Charlotte's downsized Easter lamb roast can be a special treat for two

Charlotte, who reached the semi-final of MasterChef in 2020 says her recipe for Easter Lamb, Potato Terrine and Lamb Jus for two will take between six and eight hours to prepare.

Charlotte, of Shotton, said: "I starting planning for a large Easter roast dinner a few weeks ago, whilst I am not religious its another great excuse to get family and friends round and given we missed Christmas I was hoping for big celebration. Obviously, my expectations and reality didn’t match, and so it’s another meal for just the two of us. As a result, I needed to downsize a roast that is still special and full of flavour."

The potato terrine

She added: "What surprised me most with this dish was the potato terrine, they are hands down the best potatoes I’ve ever eaten. They were that delicious I nearly ate them all cold before heating them back up to plate. This dish is a little time consuming however the majority is all prep work, I like these types of meals as I can get everything ready in advance and then when we are ready to eat the final cooking isn’t too stressful, this also makes it great for a dinner party, when we can have them again!"

Ask your butcher to French trim your rack and score the fat

"Ask your butcher to French trim your lamb rack and score the fat to save you doing it, and when ordering the rack ask your butcher to reserve you some lamb bones. They will often have some left over from other cuts and they will happily give you them for free. I’m constantly taking bones off my butchers’ hands, they help make the best stocks for sauces but in this dish the fat from them is amazing with the potatoes. My final tip for this dish is to invest in a mandolin slicer if you don’t have one already, they can slice vegetables really finely which is what you need for the potato terrine and also saves you time."

Ingredients:

• 1 rack of lamb (around 4-6 bones)
• Sprig thyme
• Sprig rosemary
• 1kg lamb bones
• 1kg Maris piper potatoes
• 200g butter (plus extra for greasing)
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1,200ml chicken stock

The finished dish

Method:

1. Roughly chop the carrot, celery, onion and garlic and add to a large saucepan on a low heat
2. Cook the veg on a low heat for 1.5 to 2 hours stirring regularly, the veg needs to be very soft but have no moisture left in it
3. Pre heat the oven to 210 degrees, after the veg has been cooking for around an hour put the lamb bones in roasting tin and cook for 45minutes until they are golden
4. Remove the bones from the oven and carefully put them into the saucepan with the vegetables leaving the fat behind in the tin
5. Carefully tip the lamb fat from the bones into a heat proof bowl and reserve this for the potatoes
6. Put the roasting tin over a medium heat on the hob and add 100ml of water. Using a wooden spoon deglaze the roasting tin by scrapping up all the caramelised fat from the bottom of the pan. This where most of the flavour is and makes washing up easier.
7. Once the tin is deglazed tip the watery juices into the saucepan with the vegetables and bones
8. Add the chicken stock to the pan and bring it to a boil over a high heat. Once it has boiled reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for 2 hours. Periodically check the stock and skim off any impurities that rise to the top
9. Reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees
10. Grease a terrine mould or a loaf tin with butter and then line it with greaseproof paper
11. Peel the potatoes and slice them as thinly as possible
12. Melt the butter in microwave for 30-40 seconds
13. To make the terrine place a layer of potatoes at the bottom of the lined tin, brush the potatoes with a small amount of the melted lamb fat and butter then season lightly with salt
14. Repeat this process until all the slices of potatoes have been laid
15. Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 1hour 30minutes
16. Once the potatoes are cooked remove the tin from the oven and allow to cool
17. Cover the top of the potatoes with a layer of clingfilm then put a heavy weight that fits inside the tin on top of the potatoes to press them down (I use a brick covered in foil). Then place in the fridge to set
18. Once the lamb bone stock has reduced down, place a sieve (preferably lined with a piece of muslin) over a clean saucepan and pass the stock through into the clean pan and discard the strained bones and vegetables
19. Reduce the jus down by heating it over a medium heat until it reaches the right thickness. If you feel it isn’t thick enough melt a little butter and flour together and whisk this in. Put the jus to one side until you are ready to serve
20. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
21. When you are ready to eat, remove the potatoes from the fridge. Take the potatoes out of the tin and remove the greaseproof paper. Cut the potatoes into portions you want to serve and place them on a baking tray
22. Place the lamb rack into a cold oven proof frying pan, fat side down and place over a medium heat
23. Cook for around 10 minutes until the fat has rendered down and gone crispy
24. Put the frying pan into the oven, with the rack still being fat side down and cook for 8 minutes (also put the potatoes in at this point to heat through)
25. Carefully remove the frying pan and turn the lamb over and put back in the oven to cook for another 3 minutes
26. Meanwhile put the lamb jus over a medium heat to warm though
27. Remove the frying pan from the oven and put in a knob of butter in the pan along with the two herb sprigs
28. Continually baste the lamb in the melted butter for 2-3minutes
29. Ensure the lamb rests for 12 minutes before carving into cutlets
30. Serve with some vegetables such as peas and carrots with some mint sauce