Name: Claudia McQuillan's Stuffed Easter Ham Recipe
Total time: 1 h
Yield: Serves 14
Ingredients: 1 (6- to 7-pound) smoked ham shank with bone in; 1 bunch spinach; 1 bunch parsley; Tops of 1 bunch green onions, washed and dried; 2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon; 2 cups honey

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By Russ Parsons

April 16, 2000

If there were any justice for cooks, Easter would be regarded as our national food holiday, rather than Thanksgiving.

In the late fall, we’re pressed for ingredients. That’s not so in the spring. Take a turn around the produce section or your local farmers market: The problem isn’t finding something to cook; it’s having to choose from among so much.

Just look: asparagus, artichokes, sweet little onions, cucumbers, strawberries, vibrant spring greens, radishes, sugar snap peas, baby carrots and the first of the fresh herbs.

What’s even better, when you’ve got ingredients like that to start with: You hardly have to do any cooking at all. With that in mind, we’ve proposed an Easter menu of almost infinite flexibility that can be put together in no time at all.

It’s taken for granted that your centerpiece will be ham, so we’ve included two old favorites--a reasonable facsimile of that well-loved spicy-sweet commercial ham and a glorious production piece by Los Angeles cook Claudia McQuillan. (If you’re bucking the tide and serving lamb, you probably already know what to do.)

To go with the hams, we’ve selected half a dozen ideas for appetizers, side dishes and desserts, featuring the best of spring produce (see above). Mix and match as you see fit.

There are times that recipes are almost superfluous. Maybe that’s a kind of thanksgiving in itself.

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1 (6- to 7-pound) smoked ham shank with bone in

1 bunch spinach

1 bunch parsley

Tops of 1 bunch green onions, washed and dried

2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon

2 cups honey

With sharp knife, trim skin from top of ham. Score ham in 2-inch intervals, cutting 2 inches into ham.

Wash and dry spinach, parsley and green onions. Remove stems from spinach and parsley. Cut green onion tops into 1-inch lengths. Combine spinach, parsley and green onion tops in food processor. Process with pulsing motion until finely chopped.

Stuff mixture into scoring on ham, fitting in as deeply as possible. Place ham in roasting pan. Mix wine and honey and pour over ham. Pat any remaining stuffing over back of ham.

Bake at 350 degrees until ham is heated through and deeply colored, 30 to 45 minutes, basting every 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place on carving board. Allow to stand 10 minutes before carving. Serve hot or at room temperature.

This is one of our favorite ham recipes. It comes from Claudia McQuillan, a food writer and a really good home cook. It is the perfect party ham, since the deep scoring makes it easy to cut small slices so guests can help themselves at a buffet. McQuillan varies the stuffing, changing the wine to complement each mixture. And sometimes she bastes the ham with dry white wine and apricot jam or cherry preserves instead of honey.