The only lamb recipes you need this Easter – from classic roasts to slow-cooked showstoppers

From garlic-studded legs to harissa-slathered shoulders and lamb swimming in miso cream, Hannah Twiggs rounds up the best lamb recipes to make this Easter the most delicious one yet

The roast reimagined – still Sunday, but with a Greek accent and sharper tailoring (Andrew Montgomery/PA)

Lamb at Easter is as inevitable as a cold snap over the bank holiday. Still, just because tradition dictates it, doesn’t mean it has to be dull. The roast leg, basted in rosemary and garlic, has had a good inning – no disrespect to your nan – but it’s time to shake off the mint sauce shackles and cook something with a bit more bite.

This year, Easter falls late enough that spring is in proper swing, and the lamb is all the better for it – sweet, tender and ripe for celebration. The recipes here are proof that lamb doesn’t need to be predictable.

There’s the classic done well – a proper roast with lemony garden veg and feta – and the more adventurous: think lamb with miso cream and chicory; spiced shoulders slow-cooked into collapse; a show-stopping saddle stuffed with garlic confit and spinach. We’ve even got hogget meatballs swimming in a cep-spiked sauce, for those who prefer a little whimsy with their feast.

Whether you’re feeding a crowd, cooking for two, or simply looking to outdo the neighbours’ roast, this is lamb given the love it deserves. It’s the centrepiece, the conversation starter, the thing that makes everyone say “just a bit more” even when they’re already loosening their belts.

Here are 12 of the best lamb recipes for Easter – because if you’re going to follow tradition, you might as well do it properly.

Roast lamb with garden veg, oregano and feta

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

For the lamb:

1 leg of lamb, about 2 kg

2 garlic cloves, sliced

Olive oil

A handful of rosemary and thyme sprigs

A generous glass of red wine

For the vegetables:

400g broad beans in their pods, or 200g frozen broad beans

300g French beans

100g peas (fresh or frozen)

Leaves from 3 sprigs of oregano

Zest of 1 lemon, juice of half

Olive oil

50g feta

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C (400F), gas mark 6. Make sure your lamb is at room temperature before you cook it, so take it out of the fridge 20 minutes or so beforehand. With a knife, make small, deep cuts all over the leg of lamb and push a slice of garlic into each one. Rub over some olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.

2. Put the rosemary and thyme sprigs in the bottom of a roasting tin and place the lamb on top. Put in the oven and cook for about one hour and 10 minutes if you want your lamb to be pink (it is so much nicer when it is) or for longer if you want it cooked through. Remove from the oven, put the lamb on a board and let it rest for 10 minutes or so before you carve it.

3. Remove the rosemary and thyme sprigs from the tin and put it over high heat on the hob. Add the wine to the juices and let it bubble for a moment or two to form a thin but tasty gravy. Pour into a jug and keep warm.

4. Cook the broad beans (shelled, if fresh) in boiling water for about two minutes. Drain and tip them into a bowl of cold water. Slip off the skins to reveal the bright emerald green beneath. This is, I admit, a bit of a faff, and you don’t have to do it, but they taste so, so much nicer without the skins. Set aside. Cook the peas briefly in boiling water, drain and set aside. Trim the tails off the French beans and steam or plunge into boiling water and cook until they are al dente. Drain and put in a bowl together with the broad beans and the peas.

5. Finely chop the oregano leaves and add all but a few (saved for garnish) to the vegetables. Add the lemon zest and then drizzle over a bit of olive oil to make the vegetables glossy, but not swimming in it. Squeeze over the lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and mix gently. Tip into a pretty serving bowl, crumble over the feta and scatter with the remaining oregano leaves. Carve the lamb, pour the gravy over the slices and serve the vegetables alongside.

Recipe from ‘Home Cooked: Recipes From The Farm’ by Kate Humble (Gaia, £25)

Tradition with a twist of English hedgerow – floral, fragrant, and quietly assured (Handout)

Ingredients:

2kg 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:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

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

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

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

5. 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).

