Our favourite lamb recipes for Easter

From the traditional to the unusual, the IndyEats team round up their favourite Easter feast showstoppers

There’s nothing like the smell of lamb chops cooked over charcoal (Ben Tish)

Easter is here – time for chocolate eggs, hot cross buns and of course… lamb.

To celebrate, the IndyEats team has compiled a collection of our favourite lamb recipes from some top British chefs.

From traditional takes on leg of lamb from the likes of Greg Marchand and Richard Corrigan, to fun twists such as slow-cooked Moorish spiced lamb shoulder from Ben Tish or lamb, aubergine and tzatziki flatbreads from Paul Ainsworth.

Or break with tradition and whip up Tommy Banks’ roast hogget meatballs in a creamy mushroom sauce, or Kricket head chef Will Bowlby’s tandoori hogget with toasted barley and walnut and anchovy raita.

Whether you’re looking for classics roasts or something more daring, these recipes have something for everyone.

Charcoal grilled lamb chops with fresh peas and a hot cumin and mint vinaigrette

By: Ben Tish, chef director, Cubitt House

There’s nothing like the smell of lamb chops cooked over charcoal – they seem to be made for it. The tasty fat lightly charring and crisping, the outside flesh caramelising and then the juicy pink inside. Absolute heaven. Here, I’ve paired the chops with a simple but really interesting dressing I sampled in Sicily, although there, the vinaigrette came with chalky broad beans and fresh fennel fronds instead of the peas and mint. Both versions are delicious.

I usually say that with grilling you can achieve the same result indoor as out- and its mostly true, however for this I really think its worth wheeling out the BBQ and lighting some charcoal.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

8 new season lamb chops, trimmed of excess fat

180g of shelled fresh English peas or frozen garden peas

1 small bunch fresh mint

100ml sweet, white vinegar like white balsamic

150ml extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

1 tsp lightly crushed cumin seeds

Juice of ½ a lemon

Sea salt, pepper and olive oil for cooking

Method:

1. Ensure your barbeque or grill is at an optimum temperature.

2. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and blanche the peas until just tender. Refresh in iced water, drain and reserve.

3. Season the chops well and rub with olive oil. Place on the grill and cook on one side for 4 mins. There should be a good caramelisation when the chops are turned along with a slight charring along the fat. Turn the chops over and cook for a further 3 mins or until medium rare. The chops should have a good spring to the flesh when pressed. Remove the lamb from the grill, squeeze over the lemon and rest on a rack in a warm spot for 5-7mins. This will allow the meat to rest, give an even colouring and tenderise the flesh. Reserve any of the resting juices.

4. Whisk together the extra virgin olive oil and vinegar, season well and then heat in a saucepan along with the cumin and garlic until the garlic just starts to fizz. Now add the peas, turn off the heat, pour in the lamb resting juices and season to taste. To serve, divide some of the peas, along with some of the vinaigrette onto 4 serving plates. Place two lamb chops on top of each pile of peas and then spoon over the remainder of the pea and vinaigrette. Finish each plate with a sprinkle of fresh mint leaves.

Slow cooked Moorish spiced lamb shoulder with butter milk and coriander

North African spicing works harmoniously with lamb (Ben Tish)

By: Ben Tish, chef director, Cubitt House

This is a favorite of mine – the North African style spicing works harmoniously with lamb; well, they have been doing it for centuries.

I do this in an oven and on a BBQ too. Both work incredibly well and benefit from a good long marinade, preferably overnight.

Serves: 6-7

Ingredients:

For the lamb:

1 lamb shoulder (approx 3 kg), bone in and fat side scored with a very sharp knife

50ml olive oil

3 tbsp smoked paprika

4 tbsp crushed coriander seeds

2 tbsp ground cumin

8 garlic cloves roughly chopped

50ml red wine vinegar

Sea salt and black pepper

For the dressing:

100ml buttermilk

20ml white wine vinegar

½ bunch fresh coriander, chopped

Method:

1. Lay out a large double layer of foil and place the lamb on top. Pour over the oil and then rub in plenty of salt and pepper, the paprika, cumin, coriander and then drizzle over the vinegar. Rub the meat all over and massage the spices into the flesh. Wrap up the foil to completely cover and place in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight.

