Delicious and mouthwatering lamb recipes for your Easter dinner

Are you planning the festive Easter dinner? We gave you some great ideas for appetizers and today we have selected some really delicious lamb recipes. Chops, leg, shoulder, shanks – you will find incredibly tasty and unique recipes in this article!

Lamb meat is highly valued all over the world. On the first place, it is a versatile meat and you can cook a huge variety of delicious dishes. You can boil, fry, stew and roast lamb meat. Often the lamb is cooked on the grill – the result is a very appetizing, tasty and nutritious dish. Distinguished by its great juiciness, this type of meat is ideal for making delicious chops that are in perfect harmony with mouth-watering sweet and sour sauces. In addition, it can be combined with a variety of vegetables and herbs – potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus, eggplant, rosemary, mint, garlic, basil, etc.

Lamb meat is very tender, so if you plan to use marinade, it is best to use milk, cream or yogurt with spices and salt.

Lamb recipes for your Easter dinner – Meatballs with yogurt sauce

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

1 Tbs. pine nuts

1 lb. (450 g) ground lamb shoulder

1 Tbs. ras el hanout

1 Tbs. salt

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

For the sauce:

2 cups Greek yogurt

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220C). Set a rack on a baking sheet.

Toast the pine nuts in a small skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, transfer to a plate to cool and then chop them.

Put the meat in a large bowl. Add the pine nuts, ras el hanout, salt, and garlic and mix well.

Form 8 meatballs, about 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter. Work with moist hands.

Arrange meatballs on the rack and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the yogurt in a bowl and season with salt and white pepper to taste. Stir in the oil. Slowly add some water (up to 1/2 cup), until the sauce is the consistency you like. Add the parsley and stir.

Put the meatballs on a platter, spoon the sauce over them, and serve.

Roast leg of lamb with Hasselback potatoes – tasty Easter dinner menu ideas

Ingredients:

For the anchovy crust:

1 oz (25g) anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained

small bunch flat-leaf parsley

1 lemon, juiced

1 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves

For the lamb:

4.5 lbs (2 kg) leg of lamb

2.2 Lbs (1 kg) potatoes

1 head of garlic, halved

2 springs of fresh rosemary

3 tbsp olive oil

zest of 1 lemon (long strips of zest removed with a vegetable peeler)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 390 F (200C). Place all the crust ingredients into a food processor and pulse to a coarse paste.

Place the leg of lamb in a large roasting dish, spoon over the paste and smooth it over the meat.

Cut the potatoes in 2mm slices widthways, two thirds of the way through – don’t cut through to the bottom. Arrange the potatoes around the lamb. Add the halved garlic bulb and rosemary stems. Scatter over the lemon zest.

Drizzle with olive oil. Roast for about 1 hour 15 minutes. Check the lamb after an hour. If the crust is too dark, cover the roasting tray with foil and return to the oven.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Carve the lamb and serve alongside the potatoes.

Easter dinner menu ideas – Roast leg of lamb with mint sauce recipe

Ingredients:

1.4kg (3lb) leg of lamb

2 tsp olive oil

6 sprigs rosemary

2 lemons, halved

2 garlic heads, halved

1kg (2lb) potatoes, peeled

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

For the mint and caper sauce

100g (3 1/2oz) capers, drained

30g fresh mint, leaves only

1 lemon, juice and zest

1 shallot, peeled

100 ml extra-virgin olive oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 230 C (440 F). Rub the lamb with salt, pepper and olive oil.

Put the rosemary in a pile in the center of a baking dish, along with lemon and garlic. Top with the lamb. Fill the baking dish with enough water to come up 1cm (1/2 in) from the base of the dish.

Roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 200°C (390F) and continue to roast. Depending on your personal preferences, roast for

13 minutes per 500 g for rare (very pink in the middle);

18 minutes per 500g (1lb) for medium (just pink at the bone);

20-22 minutes per 500g (1lb) for well done, plus an extra 20 minutes.

Cover the lamb with foil after the first 20 minutes so that it does not get too dark.

Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into large chunks and boil them for 5-10 minutes or until partially cooked. Drain and put a lid.