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

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

8. Serve with the pan juices and spring vegetables.

Chef Vivek Singh’s lamb and sweetcorn curry

Comfort with backbone: this dish lets spice do the talking, not the heat (Handout)

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

750g boneless lamb shoulder meat, trimmed and cut into 2.5cm dice

6 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil

12 cloves

4 black cardamom pods

2 bay leaves

2 onions, finely chopped

6 green chillies, slit lengthways

2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp garlic paste

200g sweetcorn kernels, either frozen or canned is fine

250g plain yogurt

125ml lamb stock or water, plus extra if necessary

6sm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped finely

50g fresh coriander leaves and stalks, chopped

Juice of lemon

Method:

1. To start making the curry heat the ghee to smoking point in a heavy-based pan and add the cloves, cardamom pods and bay leaves. When they crackle, add the onions and cook on a medium heat until golden.

2. Add the green chillies, salt, ground coriander, cumin and turmeric and stir for minute. Stir in the garlic paste and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes.

3. Now add the lamb and cook, moving it around on high heat, for 4-5 minutes, until lightly browned all over. Stir in three-quarters of the sweetcorn kernels and gradually add the yoghurt, stirring well after each spoonful. If you add it too quickly, it will split and make the curry grainy.

4. Once the yoghurt is incorporated, continue stirring and allow the mixture to come to the boil.

5. Add the lamb stock, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sweetcorn is creamy and soft, and the sauce has thickened.

6. Add the ginger, fresh coriander and the remaining sweetcorn kernels, pour in a little more lamb stock or water, if required, and continue simmering over low heat for 10 minutes. Check the seasoning and finish by squeezing in the lemon juice.

7. Serve the curry hot with rice or chickpea breads.

Jack Stein’s lamb shoulder with white miso cream and chicory

Where French bitterness meets Japanese umami and everyone gets along (Handout)

“Braised chicory is one of the first things I was taught to cook in a traditional French way by section chef Ben Towill at The Seafood Restaurant. He had just come from Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir Aux Quat Saisons and was a real influence on me at the start of my career. When it comes to chicory, you cut and trim them and then fry them in a little oil and butter to colour and then finally braise them in stock; this prevents the leaves from oxidising and changes the bitter note to a sweet one. The white miso cream in this recipe is addictive and simple; it complements the lamb and chicory perfectly. And the lovely pink pickled onions make the dish look so appealing.”

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2kg lamb shoulder

6 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole

6 sprigs of thyme, cut in half

6 anchovies, cut in half

1 tbsp olive oil

4 chicory

1 tbsp vegetable oil

60g butter

500ml chicken stock

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp salt

Sea salt

For the white miso cream:

300ml double cream

300ml chicken stock

1 tsp white miso paste

50g butter

To serve:

1 red onion, pickled

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C fan (220C/gas mark 7).

2. Make about 10 cuts in the lamb shoulder and push the garlic, thyme and anchovies into the cuts. Season with 20g salt, rub with the olive oil, and roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Lower the temperature to 140C fan (160C/gas mark 3) and cook for another 2½ hours.

3. Cut the chicory in half lengthways and remove the core (which is bitter). Brown them, cut side down, in a pot with the vegetable oil for 5 minutes. Add the butter and cook for 1 more minute. Now add the stock, lemon juice and salt, and turn the chicory halves over. Put a lid on and braise over a low heat until soft (20 minutes).

4. Now make the miso cream. Pour the double cream and stock into a pot; add the miso paste and whisk together. Cook over a medium-high heat, whisking occasionally. Keep on the heat until reduced by half, then remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Pour into a serving dish.

5. Serve the lamb shoulder on the bone and carve at the table.

6. Place the chicory alongside each serving, topped with slices of pickled red onion and pass round the dish of miso cream.

Recipe from ‘World On A Plate’ (Bloomsbury Cooks and Absolute Press, 2018).

