Belated Easter Dinner

On monday we had a roast lamb Easter dinner, it was lovely.  I used a Jamie Oliver recipe (link) but couldn't get the cut of meat he used (shoulder bone in) so I had to change it a little. I used a boneless leg, which I know is very different.  The recipe called for 4-5 hours of cooking but I cooked my roast for 2 hours and it was just right.  I coated in in olive oil, salt/pepper, sat it on top of rosemary and garlic and put it in the oven at 450 F but turned the heat down immediately to 350F.  Since it was a leaner cut of meat I used a lot of olive oil and intermittently spooned the pan juices over it.  And that was it, simple and excellent!

 We left the apartment for a walk and I felt like I was leaving a baby unattended, the lovely smell when we got home was worth it though. Oh, roasted garlic, I love you.

Next up was an asparagus and cheddar tart (link):

This was very simple as well. The dough is defrosted puff pastry, which is perhaps the most convenient thing ever.  I tossed the asparagus in olive oil, salt and pepper; shaved some cheddar and made an egg wash to coat the edges.  It baked at 400 for 20 minutes and that was it.  The tart was light and crunchy with that lovely moist, buttery centre that puff pastry has, and the asparagus and aged cheddar were a perfect combination.  The sharpness of the cheddar nicely contrasted with the mild asparagus.  And it was quite satisfyingly pretty to make!

Lastly we had the mashed potatoes and carrots, and the gravy (with capers!) from the Jamie Oliver recipe.
And to top all this off we drank Pimms with a french sparkling lemonade, such a refreshing combination!  We're going to be taking some on a picnic this weekend; I'm going to mix the Pimms with strawberries, apples, cucumber and lemon slices in a bottle and then bring a couple bottles of the lemonade so we can mix them when we get there.  I'm in such a picnic mood just thinking of it!

We cooked to sunny sixties pop, the pastel sounds of bubblegum pop always make me think of Easter eggs!