All-in-one lamb roast

A succulent lamb shoulder flavoured with rosemary and garlic makes a delicious Easter roast

You may have a rack that fits on top of your roasting tray, but if you don’t, simply position the tray as close as possible to the oven rack above, and put the joint directly on top of the rack. It takes a joint of this size for the potatoes to cook and colour properly; the timing might seem on the long side for roasties, but they need that much longer in the company of onions and covered by the lamb. Timings for a shoulder can be tricky – as a shallow cut, it doesn’t conform to the usual rules. If you cook a joint this size for 1¼hr, you should have some nice pink meat around the bone, or give it 1½hr for a medium finish and the meat will still be beautifully succulent.

SERVES 8

PREPARATION TIME 20 minutes COOKING TIME 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes

2.3-2.5kg lamb shoulder Handful rosemary sprigs 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

1.2kg large waxy potatoes, cut into wedges

3 red onions, peeled and cut into slim wedges

2 garlic bulbs, tops cut off 25g unsalted butter, plus a knob 500g spinach leaves

1 Heat oven to 210°C (190°C fan) mark 7. Cut slits all over the lamb and stuff each one with a couple of needles of rosemary. Drizzle over a little oil, season with salt and black pepper and cover the top with rosemary sprigs, pulling some of the needles off the stalks. 2 Toss the potatoes and onions with about 2tbsp oil and season with salt. Arrange with the garlic bulbs in a large roasting tin that holds them in a crowded single layer. Put these in the oven with the lamb on a rack above and roast for 1¼-1½hr, stirring the potatoes and onions halfway through.

3 Transfer the lamb to a warm plate, loosely cover with foil and leave to rest for 20min. Remove the garlic, but return potatoes and onions to oven for 20min.

4 Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat, add the spinach, then cover and cook until it collapses, stirring now and again. Transfer to a food processor, discarding any liquid in the base of the pan. Squeeze out the insides of the bulbs of garlic and add to the spinach with a knob of butter. Season and whizz to a coarse purée.

5 Carve lamb; add any juices to spinach purée and serve as an accompaniment with the potatoes and onions.