Put the oil and butter into a large roasting pan, add the potatoes and place in the oven with the lamb. Roast the potatoes for 40 minutes, turn and roast for a further 30 minutes or until golden and crisp. Sprinkle with salt.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Put the capers in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Add the mint, lemon zest, lemon juice, and shallots, and pulse until all are roughly chopped. Add olive oil and pulse until combined. Transfer to a small bowl.

When the lamb is cooked, remove from the oven, cover and rest for 15 minutes.

Slice and serve with the roast potatoes and the mint and caper sauce.

Juicy rosemary lamb chops recipe – menu ideas for Easter dinner and lunch

Ingredients:

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

8 (3-ounce/85 g) lamb rib chops, trimmed

2 teaspoons olive oil

Method:

Combine chopped rosemary, salt, pepper, and minced garlic in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly and gently rub over lamb.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan, add the chops and cook 3 minutes on each side. Remove lamb from pan; let stand 5 minutes.

Served with fresh salad or roasted vegetables.

Festive Easter dinner menu – Mediterranean style lamb with feta cheese stuffing

Ingredients:

200g (7oz) feta cheese

4-5 sprigs oregano leaves, roughly chopped

50g (2oz) pitted black olives in oil, drained and chopped

50g (2oz) sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

35g (1¼oz) pine nuts

1.8-2kg (4-4½lb)leg of lamb, boned and butterflied

little olive oil

Method:

Heat the oven to 180 C, (350 F).

Mix feta cheese with the oregano, olives, tomatoes and pine nuts. Season with pepper.

Open out the lamb, skin side down, and stuff the mixture into the cuts and opening.

String up the lamb with butcher’s string.

Place in the roasting tin and roast for 40 minutes per kg (2lb 4oz) plus an extra 20 minutes for just-pink lamb.

Rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Baked lamb shoulder with mint sauce

Ingredients:

For the lamb

5 oz (150 g) butter, softened

7-8 sprigs fresh tarragon, finely chopped

7-8 sprigs fresh mint, finely chopped

7-8 sprigs flat-leaf parsley finely chopped fresh

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4.4 lbs (2 kg) shoulder of lamb, on the bone

7 oz (200 g) carrots, cut into chunks

4.2 oz (120g) onion, cut into chunks

3.5 oz (100g) fennel bulb, cut into chunks

Fresh rosemary

20 fl oz (570) ml lamb stock

8 g sea salt

2 g coarse black pepper

For the mint sauce:

2.6 oz (75g) caster sugar

14 fl oz (425ml) apple juice

5 fl oz (150ml) cider vinegar

1 shallot, finely chopped

fresh mint, chopped

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C (390F).

For the lamb, mix together the butter, tarragon, mint, parsley, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Spread it all over the lamb, season well and lay the lamb on a baking tray. Add the carrot, onion, fennel and rosemary. Cover with a layer of aluminum foil and roast for 1 hour.

Reduce the oven to 160C (320F), remove the foil and roast the lamb for one more hour. Transfer it to a platter to rest.

Pour the stock into the roasting tray and bring to boil. Strain through a fine sieve into a saucepan, then skim off any fat and keep warm.

For the mint jelly, put the sugar, apple juice and vinegar in a saucepan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Set aside to cool.

Add the shallot, mint and salt and pepper to the apple juice mixture, cover and refrigerate.

Serve the lamb with gravy and mint sauce, baked potatoes or other vegetables.

Slow cooked lamb shanks – Easter main dish recipes

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup plain flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

4 lamb shanks

2 brown onions, diced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 carrots, diced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup (250ml) red wine

4 cups (1 liter) beef stock

2 tablespoons sugar

1 bay leaf

Method:

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat.

Mix flour, salt and pepper and coat each lamb shank.

Place two shanks in the pan and turn until brown on all sides. Remove to the bowl of the slow cooker and repeat with remaining oil and shanks.

Reduce the heat to medium and add onions, garlic and carrots to the pan. Sauté for 2 minutes until the onion softens. Add the tomato paste and stir for another minute.

Add red wine, beef stock, sugar and bay leaf to the pan. Bring to the boil and pour over the shanks in the slow cooker. Make sure the shanks are covered.

Cook for 6-8 hours, covered, on low setting. Remove the lamb from the slow cooker and set in a warm place covered in foil.

Turn the cooker to the high setting and cook uncovered for around half an hour or until the sauce thickens slightly.

Serve the shanks with mashed potato and sauce.