Angela Hartnett’s winning ways with wonderful spring lamb

Choose delicate spring flavours or low, slow braises for a celebratory meal, says Angela Hartnett

As we build up to Easter Sunday, many of us will be looking to spring lamb for our celebratory meal – me included. There are so many different ways to treat lamb – serve it blushing pink with delicate spring flavours like lavender and soft herbs, or give it a more robust treatment in a rich, slow-braised dish.

Personally, I like going for larger, working cuts of lamb like shoulder and leg, which benefit from a low, slow cooking to render all that fat down to produce a meltingly soft dish. We have some of the best lamb in the world, from Herdwick lamb reared in the hills of Cumbria to salt marsh lamb from Wales – it’s high welfare, local and absolutely delicious, so try and buy it if you can.

It’s important to take the lamb out the fridge a good few hours before cooking to allow it to come to room temperature. Remember these are working animals, so you really can’t afford to rush it when it comes to a larger joint. Give it plenty of time in the oven, and more importantly, plenty of time to rest before carving.

As for flavouring it, salty flavours like anchovy cut through the rich fattiness of the meat, as do spices like the cumin, coriander and fennel in my spiced lamb couscous, overleaf. The lavender crust idea came from my friend, Adam – he made this dish for us on a holiday in Majorca, picking lavender leaves from the villa we stayed in.

The aroma is fantastic, and I love its simplicity. Easter Sunday should be a stress-free affair, filled with delicious, seasonal food and – if we’re lucky – a bit of sun.