2. Remove the lamb from the fridge and place on an oven tray.

3. Heat an oven to 180C.

4. Place the lamb in the oven and cook for 2 hours with the foil on and then after that remove the foil, baste the meat with juices and cook for a further hour to caramelise. Check the meat – you should be able to easily pull the flesh away from the bone and the meat can be “cut” with a spoon. If it’s still firm, turn the temperature down to 150C and cook for a further 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and rest for 30 minutes before serving.

5. Whilst resting, whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar and coriander and season to taste.

6. Remove the bone from the shoulder and serve whole at the table for people to help themselves along with the dressing.

Stuffed leg of lamb with Jersey Royal potatoes

Go classic with this recipe (Greg Marchand)

By: Greg Marchand, chef patron, Frenchie

Serves: 4

Preparation: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients:

For the stuffing:

2 shallots, finely sliced

50ml water

50ml white wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

200g mint, blanched and coarsely chopped

200g sandwich bread, toasted and cooled

45g pistachio nuts, roasted and coarsely chopped

40g parmesan cheese

3 anchovies

Dash of Tabasco sauce

2 eggs

½ tsp thyme

For the lamb:

1 leg of lamb, deboned, you can ask your butcher to remove the bone

For the Jersey Royal Potatoes:

600g Jersey Royal potatoes

200g butter

½ bunch mint, minced

Juice of 1 lemon

Pinch of salt

Method:

1. For the stuffing, combine all ingredients and cook over medium heat until the liquid evaporates and the shallots are translucent. The mixture should be moist and should hold its shape if rolled into a ball.

2. For the lamb, preheat the oven to 220C (gas mark 7).

3. Stuff the leg and tie it up. Heat the oil in a skillet or frying pan and brown the meat well on all sides. Roast the leg with 3 lemons, halved, for 30 minutes, and then reduce the temperature to 180C (gas mark 4) and cook for a further hour.

4. Take the meat out of the oven, wrap in aluminium foil, and rest for 20 minutes.

5. For the potatoes, in a stockpot, cover the potatoes with cold water and add plenty of salt. Bring to a boil and cook the potatoes until they are soft, about 20 minutes, then drain.

6. Heat the butter in a large skillet or frying pan and brown the potatoes over low heat. Add the mint and season with lemon juice and salt.

7. Serve the potatoes in a side dish. Carve the lamb at the table and serve with the roasted lemons.

Easter leg of lamb

By: Patrick Williams, chef, Kudu Collective

Ingredients:

1 suckling lamb shoulder

For the lamb marinade:

100g anchovies

30g picked rosemary

8 cloves garlic

20g basil

90g rock salt

150g sugar

Method:

1. Blend the marinade together in a food processor.

2. Spread the marinade all over the lamb and place in the fridge for 24 hours before you want to cook the shoulder.

3. Preheat the oven to 165C.

4. Light a fire on your braai.

5. Place the shoulder uncovered in the oven and cook for 45-50 minutes.

6. Once the lamb has been cooked, let it rest for 15 minutes.

7. Just before serving, place on the braai over very low embers to get a nice amount of smoke to pass over the lamb for about 5-8 minutes each side.

Shoulder of Cornish lamb, baked aubergine, tzatziki and chargrilled flatbreads

By: Paul Ainsworth

Serves: 4-6 people

Ingredients:

For the shoulder of lamb:

1 whole shoulder of Cornish lamb (approx 1.5kg)

3 lemons cut in half

12 cloves of garlic whole

1 bunch rosemary

500ml chicken or light lamb stock

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 carrot cut in quarters

2 large banana shallots peeled and cut lengthways

1 bay leaf

For the aubergine:

3 aubergines

5 cloves garlic minced

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp ground cumin

Salt and pepper

3 large sprigs of thyme

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the tzatziki:

250g Greek yoghurt

Juice and zest of one lemon

Small bunch of mint chopped

Half a cucumber

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the flatbreads:

Allow 2 flatbreads per person

1 bunch rosemary tied together with a piece of string

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C.

