RECIPES | What the Easter bunny is serving up this long weekend

The chefs at Capsicum Culinary Studio — SA’s largest culinary school with six campuses countrywide — have consulted the Easter bunny and devised a delicious Easter feast. Bon appétit!

One-pan roast lamb with Hasselback potatoes

Ingredients:

1 leg of lamb, about 2kg

2 garlic bulbs

15 sprigs rosemary

15 sprigs thyme

1.7kg medium-sized potatoes (Maris Piper work well), unpeeled

14 bay leaves

4 tbsp olive oil

1 lemon, juiced and zested

Method: 

Use a small, sharp knife to make at least 30 small, deep, incisions all over the lamb. Halve the garlic bulbs, so at the top the cloves fall away and at the bottom, they remain attached. Peel and slice the tops that have fallen away and keep the other halves for later.

Use your fingers to push the slices into each slit. Next, pull off small sprigs of rosemary and thyme, keeping the stalks on, and poke them into the slits, too. This can be done a day ahead, then cover the lamb and chill.

Remove from the fridge an hour before roasting and let it come to room temperature. Heat oven to 210°C.

Sit each potato between the handles of two wooden spoons and cut widthways at 3mm intervals — the spoon handles will stop you slicing all the way through. Slot a bay leaf into the middle slit of each potato.

Tip the potatoes into a large roasting tin with the halved garlic bulb and the rest of the rosemary and thyme. Drizzle with half the oil and season, then toss to coat and turn the potatoes so they’re all cut-side up.

Nestle the lamb in the middle of the tin, pushing the potatoes to the outside, then rub the lamb with the rest of the oil, lemon juice and lemon zest, and season generously. Roast for 90 mins, basting the potatoes and shaking the tin occasionally, until the lamb is dark brown, and the potatoes are crisp and golden.

The lamb will be pink in the middle but cooked. For rare, cook for 10 mins less, and for well done, 15 mins more.

Remove the lamb from the tin and leave to rest for 15 mins, putting the potatoes back in the oven if you need to. Serve the lamb drizzled with a green olive & herb dressing (recipe below) and remove bay leaves before dishing up the Hasselback potatoes.

Green olive & herb dressing

(Can be made a day ahead and kept in the fridge)

Ingredients:

50g pitted green olives

large handful chopped parsley

large handful chopped mint leaves

extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp red wine vinegar

small pinch golden caster sugar

Method: 

Finely chop the olives and tip into a bowl with the parsley and mint. Drizzle in enough olive oil to just bind everything, then add the red wine vinegar, golden caster sugar and a pinch of salt. 

Cheesy veg gratin

Ingredients:

1 cauliflower broken into florets, leaves reserved

I small broccoli, broken into florets

200g baby leaf spinach

70g unsalted butter

70g plain flour

900ml whole milk

2 tsp English mustard

150g mature cheddar

½ bunch of chives, finely chopped

Method: 

Heat the oven to 220°C. Bring a pan of lightly salted water to the boil and cook the cauliflower florets for 3 mins. Add the broccoli and cook for 2 mins more. Drain in a colander and set aside.

Tip the baby spinach leaves into a large saucepan, add 2 tbsp water and cook with the lid on over a low heat for 2-3 mins until wilted, then tip into a sieve and press out the excess moisture with the back of a wooden spoon. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat until foaming, then stir in the flour to create a thick paste. Cook for 2 mins, remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the milk in several additions until lump-free.

Return to the heat and whisk until thickened. Whisk in the mustard, most of the cheese and the chives. Season to taste.

Arrange the vegetables, including the cauliflower leaves, in a medium ovenproof dish. Pour over the sauce, then sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 25-30 mins or until golden and bubbling.

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