This is how three famous Italian chefs feast at Easter

Easter in Italy is a time for creamed salt cod paste, crisp suckling pig and hand-shaped tortellini. And come dessert, Alessandro Pavoni, Stefano Manfredi and Francesco Petrillo agree that chocolate is at the heart of the dolci table.

At Alessandro Pavoni's Sotto Sopra, chocolate-dusted tiramisu is always a crowd-pleaser at Easter. Source: Sotto Sopra

Francesco Petrillo, head chef at Italian & Sons, Canberra

Raised in San Giovanni a Piro, a small town in Campania, one and a half hours from Naples, Francesco Petrillo was surrounded by Neapolitan cuisine.

“Easter for my family, in my home village, was a week-long affair,” the head chef of Canberra’s Italian & Sons tells SBS.

“The formal Easter tradition began on Good Friday where traditionally, we eat Baccala, also known as salt cod.”

At the Canberra 50-seater, which now houses its own wine bar – Bacaro – house-made pizza and pasta, salumi and share plates have been pulling in locals and out-of-towners since 2014.

Canberra's Italian & Sons, who specialise in handmade pastas, pizzas and share plates, has been a hit with locals since 2014. Source: Italian and Sons.

After sourcing the baccala from boutique vendors in the town square, Petrillo and his family would braise it with white wine, olives and capers (which they preserve at home the previous year) and tomatoes and potatoes plucked from the garden.

“The Friday lunch would always start with freshly baked bread from the wood-fire oven, antipasti of sotto’olio and sotto’aceto – pickled vegetables from the family garden – and fresh anchovies, floured and fried much like a fritto misto,” Petrillo says. 

And following the Christian tradition, meat was skipped for Good Friday dinner in favour of baccala, or aqua pazza di pesce (seafood based stew) using orata or branzino, along with local shellfish.

The wild and bitter green torta ripiena, made with pizza dough, would also feature, and ignite a competitive spirit among the women. 

“We would always have a house-made wine from a nearby vineyard or uncle, and the men would compete for the best made wine. It was very much a thing of pride,” Petrillo tells.

Come Easter Sunday, the feast was doubled to cater for the cousins, uncles and aunties who would come together over generous trays of lasagne, parmigiana, piselli e cacao (peas and cheese), and minestra maritata, or wedding soup.

These recipes have been going for centuries and it reminds you of who you are and where you come from, which is important to me and my food.

“But we would always feature a suckling lamb as the main part of the lunch, sourced from the family’s plot and roasted whole with garlic, rosemary and lemon in the wood fire oven from the morning,” the chef says.

While the beast slowly browned, the family would graze on antipasti of house-made cheeses, salami, prosciutto, cappocollo (dried pork neck) and casatiello, a Neapolitan-style sourdough stuffed with prosciutto and a semi-soft cow’s milk cheese and gently baked.

Pasticcini (pastries) and sweets would also be laboured over during the week, resulting in torta di ricotta and cioccolato as well as the ricotta-filled shortbread classic, pastiera napoletana.

Lunch typically ran for several hours, so dinner was often a non-event.

“Since being in Australia, Easter hasn’t changed much,” says Petrillo. The chef has been with the Calabria-hailing Trimboli family at Italian & Sons for five years now, who all gather together for a long Easter Sunday lunch centring around a suckling pig. 

“We prepare all the food ourselves using as much of the local produce we have in and around Canberra. The tradition keeps on going and going, and that is fabulous thing. These recipes have been going for centuries and it reminds you of who you are and where you come from, which is important to me and my food.

Stefano Manfredi, executive chef and owner of Manfredi at Killcare, Osteria Balla and Pizzaperta, NSW

“In Italy, Easter is in springtime and Italian food traditions use seasonal ingredients with asparagus, lamb and artichokes,” tells Manfredi.

“For dessert, there is chocolate everywhere – from Easter eggs to rich chocolate tarts and biscuits.”

Manfredi, one of the pioneers of Italian cuisine in NSW (his first restaurant, aptly titled ‘The Restaurant’, opened in Sydney in 1983 with his mother by his side in the kitchen), today runs Manfredi at Bells, Osteria Balla in The Star’s ritzy casino complex and the more casual Pizzaperta, also in The Star.

For the chef, Easter is a time for family, friends and traditions.

“Each region has its own Easter bread. In the north, where I come from, it’s the dove-shaped colomba. Down in Naples they have their deliciously spiced tart, called pastiera.”

Stefano Manfredi's Chocolate espresso and hazelnut tart is a simple way to add a taste of Italy to your Easter spread. Source: Stefano Manfredi

Get the recipe for Manfredi's Chocolate espresso hazelnut tart.

With Easter falling in Autumn in Australia, Manfredi plays to the season and has created new traditions over the years.

“I like to cook lentils and rabbit, lots of chestnuts in both sweet and savoury dishes, and of course, chocolate.

“Just before Easter I often take some of my chefs mushroom picking in the pine forests near Oberon, over the Blue Mountains. We’ve been doing it over many years now and has involved staff from various restaurants I’ve had.”

Alessandro Pavoni, Executive Chef and Owner of two hat Ormeggio at the Spit and Sotto Sopra, Newport NSW

For the twin-hatted Pavoni, the Easter weekend in his new home in Sydney recalls memories of his childhood.

“My Aunty, who lives up high in the mountain, always rears goats for 40 days leading up to Easter and she always cooks it for us on Easter Sunday in the traditional way, Brescia style,” Pavoni says.

Cacciucco, an Italian seafood stew is served as a pie at Pavoni's beachside Sotto Sopra in Newport, Sydney. Source: Sotto Sopra

Get the recipe for Alessandro Pavoni's Cacciuco pie.

Brescia and the Lombardy region shares little similarities with central or southern Italian cuisine, namely because of the lack of availability of tomatoes and olive oil. As a result, dishes are more meat, maize and butter based.

As well as a bounty of chocolate, dessert also called for the traditional Colomba Pascquale.

“It is a cake similar to panettone but with the shape of a pigeon [or dove],” says Pavoni. “We always eat it warm with nice vanilla custard. And for pasta course, we always have Casoncelli alla bresciana –  traditional ravioli [featuring butter, sage and parmesan cheese] from my town.”