2. Heat a heavy based casserole pan to a medium high. Season the lamb all over generously with salt and pepper. Roast the lamb skin side down in the pan until beautifully caramelised. It will release quite a bit of its own fat but this is all flavour so don’t discard it. Turn the shoulder onto its flesh side and give it a quick colour for 2-3 minutes only. Set the shoulder aside.

3. In the same pan, roast the vegetables until beautifully caramelised, add the lemons, followed by the rosemary and the stock.

4. Return the lamb shoulder to the pot, cover with a lid or tin foil.

5. Braise in the oven for 1½ to 2 hours or until you can easily pull out one of the bones.

6. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes with the lid still on.

For the aubergine:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C.

2. Cut aubergines in half lengthways and score deeply in a criss cross. Rub with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.

3. Mix the tomato, garlic and cumin to a paste. Spread on the open face of the aubergines, now put the 2 halves of each aubergine back together and some thyme in the middle and wrap with tin foil.

4. Bakefor 45 minutes or until soft.

For the tzatziki:

1. Peel and cut in half lengthways the cucumber, deseed and slice thinly.

2. Combine all the remaining ingredients.

For the flatbreads:

1. Chargrill the flatbreads on a hot dry griddle pan or cast-iron pan.

2. Brush the flatbreads with the rosemary and olive oil, season with a touch of flaked sea salt.

Leg of lamb with rosemary and lavender

Lavender adds an unexpected twist to this lamb dish (Richard Corrigan)

By: Richard Corrigan, chef patron, Corrigan Collection

Ingredients:

2kg/4½lb leg of lamb, on the bone

1 small bunch of English lavender

5 sprigs of rosemary

2 cloves garlic

1 small jar of honey

30g salt

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6.

Remove the lavender buds from the stalks and add to the honey

Pull the rosemary leaves from the stalks and place in a blender. Add the salt and blitz.

Rub the lamb all over with the salt and place in a roasting tray.

Cover with foil and place in the oven for 20 minutes. After which remove the foil and leave to roast for a further 40 minutes (for medium).

Pour over the lavender and honey, return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.

Remove the lamb and leave it to rest for 10-15 minutes, with some foil on top to keep it warm.

Serve with the pan juices and spring vegetables.

Roast hogget meatballs in a creamy cep sauce

Hogget, a darker, richer meat, works well with the creamy sauce (Tommy Banks)

By: Tommy Banks, The Black Swan

Serves: 4-6

Prep time: 15-20 minutes | Cook time: 55 minutes

For the meatballs:

600g minced hogget (or lamb)

60g dried prunes

40g breadcrumbs

½ medium onion, chopped

1 tbsp crushed garlic

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp mace (optional)

For the sauce:

1 large onion, sliced

200g cep mushrooms, cut in half

100ml medium sweet white wine

200ml lamb stock

500ml double cream

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp cep powder (optional)

1 bouquet garni

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 200ºC (180ºC Fan).

In a large mixing bowl, combine all meatball ingredients. Using your hands mix all the ingredients together really well, squeezing and mashing the mince so everything is nicely combined.

Roughly divide the mixture into around 16 – 18 golf ball sized balls.

In a medium pan over medium heat, add your meatballs, in batches if needed, and brown until golden, about 6 to 8 minutes. Set aside.

In the same pan, add 1tbsp sunflower oil. Add your onions, garlic and mushrooms and allow to sweat down, about five minutes.

Continue cooking until ingredients begin to caramelise, a further three minutes, then add your white wine. Allow the wine to bubble and reduce for about two minutes. Add lamb stock and allow it to reduce, for a further five minutes. Add your cream, and cep powder if using, and stir vigorously to fully incorporate. Remove from heat.