Alistair Craig’s slow-cooked spiced lamb shoulder with hummus and roast onion

A lesson in patience and payoff, with spice as the quiet architect (Handout)

Serves: 8 people

Ingredients:

For the lamb shoulder:

100g cardamom

100g coriander seeds

4 cinnamon sticks

50g chilli flakes

2l chicken stock

10 bay leaves

4 sprigs rosemary

10 sprigs thyme

For the hummus:

1 tin chickpeas, drained

1 small red onion finely sliced

2 cloves garlic finely sliced

2 cm peeled ginger root finely sliced

1 lemon, juiced

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

80g vegetable oil

For the roast red onion:

8 small onions

Sumac

Olive oil

Mint

Method:

1. To make the lamb, blitz the spices and rub into the lamb. Cover and leave in the fridge for 24 hours. In a hot pan colour the lamb all over then transfer to a roasting dish. Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add to the dish. Add the herbs, cover with paper and seal with tinfoil.

2. Cook in the oven at 160C for 3 hours approximately. Once tender leave to rest for 15 minutes.

3. To make the hummus, sweat the onion, garlic, ginger, cumin and coriander in half of the oil with a pinch of salt until softened.

4. Blitz all the ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Adjust the seasoning with salt and lemon juice as needed. This can be made a day ahead and stored, covered in the fridge.

5. To prepare the roast red onions, peel the onions. With the base on a chopping board cut down almost to the root into quarters.

6. Place in an oven proof dish and drizzle with olive oil.

7. Bake for fifteen minutes by which time the onion will have opened up.

8. Season with salt and sumac and return to the oven for 20 minutes.

9. Serve with mint leaves scattered over the onion.

Recipe by Alistair Craig, head chef at The Montagu Arms

Lamb hummus

The mezze platter’s overachieving cousin – layered, loud and utterly self-assured (Handout)

Ingredients:

For the hummus:

350ml tap water

60ml lemon juice

200g tahini

500g cooked chickpeas

For the lamb braise:

1 lamb shoulder

30g cumin ground

30g coriander ground

30g pepper

30g salt

For the zhoug/green chilli paste:

25ml vegetable oil

25g Dutch green chillies

125g coriander

20g garlic, peeled

30ml lemon juice

100g tomatoes

1.5g black cracked pepper

2 cardamom pods

6g Maldon sea salt

For the saffron apricots:

250g apricots

150ml water

75g sugar

25ml lemon juice

¼ tsp saffron powder

For the ras el hanout almonds:

250g almonds

12.5g ras el hanout

12.5ml olive oil

5g salt

Method:

To make the hummus:

1. Blitz water and chickpeas together.

2. Whisk in tahini and lemon juice.

3. Season with salt to taste.

To make the lamb braise:

1. Mix spices together and rub gently into lamb shoulder.

2. Place in a shallow paper-lined tray.

3. Roast at 200C for 1 hour.

4. Leave to cool, the add 2 cm water.

5. Place paper on top to stop lamb sticking to the foil.

6. Double wrap with tin foil. And cook overnight at 110C in lower oven.

7. Take the lamb out of oven, drain off liquid and leave to cool for 20 minutes.

8. Pull the meat of the bone in large chunks. Removing any large fat deposits.

9. Remove the skin/sinew and chop up and mix through rest of meat.

10. Chill the stock and remove fat. Then reduce by half.

To make the zhoug:

1. Place all ingredients apart from olive oil into a blender or handmixer.

2. Blitz into a paste.

3. Transfer paste to a bowl and fold in the olive oil.

4. Taste and season appropriately.

To serve:

1. Spoon 2/3 spoonfuls of hummus onto your chosen platter/bowl.

2. With your spoon make a well like hole in the middle of the hummus.

3. Firstly place the braised lamb in the well, followed by the zhoug, a sprinkle of sumac and a large drizzle of olive oil.

