If the weekend is looking pretty free, choose dishes you can mostly make ahead. Starting with dessert, this pear and chocolate cake will taste even better the day after you’ve made it, so knock that off first.
Working backwards to your main, pasta is a classic crowd-pleaser. Since you have some time, pre-prepare the dough. (You could even roll it out and cut it up ready to cook – just make sure you bundle it loosely so that the strands don’t stick together.) For the sauce, take a different tack to your standard tomato base with creamy roast pumpkin, or lamb, yoghurt and sizzling paprika butter for a Turkish twist.
Given the rest of your menu, your first course should be simple and light. This in-season salad by Greg and Lucy Malouf perfectly balances the bitter, savoury flavours of fennel and radicchio with the bright, sweet flavours of citrus and pomegranate. Serve it with slices of crusty bread for mopping up the sauce.
Ahead, we provide a mix of low-maintenance Mother's Day recipes for those who like to chill and trickier ones for those who love a challenge. Also, if you want to make mum's day really, really good this year, why not get her a $12 membership to Cooked?