In an ovenproof baking dish, add your meatballs and cover with your cream sauce. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Serve with fresh, toasted sourdough.

Tandoori hogget, toasted barley, walnut and anchovy raita

By: Will Bowlby, chef patron, Kricket

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

700g hogget rump

For the marinade:

150g Greek yogurt

50 ginger/garlic/green chilli paste

5ml mustard oil

2g turmeric powder

5g red chilli powder

6g garam masala

5g flaked sea salt

5g chopped coriander

5g chopped mint

10g lemon juice

For the toasted barley with pomegranate and pistachio :

4 tbsp tapeseed oil

400g pearl barley

2L lamb/vegetable stock

1 tbsp fennel seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

5g fresh curry leaves

Juice and zest of two lemons

3 tbsp chopped mint

3 tbsp chopped coriander

6 tbsp toasted and chopped pistachios

6 tbsp pomegranate seeds

For the walnut and anchovy raita:

300g Greek yoghurt

1 tbsp anchovy paste

1 tbsp roasted walnut paste

Pinch flaked sea salt

1 tsp caster sugar

Method:

1. Start with the marinade by mixing all the ingredients, add the lamb, and leave to marinade overnight in the fridge. Before you’re ready to cook the lamb, bring the meat out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.

2. Now make the toasted barley. Heat up half the oil in a deep pan, add the cumin, fennel seeds, and curry leaves. When they start to splutter add in the barley and stir well. Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer until the barley has absorbed the liquid. When the barley is done it should still have a little texture and bite to it. Fluff up the grains with a fork and add the remaining oil. Set the barley aside and allow it to cool slightly before adding the rest of the ingredients.

3. Grill or barbecue the lamb for 10/15 minutes over a medium heat. The flame should not be too high so the marinade doesn’t burn. Once the meat is pink/medium, remove from the heat, drizzle some melted butter, a little lemon juice and some chopped fresh coriander and allow it to rest for 10 minutes, before carving into slices ready to serve.

4. While the lamb is resting, make the walnut and anchovy raita. Simply mix all the ingredients well together in a bowl.

5. Place the sliced lamb over the toasted barley in a serving platter. Drizzle over some of the raita, keeping the rest to one side for guests to add more. Throw on top as a garnish any remaining mint, coriander, lemon juice and a little good quality oil. Serve family style.

Lamb raan

Take a more interactive approach with lamb raan (Will Bowlby)

By: Will Bowlby, chef patron, Kricket

Serves: 10

Ingredients:

1 kid goat leg

4 tbsp ginger and garlic paste

2 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder

Pinch sea salt

2 fresh Indian bay leaves

3 star anise

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp cloves

1 cinnamon stick

400ml white distilled vinegar

About 1.6L cold water

500ml double (heavy) cream

Generous pinch saffron strands, soaked in a little warm water

3 tbsp garam masala

Method:

Rub the meat with the ginger and garlic paste, chilli powder and a pinch of salt and leave overnight to marinate.

Preheat the oven to 200C (400F/gas 6).

Transfer the leg to a deep ovenproof pan, add the remaining spices and vinegar, then pour in the water (it should just cover the meat). Cover the pan and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

Lower the oven temperature to 160C (320F/gas 3) and cook for a further 4-5 hours until the meat is falling off the bone.

Remove from the oven, take the meat out of the braising liquid and allow to cool. The meat is cooked when you can easily pick it from the bone. Transfer the braising liquid to a heavy-based saucepan and boil over a high heat until it has thickened and the flavours have intensified. At this point, strain the liquid into a separate pan, reduce the heat and add the cream, saffron and garam masala. Reduce for a further 5 minutes, adjust the seasoning to taste and set aside to cool.

When you are ready to serve, heat a large frying pan (skillet) over a high heat and sear off the goat to get a nice crispy exterior. Add the braising liquid to the pan and spoon the liquid over the meat until it coats it nicely. Serve the meat whole, in its braising liquid