Plan your Easter lunch with these traditional lamb roast recipes

IT’S Easter weekend.

You might be planning a big lunch or dinner for Sunday, so here are some traditional lamb roast recipes to try, courtesy of Waitrose.

They look delicious, and are simple to make!

Provencal lamb racks with roasted garlic and pistou

• Preparation time:20 minutes
• Cooking time:45 minutes
• Total time:1 hour 5 minutes  

Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 whole garlic bulbs
75ml mild extra virgin olive oil, plus
a little extra to drizzle
2 packs Waitrose Extra Trimmed
Welsh Rack of Lamb, about 650g
1 tbsp Bart Blends Mediterranean herb seasoning

For the pistou

2 x 25g packs fresh basil
2 cloves garlic
2 vine tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
2 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6. Cut the tops off the garlic bulbs, drizzle in olive oil and season generously. Wrap in foil, place on a baking tray and roast for 45 minutes until tender and caramelised.
2. Meanwhile, make the pistou. Tear the basil into a large pestle and mortar or food processor then pound together with the garlic and a little salt to form a paste. Add the tomatoes followed by the olive oil and continue to pound until a thick sauce is formed.
3. Cut each of the lamb racks in half, blend the Mediterranean herbs with 2 tbsp of oil and brush over the lamb. Heat a large pan to hot and sear the lamb on all sides until golden and brown. Roast the lamb for 8–10 minutes, leave to rest for 5 minutes and serve hot with the roasted garlic, drizzled with the pistou and accompanied by the dressed green beans.

Slow-roast lamb with garlic, honey & cumin

• Gluten Free

• Preparation time:10 minutes
• Cooking time:3 hours
• Total time:3 hours 10 minutes

Serves: 4 – 6

Ingredients

10 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tsp coarse crystal sea salt
1 sprig rosemary, leaves only
1 tbsp clear honey
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp olive oil
0.9kg Welsh half leg of lamb
100ml white wine

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Crush the garlic cloves with the salt in a pestle and mortar or small food processor, adding the rosemary, honey and cumin. Stir in the olive oil to make a thick paste. Rub the garlic mixture over the skin of the lamb and place in a cast iron casserole or deep roasting tin.
2. Roast the lamb for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C, gas mark 3. Mix 100ml water with the white wine and pour around the lamb. Cover the pan with a lid or foil. Cook for a further 2-2½ hours until the meat is tender and the garlic crust is golden.
3. Transfer the lamb to a dish and leave to rest for 20 minutes in a warm place. Bring the pan juices to the boil and simmer fast for 8-10 minutes until syrupy, then season and serve with the sliced lamb.

Herb & spice roast leg of lamb

• Preparation time:15 minutes, plus marinating and resting
• Cooking time:3½ hours
• Total time:3 hours 45 minutes, plus marinating and resting

Serves: 6, with leftovers

Ingredients

6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tbsp cumin seeds, lightly crushed
1 tbsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
50g fresh flat-leaf parsley, thick stalks removed
10g fresh lemon thyme, thick stalks removed
10g fresh mint
100ml olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 tbsp light brown muscovado sugar
2kg whole leg of lamb, part-boned
450ml lamb or chicken stock

Method

1 Put the garlic, cumin and fennel seeds, parsley, thyme, mint, olive oil, vinegar and sugar in a food processor and blitz until the herbs are finely chopped. Make plenty of deep cuts into the lamb with a sharp knife and place in a non-metallic dish. Spread some of the marinade into the cavity of the lamb and spread the remainder all over the surface of the meat. Cover loosely and chill for at least 6 hours, preferably 24 hours. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.

2 Preheat the oven to 220°C, gas mark 7. Transfer the lamb, with any of the herb marinade poured over, to a roasting tin and pour in the stock. Cover loosely with foil and roast for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C, gas mark 4, uncover the lamb (reserving the foil) and cook for a further 3 hours until the meat is very tender (see tip, below). Re-cover the lamb with the foil if it starts to over-brown during cooking.

3 Let the meat rest in a warm place, loosely covered, for 30 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter. Skim off any excess fat from the pan juices, reheat and pour into a jug. Serve with the lamb, thickly sliced.

Cook’s tip

This long cooking time produces a slow-roasted, tender result that’s cooked right through. If you’d prefer to serve the lamb pink in the centre, don’t cover it with foil and cook at the lower temperature for 1-1¼ hours. The juices should run pink when a thick area of the joint is pierced with the tip of a knife.

Watch the step-by-step video now at Waitrose tv >

Find more Easter recipes at Waitrose.com