4. Top with sliced apricots and toasted almonds (optional).

Optional toppings:

Saffron apricots:

1. Slice apricots in half.

2. Make a sugar syrup in pan with the water, sugar and saffron.

3. When sugar has dissolved, and syrup is simmering add apricots and simmer for 10 minutes. Then take off heat.

Almonds:

1. Toast almonds at 160C for 5 minutes. Turn and toast for another 5 minutes.

2. Mix oil with spices and salt

3. Then roll through almonds

4. Leave to cool.

Recipe from Eran Tibi, head chef and co-founder of Bala Baya and Kapara

Grilled lamb, courgettes, morels and crispy belly

Spring dressed for dinner, in butter, bone marrow and good intentions (Handout)

Ingredients:

1 loin of lamb cut in half

1 green courgette, sliced thinly

100g morels, cleaned

25g butter

1 lemon

Olive oil

For the lamb jus:

1kg lamb bones

1.5l brown chicken stock

250ml white wine

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 onions, chopped

Sprig rosemary

For the herb crust:

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, picked

4 slices white bread, dried in the oven at 80C until crisp

40g Gruyere, diced

250g unsalted butter (room temperature)

For the crispy lamb belly:

1 lamb belly

300g duck fat

1 sprig rosemary

For the artichoke puree:

1 jar cooked artichokes in oil

1 lemon

100ml chicken stock

Method:

1. To make the crispy belly, season the belly with salt and pepper. Place in a pan, cover with duck fat, add the rosemary and slowly simmer for two hours or until a metal skewer slides into the lamb belly easily. Cool, then take out and place flat on a tray skin side down. Place a sheet of baking parchment on top and place another tray on top to weigh it down. Chill in the fridge. Once cold, slice into rectangles 2cm x 5cm and pan fry in olive oil until crisp.

2. To make the lamb jus, roast the bones in an oven tray for one hour or until it has caramelised. Drain in a colander. Add the white wine to the tray and scrap the bottom to remove the residue. Pour this into a clean pot with the lamb bones. Caramelise the onions in a pan with olive oil until golden. Drain in a colander. Add this along with the tomatoes to the lamb bones.

3. Cover with brown chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and gently cook for 3 hours. Allow to cool then strain through a fine sieve. Bring the lamb jus to a boil and reduce for 20 minutes or until the desired flavour and consistency has been achieved.

4. For the herb crust, place all the ingredients apart from the butter into a blender and blitz until you have a fine green crumb. Season lightly then add the softened butter and mix. Take 2 sheets of baking parchment 30cm x 30cm. Place the butter in the centre of one piece of baking parchment, place the other sheet on top and using a rolling pin, roll out until it is 1/4cm thick. Place on a tray and chill in the fridge. Once it is hard, cut a piece the same size as the lamb.

5. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Render the lamb fat side down in a pan until golden. Flip over and caramelise. Cook in the oven at 200C for 10mins. Place the herb crust on top and cook for a further 2mins. Take out and leave the rest for 6mins.

6. Add the butter to a pan and heat up. Add the morels, season and sweat for 3mins. Take out of the pan and add to the sliced courgettes. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice.

7. To make the puree, place the artichokes in the blender, add the lemon juice, chicken stock and blitz. Slowly add the olive oil from the jar. Season with salt.

8. Slice the lamb in half and place on a plate. Spoon the artichoke purée onto the plate, add the courgettes and morels.

Stuffed leg of lamb with Jersey Royal potatoes

The kind of roast that makes you wish you’d invited more discerning guests (Greg Marchand)

This recipe from Greg Marchand, chef patron at Frenchie, is a delicious twist on a classic lamb roast that won’t take hours to prepare. Complete your masterpiece with buttery potatoes and you’ll have an Easter dish you’ll remember for years to come.

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.

Kataf ghanam (lamb shoulder)

Wrapped, rested, revered – a dish that’s more ritual than recipe (Andy Sewell/PA)

Take inspiration from traditional Syrian cuisine for your Easter feast with this recipe from chef Imad Alarnab.

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

5 garlic cloves, grated

2 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp mild Madras curry powder

½ tbsp ground black pepper

3cm piece of fresh ginger, grated

1 tbsp baharat (a spice mix blend)

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 tbsp red pepper paste

Good pinch of salt

150ml olive oil

For the lamb:

1.5-2kg lamb shoulder, bone in

10 garlic cloves, peeled

4 sprigs of thyme

4 sprigs of rosemary

Method:

1. Mix together all the marinade ingredients in a large container. Rub the marinade all over the lamb so it’s completely covered. Cover and marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, ideally overnight.

