Easter Sunday Lunch

Baked Lamb with Red Wine and Vegetables by Doris Suzuki

Easter in Germany - 
Germans enjoy a very long Easter weekend: Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays; shops, banks, and offices are closed

Good Friday:
The Easter weekend in Germany begins with a quiet Good Friday (Karfreitag). Many families eat fish as their traditional Good Friday lunch.

Easter Saturday:
Easter Saturday is a great day to visit an open-air Easter market, where you can browse for artistically handcrafted Easter eggs, carved Easter decoration, and local arts and crafts.
Stop by a German bakery for a special Easter treat: a sweet bread in the shape of a lamb.

On Saturday evening, regions in the north of Germany will light Easter bonfires, chasing away the dark spirits of winter and welcoming the warm season.

Easter Sunday:
Easter Sunday is the highlight of the holiday weekend. In the early morning, parents hide baskets filled with colored, hardboiled eggs, chocolate bunnies, sweets, and little presents for the kids. Many families attend an Easter sunday service, followed by a traditional Easter lunch, lamb, potatoes, and fresh vegetables.

This is my Easter Sunday lunch

Serves 4

You need:

1 kg loin of lamb, boned, rolled and well trimmed

4 tbsp redcurrant jelly

180 ml red wine

150 ml lamb stock/from a cube

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

250 g courgettes, sliced

250 g green beans, tailed and topped

1 broccoli, broken into florets

salt and pepper/ to taste

1 onion, cut into 4 pieces

2 pieces garlic/ one cut into half, one crushed

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

3 tbsp toasted pine nuts to garnish

1 tbsp each/ butter and oil

1

Prepare lamb/ wipe the lamb with a bit of oil and the garlic half all over, taste with salt and pepper,

roll it up tightly and secure with string.

Heat the butter and oil in a ovenproof casserole dish and brown the lamb all over for 10 min.

Add the garlic and brown for 2 more min.

2

Pre-heat oven to 180 C

3

In a small saucepan, combine the red wine, lamb stock, redcurrant jelly and the rosemary over

moderate heat and bring to a boil.

Taste with a bit of salt and pepper.

4

Pour half of the sauce mixture over the lamb and place the onion half on each side.

Place the closed casserole in to the oven and cook for 75 min.

After 40 min. check and turn the meat.If to dry give a bit water/stock /red wine,to the dish.

5

Remove lamb and let it rest before you slice it.

( 10 min resting time)

Meanwhile , bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the 

courgettes, green beans and the broccoli and cook for 2-3 min.

Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon and refresh under cold water.

Place on a warm serving plate/ keep it warm

 6

Remove the cooking juice/with the onion and blend it in a blender with the remaining half of the red wine

sauce.

Pour it back to the saucepan and bring it to a boil and simmer until it thickens.

(Taste with salt and pepper if necessary )

7

Cut the meat and arrange with the vegetables. Pour the sauce over, sprinkle with parsley and the

pine nuts.

Serve with new baby potatoes at once