I enjoy the savoury aspect of Easter dishes just as much as the sweet. I always remember having a really good roast lamb dish on Easter Sunday at my parents house throughout my childhood and its something I have tried to continue here. Last year I collaborated with New Zealand Lamb and recreated their Easter recipe which you can see here. I have since made it twice and its a superb dish. This year they have a new recipe for their Easter Roast Lamb and I tried it out to make sure it was just perfect for you!

New Zealand Lamb has been available in the UK for over 130 years bringing delicious tastes to the nation and providing recipe inspiration to fans of this free range and succulent meat. New Zealand Lamb is relatively low in calories and cholesterol, and high in protein, it’s also a great source of essential nutrients such as B vitamins, zinc and iron, all of which help maintain a balanced diet and good health. You can buy fresh or frozen half shoulders or whole legs of New Zealand Lamb in the supermarkets. This recipe also includes squash, chantenay carrots, red onions, lemon, herbs, garlic and white wine. Its fairly simple to prepare and a really impressive dish. I am looking forward to making this again to share with friends and family over Easter.

I used a frozen whole leg for this recipe as my local store was all out of fresh and I was cooking for 6 people which ended up being 11 ( arrggghh – the most I have ever cooked a sit down meal for ) – I thawed it in the bottom of my fridge and it took about 24 hours. I also couldn’t source chantenay carrots this weekend so I used ordinary and cut into smaller wedges.

You will need:

1/2 shoulder or leg of New Zealand Lamb ( Fresh or thawed from frozen )
450g roughly chopped potatoes
250g chantenay carrots
350g squash, peeled and cut into chunks
2 red onions cut into wedges
3 tbsp E.V.Olive Oil
Zest of 1 lemon
1 whole garlic bulb split into cloves but unpeeled
A few sprigs of rosemary
2 tsp fennel seeds
150ml white wine
1 tbsp warm water

Large roasting tray and foil

Preheat oven to 200c, 400f or gas mark 6.

Blanch potatoes for approximately 5 minutes.
Place the lamb in the tin, place your carrots, squash, potatoes and onions around it. Drizzle with oil and season.
Add your wine and a splash of water.
Place tin in oven for 10 minutes and then reduce temp to 180c.
After 30 minutes add your garlic and sprigs of rosemary to the pan and scatter over the fennel seeds and zest onto the lamb.
Continue roasting until veggies are soft and starting to caramelise and the lamb is cooked as is your preference ( it will need approx 20-30 additional minutes for medium).
You can add a splash more wine or water to your pan if its looking dry.
Once removed from oven, cover with foil and a tea towel and rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.

Serve.

This is perfect when carved at the table in a suitable serving dish with the veggies around the meat. Make sure you use all the fabulous meat juices to make a delicious gravy to accompany. We love some fresh greens and a mound of mash with ours too. I had a pretty happy family at the end of the meal. I recommend this dish for your Easter table.

For dessert we enjoyed my popular Slow Cooked Hot Cross Bun & Butter Pudding