2. When you’re ready to cook, preheat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas mark 3.

3. Take the lamb from the fridge, then get a high-sided oven tray and line with a layer of foil and a layer of baking paper, large enough to cover the lamb. Add the garlic and herb sprigs to the middle, followed by the lamb and all the marinade (you can also add onions, carrots or potatoes at this stage, if you like). Fold the foil and baking paper over the lamb like a parcel, then flip it over and wrap it again in another layer of foil so the lamb is tightly wrapped and there are no gaps. We want to cook the lamb in its own juices, so it’s really important that it’s completely covered at this stage.

4. Place in the oven and cook for 4 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Remove from the oven, unwrap, increase the temperature to 200C/fan 180C/gas mark 6 and roast until browned on top.

5. Serve with kabsa rice or plain bulgur.

Roast hogget meatballs in a creamy cep sauce

A pastoral detour into indulgence, where even the mushrooms feel luxurious (Tommy Banks)

Ever thought of turning your lamb into meatballs? Well, with this dish from The Black Swan’s Tommy Banks, you can!

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:

1. Preheat oven to 200C (180C Fan). Then, 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.

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

3. 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 5 minutes.

4. 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 2 minutes. Add lamb stock and allow it to reduce, for a further 5 minutes. Add your cream, and cep powder if using, and stir vigorously to fully incorporate. Remove from heat.

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

6. Serve with fresh, toasted sourdough.

Stuffed saddle of Lune Valley lamb with buttered runner beans

Precise, patient, unapologetically classic – roast lamb with nothing to prove (Great British Chefs/Adam Gray)

If you are committed to cooking your lamb low and slow, this recipe from Adam Gray is sure to stir up an appetite.

Time: 3 hours

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 small boned saddle of Lune Valley lamb, retaining bones for gravy

10 garlic cloves, peeled

500ml of rapeseed oil

500ml of lamb stock

1 sprig of rosemary

500g of baby spinach

Salt

White pepper

To serve:

200g of runner beans

75g of unsalted butter

4 large potatoes, cut into 8 cm discs

200ml of rapeseed oil

75ml of water

Method:

1. Start by making the gravy. Preheat the oven 180C. Chop the bones from the lamb saddle into evenly sized pieces and place in a roasting tray in the oven. Cook until evenly golden brown. This will take over an hour. Meanwhile, gently heat enough rapeseed oil in a pan to cover the whole garlic cloves, add the garlic and let it simmer for 40 minutes to 1 hour until the garlic is soft. Strain off the oil and set aside​.

2. When the lamb bones are evenly browned, remove from the oven and transfer to a saucepan. Cover with the lamb stock and rosemary sprig, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 20 to 30 minutes​. Pass the lamb gravy through a fine sieve. Reheat when ready to serve.

3. To stuff the lamb, lay the boneless saddle flat on a chopping board, so the two portions of meat are facing away from you. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Place the cooked, drained garlic cloves lengthways along the centre of the saddle.

4. Blanch and refresh the spinach, then squeeze out any excess water. Lay the spinach over the garlic cloves, along the centre of the lamb saddle​. Fold the lamb saddle over so the flaps of fat overlap each other. Tie the saddle tightly with butcher’s string in 2-3cm intervals along the whole saddle and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 200C. Heat an ovenproof frying pan to a medium heat and place the lamb saddle in without any oil. Seal the lamb saddle all over until light golden brown, then place the pan in the oven. After 5 minutes turn the oven down to 180C and continue cooking for a further 15 to 20 minutes for medium rare cooking or more if you like it well done. Remove the cooked lamb saddle from the oven and leave to rest on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

6. Next, cook the potatoes by placing in salted cold water, bring to the boil and simmer until almost tender. Drain and set aside. To prepare the runner beans, slice them on an angle and blanch in boiling salted water until tender. Strain and place into iced water immediately​.

7. Return the cooked lamb saddle to the oven for 3 to 4 minutes to reheat, then remove. While the lamb is heating through, pan-fry the cooked potato discs in a little rapeseed oil until golden brown on both sides. Season with salt and pepper. Place the golden brown potato discs in the centre of the serving bowls​.

