Easter Recipes
Roast leg of lamb & spring veg with boulangère potatoes & mint gravy (pictured above)
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 mins
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
400g carrots
2 onions
20g rosemary
1 vegetable stock pot
400g spring greens
7 garlic cloves
1kg leg of lamb
1kg desiree potatoes
1 pot Kent's Kitchen lamb & mint gravy
salt
black pepper
olive oil
Method
Prep ingredients
Preheat oven to 240C/fan 220C/gas 9. Fill the kettle with water and boil. Slice the potatoes as thin as you can, into roughly 0.5cm discs. Peel the garlic, thinly slice two of them, leave the rest whole. Peel and thinly slice the onions. Pick the rosemary leaves and roughly chop, keeping 6-8 sprigs whole. Dissolve the stock pot in 300ml of water.
Marinate lamb
Using a small knife, make 5 deep incisions in the top of the leg. In each inscision press in a garlic clove and a rosemary sprig. Rub 1tbsp oil over the meat and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a roasting dish, place in the oven and set your timer for 15mins.
Assemble potato dish
In the meantime, drizzle 1tbsp oil on the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Start by layering the onions and potatoes, scattering the chopped rosemary as you go. Finish with a layer of potatoes. Pour over the stock, drizzle with oil and cook in the oven for 50-60mins, the potatoes will stay in the oven until the end.
Add carrots
Meanwhile, wash the carrots and halve any larger ones. As soon as the timer for the lamb has gone off, turn the oven down to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Add the carrots to the roasting dish with the lamb and place back into the oven. Set the timer for a further 30mins and continue cooking the lamb.
Make gravy
Once the second timer has gone off, remove the lamb from the oven and cover it with tin foil, whilst the potatoes cook for a further 15mins. Put 3-4tsp lamb and mint gravy into a medium saucepan and cover with 500ml cold water. Simmer on a low-medium heat for 10mins, until thickened and glossy. Fill your kettle with water and boil.
Steam greens and serve
Roughly shred the greens and place into a medium saucepan, cover with 3cm of just boiled water. Cover with a lid, cook for 3-4mins. Drain and place back into the pan, season, add some oil, mix and keep warm. Transfer the lamb and carrots to a platter. Pour any juices from the lamb tray into the gravy saucepan. Carve the lamb and serve with the veg and hot gravy.
Rosti & maple-glazed bacon with soured cream & watercress salad
Cooking time: 30-40 mins
Serves: 2
Ingredients
500g Maris Piper potatoes
3 spring onions
2g cayenne pepper
150g sour cream
100g watercress
100g roasted peppers in vinegar
40ml maple syrup
1 pack smoked bacon
25g polenta
salt
black pepper
olive oil
vinegar
Method
Prep ingredients
Turn the oven to 240C/fan 220/gas 9. Finely chop the spring onions and coarsely grate the potatoes into a glass or platic bowl.
Grate potatoes
Over the sink, use your hands to tightly squeeze the starchy liquid out of the potatoes, and place back into the bowl.
Make rosti mixture
Add the cayenne pepper, 1/2 the spring onions and 3/4 the polenta to the potatoes. Add 2tbsp of olive oil, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
Cook rosti
Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle over the rest of the polenta. Pick up a handful of potato mixture and form into patty shapes. Place on the baking tray and flatten down lightly with your hand. Repeat this 5 times. Drizzle a little oil over the top, then place in the oven until golden and cooked, about 25mins.
Fry bacon & make dip
Meanwhile, add the soured cream to a small bowl, along with the rest of the spring onions and some salt and pepper. Stir together and set aside. Then heat a large frying pan with 1tbsp olive oil on a medium-high heat. Cook the bacon until golden and crispy, and lay on some kitchen towel to soak up any excess oil.
Serve
Drain the roasted peppers and slice into 1cm thick strips. Remove any hard stalks from the watercress. Divide the rosti between two plates and top with the bacon. Serve with the watercress and roasted red peppers. Drizzle the salad with some olive oil and vinegar, an pour the maple syrup over the bacon. Add a dollop of the soured cream on top of the rosti.
Smoked salmon & avocado salad with tarragon dressing & baguette
Cooking time: 30-40 mins
Serves: 2
Ingredients
10g fresh tarragon
100g radishes
1 avocado
200g green beans
50g pumpkin seeds
20ml white wine vinegar
15g Dijon mustard
1 pre-baked baguette
1 bag mixed salad
100g smoked salmon
salt
black pepper
olive oil
Method
Prep ingredients
Preheat grill to a medium-high heat. Fill your kettle with water and boil. Thinly slice the radish. Pick the leaves from the tarragon and roughly chop. Trim the ends off the beans and halve.
Toast pumpkin seeds
Meanwhile, heat up a small frying pan with a splash of oil on a medium heat. Add the pumpkin seeds and toast for 3-4mins, until they start to pop and blister. Transfer the seeds to a plate or bowl and set aside.
Cook beans
Meanwhile, add the green beans and 1tsp salt to a medium saucepan, cover with boiling water. Simmer for 4mins, drain and place back in the pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, set to one side. Halve the bread lengthwise, transfer to a baking tray and pop it in under the grill for 8mins, turning halfway so the bread toasts evenly.
Make dressing
In the same small frying pan you used for the seeds, heat 2tbsp olive oil on a low heat. Add the tarragon and cook for 1-2mins to infuse the oil. Take off the heat and transfer to a bowl. Add the mustard, vinegar, 1/2tsp sugar and 1tsp water to the same bowl, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
Prep avocado
Cut the avocado in half by slicing around the stone. Remove the stone and use a tablespoon to scoop the flesh out.
Make salad
Arrange the salad leaves onto two plates, top with the green beans, radishes, avocado, and finally the salmon. Drizzle the plates with the dressing and sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on top. Serve the bread on the side or use it as a base for the salad.
Recipe from Marley Spoon
Photos by Alex Freundorfer