Greek inspiration for spring lamb

I love this time of year . Regardless of what the weather is doing, for me early April always brings promise – of green shoots, higher energy levels and maybe even plans for a holiday. And it also means wonderful spring produce on the shelves: wild garlic, rhubarb, new-season asparagus and potatoes, purple-sprouting broccol i – the list goes on.

Speaking of wild garlic, I recently found myself in front of a bowl of pesto made by a pal who had an abundance of the stuff in his garden and had used a Darina Allen recipe. I had to be physically restrained from demolishing the entire bowl – that's how good it was. So do go ahead and pick some and blitz it with your usual pesto ingredients: pine nuts, Parmesan, olive oil, salt and a little pinch of sugar.

It is unbelievably good and I am nominating Oisin Clarke to start commercial production immediately.

Easter, coming up next weekend, has its culinary traditions. After the deprivations of Lent, it can be tempting to choose something rich and lush, perhaps laced with butter, but there’s also a long-standing love of a spring roast – a sweet, succulent leg of lamb, studded with garlic and rosemary and slowly cooked to a blushing pink.

Sometimes, though, you want to do something just a little bit different. Yes, lamb is lovely, but it doesn’t have to be a leg and it doesn’t have to be roasted. Greek cooking often partners lamb – which is sweet – with crumbly, tangy, feta cheese, and the lamb recipe on these pages takes its inspiration from this harmonious coupling.

The other recipe works well as a side dish for the lamb, but would also make a great light lunch or snack on its own. Roasting the aubergines first brings out that rich smokiness, and combined with the olives, tomatoes, onions and peppers, this makes for an über-crunchy, nutritious dish.