Lamb for Easter lunch is traditional, but can we expect delicate, mild new season lamb on our tables?
Contrary to common perception, British new season lamb is not usually available for Easter dinner, even when Easter comes very late like this year: almost at the end of April. Too small, too expensive.
So unless you buy meat grown in the southern hemisphere, and that's a no-no by my mantra of locality and seasonality, you'll have to cook hogget: late season lamb, for Easter.
It is still going to be very good and super-flavoursome, especially cooked using one of my top 10 roast lamb recipes.
A perfectly roasted leg of lamb, half or whole but always on the bone is the traditional Easter lunch and my favourite. The simple seasoning of garlic, rosemary and anchovies is all that the lamb roast needs.
For a Middle Eastern feast, the ultimate lamb shawarma recipe, featuring tender lamb leg marinated in 11 Lebanese spices for two days, then cooked to perfection. It’s by Ottolenghi and a dream roast for a special but uncommon Easter lunch. Serve it with warm pitas, dips and salads or fusion style with roast potatoes and English trimmings.
For a cozy but luxurious Easter dinner (or an entirely other occasion like a date night) lamb loin is brilliant. That’s undoubtedly the best cut of lamb, and this recipe treats it with due respect: roasted at low temperature, wrapped in prosciutto.
That’s a good budget option, since lamb neck is an inexpensive cut. Slow cooked lamb neck fillet braised in the oven with onions, peppers, pear and raisins, Middle Eastern style, is plenty of flavours in a one-pot dish.
Slow cooked lamb neck fillets
RECIPE
Lamb breast is a cheap cut, and hugely underrated. Yes, it is a bit fatty, and it’s a thin sheet of meat that needs to be rolled up but so much bang for the buck! Especially if it’s roasted like this, with raisins and grapes.
Lamb breast with raisins and grapes
RECIPE
Another good value lamb cut: lamb shanks. Those little trotters are delicious when roasted long enough for the meat to fall off the bone, basted with caper and anchovy butter, especially served with stir-fried sweetheart cabbage.
Lamb shanks with stir-fried cabbage
RECIPE
The posh cut, lamb rack, is a real treat and pricey too, so usually better served to a small crowd. A single rack has 8 bones so it will serve 4 people frugally, with lavish sides, or 2-3 generously. The Parmesan crust makes the dish ultra special.
Lamb rack in Parmesan crust
RECIPE
The classic, and very cost-effective. Shoulder of lamb can feed a crowd, half a shoulder – at least four. My recipe is for lamb marinated with herbs, garlic and a touch of truffle oil, and it roasts on a bed of potatoes and onions.
Slow roast shoulder of lamb
RECIPE
Lamb neck fillet is a cheaper cut but it’s perfect for a barbecue. So if the Easter weather should be extremely favourable, style it like the Greek Easter feast – albeit with a smaller size lamb. One fillet will feed two people, if there are plenty sides.
Grilled lamb neck fillet
RECIPE
And if you are fortunate enough to get hold of new season lamb chops, enjoy them simply pan-seared, with a delicious, vibrant herby crust. With tiny new potatoes on the side if you’re double-lucky!