Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes for spiced Easter lamb with marmalade glaze, and fennel and pepper gratin

Easter is perhaps the only traditional meal for which I’m happy to let one dish dominate. Normally, I’m all about the spread: a table full of food where all sorts – meat and veg, salad and fish – sit side by side as equals. There is something about a shoulder of lamb, though, packed full of flavour and cooked slowly until it’s more or less falling apart, that’s so symbolically tied up with both the season and the occasion that it turns me into a meat-and-two-veg sort of cook. Well, maybe a few more than two, but still, there’s a lot of space on the table reserved for the centrepiece.

Marmalade-glazed lamb shoulder with mixed spice and cumin (pictured top)

There’s minimum effort and maximum flavour in this traybake main. If you have the time, leave the lamb to marinate overnight, because the flavours will only improve.

Prep 15 min
Cook 4 hr 45 min
Serves 6

For the glaze
100ml bitter marmalade
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp aleppo chilli flakes
1 tsp mixed spice

For the lamb
1 bone-in lamb shoulder (about 2¼kg)
2 tbsp mixed spice
2 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp sugar
1 tsp olive oil
Fine sea salt and black pepper
3 celery sticks, trimmed and roughly chopped (190g net)
6 tangerines, peeled and cut in half widthways
2 garlic heads, cut in half widthways
4 banana shallots, peeled and cut in half lengthways
10 anchovy fillets
7g thyme sprigs
750ml chicken stock

Mix all the ingredients for the glaze in a bowl and set aside.

Put the lamb in a large, high-sided roasting dish lined with greaseproof paper. In a small bowl, combine the mixed spice, cumin, sugar, oil, one and a half teaspoons of salt and a quarter-teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, then rub this evenly all over the lamb. Leave to marinate at room temperature for an hour, or ideally put it in the fridge overnight (if it’s been in the fridge, take it out an hour before you want to cook, so it comes back to room temperature).

Heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/475F/gas 9. Put all the remaining ingredients for the lamb in the tray around the meat, then cover tightly with foil and roast for 15 minutes. Turn down the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4 and leave the lamb to cook for four hours, until the meat is tender and falling apart easily.

Take the roasting dish out of the oven, lift off the foil, then brush three-quarters of the glaze all over the lamb. Return the dish to the oven and roast uncovered for another 30 minutes, until the meat develops a nice crust. Take out of the oven again, brush all over with the remaining glaze, then cover lightly with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Classic retested: fennel and red pepper bake

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This is lovely with grilled mackerel or sardines and a crisp, green salad.

Prep 20 min
Cook 1 hr 30 min
Serves 6

2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut lengthways into 2cm-wide wedges
60ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper
2 red peppers, stalk, pith and seeds removed, flesh cut into 1cm-wide strips
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
350ml white wine
5 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 long strips orange peel
60g pitted kalamata olives, quartered
10g oregano leaves, roughly chopped

For the topping
100g fresh crustless white bread, blitzed to a fine crumb
30g parmesan, finely grated
60g mature cheddar, coarsely grated
1½ tsp fennel seeds, roughly crushed
10g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
2 tbsp olive oil

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Put the fennel in a large bowl, add two tablespoons of oil, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, then toss to coat. Spread out on an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper, roast for 30 minutes, until cooked through and golden brown, then remove and leave to cool.

Once the fennel is in the oven, mix the red peppers with a tablespoon of oil, an eighth of a teaspoon of salt and plenty of ground black pepper, then spread out on a second oven tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bake alongside the fennel for 25 minutes, until cooked through and browned, then remove and leave to cool.

Turn down the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. Put the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high heat, then fry the onion and garlic, stirring often, for 10 minutes, until soft and caramelised. Pour in the wine and let it bubble away and reduce for 10 minutes, until there is only about 100ml of liquid left in the pan. Add the tomatoes, orange peel and a quarter-teaspoon of salt, and cook for 10 minutes, until the tomatoes have disintegrated and the sauce is thick. Stir in the roast fennel and peppers, the olives, oregano and 120ml water, then tip the lot into a 20cm x 25cm gratin dish.

Mix all the ingredients for the topping in a large bowl, then scatter roughly over the top of the gratin. Bake for 30 minutes, until the crumbs are golden brown and crunchy, and serve hot.