Easter Recipes from Top Hat Catering

Spiced butterfly shoulder of lamb, tomato and harissa sauce with crumbled feta served with wilted wild garlic, grilled treviso and roast new potatoes with rosemary and garlic

Serves 6-8 people

Lamb
• Should of lamb (6-8 people)
• Salt
• Vegetable/Rapeseed Oil

Request a boned out lamb shoulder from the butcher and ask to have the excess fat removed

Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees. Remove the lamb from the fridge an hour before cooking and pop on a roasting tray

Rub around 2/3 tablespoons of the harissa paste (see recipe below) all over the lamb making sure it's evenly covered

Place a griddle pan on the stove and bring up to a medium/hot heat

Rub a little vegetable/rapeseed oil onto the lamb and season with just salt. Place carefully onto the griddle and colour well on both sides. About 5 minutes in total

Transfer back to the oven tray and roast for 15 mins for medium/pink or until a meat thermometer reads 60 degrees, then rest for 5 minutes under foil. If you would like your lamb a little more well-cooked then return to the oven for another 8-10mins

Carve generous slices and serve with the sauce on the side

For the harissa paste, (makes about 150g)
• 3 large red peppers, roasted, skinned and de-seeded
• 6 dried red chili peppers, soaked in hot water, sit for 30 mins then squeeze out the liquid
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground caraway seeds
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp of sugar

Add all ingredients to a food blender and blend to a fine paste. Taste with caution!

For the harissa sauce with crumbled feta (makes enough for 6 people)
• 100ml of olive oil
• 1x clove of garlic, chopped
• 1x small red onion, sliced
• sprig of thyme
• 1x tbsp of harissa paste
• 6x vine ripe tomatoes, cored, de-seeded and chopped
• 1x tsp of sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 50g of feta, lightly crumbled or cubed

Heat oil in the pan then the add onions, garlic, thyme and cook until soft and the ingredients have taken on colour. Add the paste and cook out, then add the remaining ingredients except the feta.

Cook out until thickened slightly and taste. It should be spicy but not overly so. Add a touch more paste if a little mild. Cool until serving time.

Once ready warm up and add the feta on top so it starts to melt in and sprinkle with some chopped parsley.

Side dishes

• 4 heads of Treviso
• 600g of New Potatoes
• 500g of Wild Garlic
• Salt, Pepper
• Olive Oil
• Butter
• Rosemary
• Garlic
• Nutmeg

TREVISO
Cut the treviso into quarters, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil

Add to a medium heat griddle pan and colour well all over, being careful not to burn the outer leaves, about 3 mins

Place in the oven for just a few minutes as they need to retain dome crunch then serve immediately

NEW POTATOES
Season the potatoes well with salt and pepper and a glut of olive oil

Place into a roasting tray with five cloves of garlic and 5 sprigs of rosemary

Roast at 190 degrees until golden, crisp and cooked through. About 20 minutes

WILD GARLIC
Wash thoroughly and drain in a sieve

Heat a frying pan up, (1 min) add a little olive oil and then throw in the wild garlic. Add a knob of butter and a few grates of fresh nutmeg

Toss over a few times and transfer straight to a serving dish

Pictures by George Chesterton

www.tophatcatering.co.uk