How to make your own Easter Sunday roast with all the trimmings

Easter is important for many reasons, be that for religious purposes, spending time with family or giving gifts (in an egg form of course). But one thing everyone can agree on is that the Easter Sunday roast is undoubtedly the highlight of the whole day. Express.co.uk spoke to some of the best chefs in the business about their tips and tricks when it comes to making a perfect Easter Sunday roast.

Lamb is usually the meat of choice for Easter, so we’ve included a number of different options so there’s something to suit everyone’s tastes, sides, condiments and gravy included.

Roasted lamb leg

Rebecca Cooks of Coombe Farm Organic, who only supply 100 percent grass-fed, high-quality meat, revealed how she cooks the perfect leg of lamb on the bone.

2.5kg Coombe Farm Organic leg of lamb (on the bone)
4 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped finely
1 bulb of garlic
Zest of 1 lemon
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

READ MORE: What is the story of Easter and why do Christians celebrate it?

Thick meaty gravy

Gordon Ker, founder of the Blacklock restaurant chain revealed how he makes the famed gravy used with their delicious Sunday roasts.

Gordon said: “Truth be told, we’re never not cooking gravy in the restaurants, it take us a good week and plenty of love to prepare each batch.”

According to the chef, timing is key to a great gravy, saying “approach is the thicker the better.

“Take your time, it’s important to reduce the gravy slowly to yield the best results.”

Always start with beef jus and add meat trimmings for added decadence and top it up by an unsparing glug of Madeira for added vigour.

For added Blacklock nostalgia, Gordon suggests you save any juices yielded from roasting your meat in the pan and oven and pour them in your gravy.

If you’re really short on time use sweet shallots, onion and a healthy amount of butter in with a good glass of red wine and reduce by half.

Add in any meat juices you have, or a Bisto stock cube if without and continue to reduce.

Thicken with flour and add a couple of knobs of butter at the end.

Premium online butchery, Farmison & Co. also revealed to us their methods for whipping up mint sauce and boulangere potatoes.

How to make mint sauce

– 1 x large bunch garden mint
– 20 g white sugar
– A pinch of sea salt
– 60ml fresh boiling water
– 60ml cider vinegar
– 1 x shallot or a little red onion finely diced (optional)

Method

Pick the mint leaves from the stalks & chop
Cover the chopped mint with the salt & sugar
Pour the boiling water over the mint, salt & sugar
Leave to cool a little
Add the vinegar then stir through the shallot

How to make boulangere potatoes

– 1.5 kg King Edward or Desirée potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
– 2 large white onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced (gently fried in 20g butter until soft)
– A few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked and finely sliced
– Sea salt
– Freshly ground black pepper
– 400ml hot chicken stock (essential cuisine)
– 80g unsalted butter

Method

Slice the potatoes and onions very thinly. This will help create really delicate layers
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (gas mark 4) assisted or 200°C without a fan
Get an ovenproof dish around 30cm x 20cm and minimum 5cm deep.
Arrange a layer of sliced potatoes over the base, then a layer of cooked onions, followed by a scattering of thyme and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Continue in this way, alternating the layers of potatoes and onions, finishing with a layer of potatoes that slightly overlap each other.
Pour the stock over the potatoes.
Season the top layer with a little salt and pepper, then scatter over the remaining butter.
Place the dish on the highest shelf of the oven and cook for around an hour, until the top is crisp and golden and the potatoes cooked all the way through.
Press the potatoes back into the stock with a fish slice forming a potato cake three or four times whilst cooking.

source: express.co.uk