8. In a separate saucepan melt the unsalted butter with 75ml water and bring to the boil, then add the runner beans. Coat the runner beans with the butter and water emulsion, then season with salt and pepper. Keep warm​. Cut all the string from the lamb saddle and then carve the saddle into 1.5 cm slices and arrange on top of the potato discs. Put the buttered runner beans in a separate serving dish and pour the lamb gravy into a jug. Serve immediately.

Slow-roasted harissa lamb shoulder

A shoulder with swagger – fiery, tender, and built for sharing in style (PA)

TikTok-famous chef Poppy O’Toole described her mouth-watering dish as “a slow-roasted number that will turn even hardened lamb-haters”. If that doesn’t convince you, we don’t know what will...

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

The core:

2 recipe quantities of easy flatbreads (8 flat breads; see below)

For the lamb:

2tbsp rose harissa paste

3tbsp ras el hanout

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

5 garlic cloves, peeled

1tbsp light brown soft sugar

6 thyme sprigs, leaves picked

6 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked

2tbsp almond butter

2tbsp olive oil

1.4-1.5kg/3-3 ¼lb lamb shoulder on the bone

For the couscous:

200g/7oz couscous

Seeds of 1 pomegranate

A small bunch of mint, leaves picked and chopped

A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped

5-6 black or green olives, pitted and sliced

1tbsp dried oregano

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt and black pepper

For the flatbreads (makes 4):

250g/9oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting

250g/9oz Greek yogurt (or 125ml/½ cup warm water + 2tbsp vegetable oil, if you’re vegan)

1tsp onion seeds, poppy seeds or sesame seeds

1tsp baking powder

Salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Start this the night before you want to cook. Place all of the lamb ingredients apart from the meat itself into a blender and blitz to a smooth paste to make a marinade.

2. With a knife, make some little incisions into the lamb shoulder to help the marinade get right into the meat. Rub and massage the marinade into the shoulder like it’s date night, until it’s completely covered.

3. Transfer the lamb to a roasting tin, cover with foil and place it in the fridge overnight (or for a minimum of six hours).

4. Make the flatbreads: in a bowl mix all the ingredients – flour, yoghurt, seeds, baking powder and seasoning – into a dough. Knead for about three minutes, to a soft but not sticky ball. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave for 10 minutes to rest.

5. Cut the ball into four equal pieces and use a rolling pin to roll each one out to a thin round. You’re aiming for them to be about 12cm/5in diameter – but don’t worry if they look rustic in shape. Set aside the rolled-flat flatbreads on a lightly floured surface.

6. Place a large, dry frying pan over a high heat. Leave it to get hot, then throw in the first flatbread. Once bubbles start to form in the dough (about 30 seconds) and you’ve got a little bit of char on the underside, flip over the flatbread and cook the other side for about 30 seconds, to get a little bit of char there, too. Keep warm while you do the same with the remaining three flatbreads. That’s it, remove from the pan and either serve right away or cool and tightly wrap to store.

7. Put the couscous into a container big enough to allow it to double in size and pour in 400ml/about 1½ cups of cold water. Cover the bowl and transfer it to the fridge. Leave this overnight, too.

8. Remove the meat from the fridge 30 minutes before you intend to start cooking so that it can come up to room temperature, and preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/375F/gas 5.

9. When you’re ready to cook, roast the lamb, still covered with the foil, for 4 hours, until it is charred a little on the outside and the meat is tender and pulls apart.

10. Drain the couscous through a fine sieve, so you don’t lose any of it. Mix all of the other couscous ingredients into it. Season with salt and pepper to taste and leave on the side to come up to room temperature.

11. Towards the end of the lamb cooking time, heat a dry frying pan over a high heat until it’s smoking hot. Place the flatbreads in the pan and warm through (or reheat them in a microwave).

12. Either serve your massive hunk of delicious lamb in the tin as it comes, or transfer it to a wooden board and pour all of the sauce that is left in the bottom of the roasting tin into a little jug.

13. Just let people dig and tear into this huge, sharing-lamb deliciousness, with the warmed flatbreads, the couscous and the sauce served alongside.