Spring lamb and rhubarb are Easter stalwarts, but they're given a modern twist in these recipes, writes DOMINI KEMP

WHETHER YOU’RE RELIGIOUS or not, there is something very symbolic about lamb, springtime and Easter Sunday. I find a roast shoulder or leg of lamb a lot more delicious than Christmas dinner, although I would never swap the latter as the turkey and ham dinner just cannot be replaced.

Easter lunch feels a lot more gourmet yet far less greedy, probably because it isn’t shouldered by endless days of stuffing your face, hence the dinner on the day itself is a lot more attractive. Also, it seems quite permissible to spend the days with friends rather than 30 relations, which is possibly why it presents itself as quite an attractive day of celebration for lots of people.

So what better way to spend it than eating some really delicious food? This recipe has been adapted from a Diana Henry one, which I’ve doctored even further by adding some anchovies to the lamb when roasting it. Anchovies have that fantastic umami quality to them with none of the fishiness you might expect. I adore the small, dark brown fillets that are packed into a sleeping bag made of tin and filled to the brim with oil. It’s those pesky little silver ones that seem to have adorned every second-rate Caesar salad in every shoddy pizza joint over the years, that I cannot stand. But each to their own. However the small tinned ones – once drained of excess oil – can be slipped into sauces or anything that needs to be beefed up. You don’t even need to tell anyone. They will just wonder what that fabulous piquancy is in all your dishes.

For accompaniments to the lamb, I’m a sucker for keeping things very simple. Some boiled new potatoes with a ton of peas, and maybe some carrots that have been glazed with a little brown sugar and butter with a tiny splash of white wine vinegar, are all you need.

I quite like commercial mint jellies, in that they’re a bit like redcurrant jelly and always go well with roasted meats. Or you could keep it lighter and make a large batch of salsa verde by blending a big bunch of flat leaf parsley, mint and basil along with a good few glugs of olive oil, salt, pepper, a clove of garlic, two teaspoons of Dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon of drained capers and squeeze of honey. If it needs a kick, then add a little splash of vinegar or lemon juice, but not much, as the mustard and capers give it plenty of oomph. This kind of salsa is delicious slathered on everything from lamb, to spuds, in which case maybe a big green salad would work better than the veg.

I made a rhubarb tart to go with this which was based on a rhubarb and honey tart from my pal, Rachel Allen, combined with a recipe from Sarah Raven’s book, Food for Friends and Family, which added saffron to the custard base. This hybrid version from two great cooks is my new favourite rhubarb tart recipe, although inevitably it will get tweaked yet again before the year is out.

Lamb with capers, parsley and (sshh, don’t tell!) anchovies

I bought a boned leg of lamb, but probably should have asked the butcher to butterfly it out a bit. Regardless, I still managed to stuff and roll mine, but the shape was a bit tricky to work with. You need some twine. I would suggest you tell your butcher that you want to stuff it and roll it up and tie it, and let them flatten it out for you to make this easier.

Serves 6

2 onions, peeled and very finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

75g butter

80g breadcrumbs

40g capers

Big bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

Few glugs olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 boned leg of lamb

1 small tin anchovies

Few sprigs rosemary

100ml white wine

300ml chicken stock

2 tbsp redcurrant jelly

Preheat an oven to 220 degrees/gas 7. Sweat together the onions, garlic and butter in a heavy-based saucepan til they are soft. Add the breadcrumbs, capers, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. Season with plenty of black pepper and some salt. The stuffing should be able to hold its own shape and not be too wet. If it’s too dry, add some more lemon juice and olive oil.

I spread out the lamb, seasoned it, stuffed it and rolled it up, or rather tied it together, all higgledy piggledy, until it resembled a bit of a log shape. Put it in a roasting tin, drape the anchovies over it, season with more salt and pepper, olive oil and some sprigs of rosemary. Cook for about 15 minutes, then cover with foil and reduce the temperature to 150 degrees/gas 2, and cook for about 45 minutes to an hour. Leave it to rest somewhere warm.

Deglaze the pan with some wine, then pour the juices into a little saucepan and let it simmer away. Add the stock and redcurrant jelly. Reduce down until it becomes a bit more syrupy, and taste and adjust seasoning. If you find it tastes great but is too watery, then add a small amount of cornflour, which you’ve mixed with cold water. This will thicken it up nicely. Once the meat has rested, slice and serve with a splash of gravy.

Rhubarb, honey and saffron tart

Serves at least 6

225g flour

40g icing sugar

150g butter

1 egg, beaten

Mix the ingredients together in a food processor until it forms a ball. Then wrap in cling film and chill for an hour if you can. If not, put it into the freezer for 10 minutes.

Filling

350g rhubarb (approx three large sticks)

2 tbsp Demerara sugar

4 egg yolks

325ml cream,

3 generous tbsp honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch saffron (optional)

50g toasted almonds (optional)

You will need a 24-centimetre loose-bottomed tart ring. Preheat an oven to 190 degrees/gas 5. Roll out the pastry between sheets of cling film. Do this by laying out one or two overlapping sheets of cling film on your work surface. Put the ball of pastry in the middle and pat down so it flattens out a bit, then place another sheet or two over it, so that it is sandwiched between sheets of cling film. It’s much easier to roll out this pastry like this. It will take a little while to get it to the right size. Then remove top layer of cling film. Put the tart case on top of the pastry (upside down) and invert the pastry onto the tart case. Press down gently, along the sides and base, so that it fits in snugly. The cling film makes this easier to do. Then you can put the dried beans directly on to the cling film layer and bake it. The cling film won’t melt, but if you get spooked and don’t believe me, then carefully peel off the cling film, top with a piece of scrunched up parchment paper, add the beans and place on baking tray and bake for 20 minutes. Carefully remove it from the oven, remove the beans and put it back in the oven for another five minutes to dry out. You should have a lovely golden and crisp tart shell case.

To make the filling, chop the rhubarb into one-centimetre chunks. Toss with the Demerara sugar. Whisk the egg yolks with the cream, honey, vanilla and saffron. Then carefully pour this into the cool tart shell. Place the sugared rhubarb pieces in the tart with pretty colour facing up. Bake at 180 degrees/gas 4 for about 35 minutes. It should be a nice light, golden colour in parts, and slightly soft, not firm. Allow it to cool and top with toasted almonds, if you like. Slice and serve. I like this best at room temperature.