I prefer Easter to Christmas and personally Easter is without doubt the most enjoyable of the two, because at Easter you get to stay at home, in the company of people you like, and mostly in good weather. Covid no doubt has dampened the joy of celebration with our family and friends, but Easter still needs to be celebrated even if it is only to be thankful for all we have. The biggest reason why Easter beats Christmas hands down is the food. We share here a few of the Easter recipes we are going to cook and start with Lamb and chocolate, the two you cannot miss out on over Easter. But if lamb is not your thing we also share our fabulous Roasted duck recipe. Cook with love and joy and all will be fine. Remember you can arrange to meet online and share Easter together without endangering anyone’s health. Be smart and stay safe.
Serves 4 with leftovers, Prep: 15 mins, Cook: 5 hrs plus at least 3 hrs marinating, Easy
Perfectly marinated meat that melts in the mouth is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Cook this roast for 5 hours, rest, then sprinkle with zesty gremolata
Ingredients
- 2kg lamb shoulder
- 3 onions, each sliced into 3 thick discs
For the marinade
- 1 shallot, halved
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4 cherry tomatoes
- 2 anchovies
- ½ tsp cumin seeds, toasted
- ½ tsp coriander seeds, toasted
- ½ tsp pink peppercorns 2 tbsp rosemary leaves
- 1 thyme sprig, leaves picked small bunch mint, leaves chopped
- 70ml white wine
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp brown sugar zest and juice 1 lemon
For the gremolata
- zest ½ lemon
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tbsp finely chopped mint
Method
- Make the marinade. Blitz 1 halved shallot, 4 garlic cloves, 4 cherry tomatoes, 2 anchovies, ½ tsp toasted cumin seeds, ½ tsp toasted coriander seeds, ½ tsp pink peppercorns, 2 tbsp rosemary leaves, leaves from 1 thyme sprig, chopped leaves from a small bunch mint, 70ml white wine, 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp brown sugar and zest of juice of 1 lemon in a food processor.
- Pierce 2kg lamb shoulder all over with a sharp knife, put it in a large roasting tin and slather the marinade onto the meat, coating thoroughly.
- Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 3 hrs, preferably overnight.
- Take the lamb out of the fridge at least half an hour before you cook it to bring it to room temperature. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.
- Put 3 onions, each sliced into 3 thick disks, in the roasting tin, resting the lamb on top. Cover with tented foil and roast for 5 hrs, basting the meat occasionally.
- Remove from the oven, transfer the lamb to a board and allow to rest, covered, for at least 30 mins.
- Return the tin of onions and marinating juices to the oven to keep warm
- Combine zest ½ lemon, 1 crushed garlic clove and 1 tbsp finely chopped mint in a bowl.
- Pull the lamb apart with forks and serve with the roasted onions and gremolata scattered over.
- Skim off any fat from the juices and serve alongside the lamb.
Recommended- served it with potato dauphinoise. Any roast meat leftovers are wonderful on flatbread
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