most beautiful tradition was that you made stuffed chicken, you would buy a nice big chicken, empty it, leave it whole and then prepare everything you wanted to put inside it, with cheese, with hard-boiled eggs, always inside of it, and then when you cut it it looks so good you know, a slice of that on the plate and then a nice salad.

Even the stuffed neck of the hen (il collo ripieno della gallina). Remove the bones from inside the neck and put the ingredients inside such as: hard boiled egg, some spring onion, cheese, and close with a toothpick and then it is made with broth or sauce, not baked in the oven, no, because it is not so good that way, and when ready it is cut into slices.

But first of all, baked pasta must never be missing. Lasagna is now the more modern choice, but my mother used to make macaroni with ragù instead and then put them in the pan with the cheese, and the ragù which must be abundant, a lot, and the béchamel, and it is good.

Traditionally, lamb is needed, baked with potatoes. There are also side dishes and appetizers such as caponata, frittelle di ricotta (balls of fried dough with fresh ricotta inside), fried potato croquettes and fried thistles (the leg of the artichoke). Another nice dish is the susceddu, it is a typical dish from Messina, and it is made with fresh ricotta, whisked eggs and a lot of parmesan, and inside there are the meatballs like a surprise in the middle of the ricotta. And you put everything in the oven.

Cuddura cull’ova is made in the shape of a basket or a chick, originally those who were richer made them with biscuits and those less wealthy made it with bread. And the kids went crazy for these biscuits.

Easter lambs (Gli agnelli pasquali o pecorelle) can be made with almond paste or pasta reale, a dessert in the shape of a lamb, with the red flag representing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. With those flags as a sign of peace. It is placed in the centre of the table, beautiful, on a tray, on a table fully set. Just think that when I was first engaged to my husband and for the first time he came to eat at my house he brought me an enormous one, it was beautiful!

I feel hungry now after writing this post!

Have you eaten any of these things for Easter? Let us know in the comments below