Easter Lunch

For Ned

"Rise Heart"

(George Herbert)

If you read my book, you may remember a somewhat weepy memory of Easter lunch under the willow tree as a child. Well, here I go again, only with less weeping. I picked this card because it reminded me of those my maternal grandmother used to send to me as a child.

Easter lunch for me and the boys and maybe you too.

I like to cook lamb at Easter, so here's an easy way to do it. This is what we will have for Easter Sunday lunch.

Roast lamb with accompaniments and a cheerful rhubarb pudding.

For 4, I have allowed a 2 kg leg of lamb, which will give you plenty plus leftovers. I like cold roast lamb in sandwiches with mint jelly.

Rub your leg of lamb all over with a little salt and pepper and olive oil and then make about 10 little slits in it. Into these slits pop a sprig of rosemary and a fat sliver of garlic, peeled or unpeeled. Then -did I say "bring the meat to room temperature first"? -- put it into a medium hot oven to roast. Meanwhile, try this.

A dish of roast vegetables.

Peel an assortment of seasonal root vegetables to include potatoes, carrots, parsnips and swede. Stick them in a large dish and chuck in some olive oil, sea salt and lots of black pepper. Mix well with your hands. Put to one side.

Some greens.

This time of year, just go exploring and find a nice dark cabbage. I'd probably use a savoy cabbage here. Pull off any dodgy-looking leaves and then shred it finely. Put it in a deep pan and barely cover with water. Add a little salt just before you cook.

Poached rhubarb

Right, while the lamb is cooking, prep your pudding. At this time of year, you may well be able to get lovely forced rhubarb, all pale pink and pretty. I would get about 1 kg, chop into pieces of several cm each with around 3 tbs of caster sugar. If you have bought the full blown rhubarb, you will need more so taste, taste, taste. Poach the rhubarb with the sugar, just covered with water.When it is soft, add a good punch of ground nutmeg and check again for sweetness.

When the lamb has had about 40 minutes, put the vegetables into the oven. The lamb will take another hour, by which time the vegetables with be soft and caramelising at the edges. A couple of times, take some of the juices from around the lamb and put them on the vegetables, tossing in a careless kind of way. 25 minutes later, cook the cabbage.

To serve, let the lamb sit for ten minutes, then hack it into generous pieces and serve with lots of vegetables and the cabbage. You'll see I haven't made gravy. That's because there will be plenty of succulence from the lamb and because you will have soft vegetables, seasoned with some of the fat and juices from the lamb.

Oh, while you are eating, keep the rhubarb warm in the turned off oven and, for pudding, serve it with lots of Greek yoghurt or, if you like, custard. Followed by an Easter egg hunt.

HAPPY EASTER!

Image courtesy of seaside rose at www.flickr.com Thank you.