Easter Sunday lunch is one of the special meals of the year, like Christmas lunch, and one that I always enjoy cooking. I think probably all Christian countries will choose lamb for Easter, although in England it’s not unusual to have a turkey these days, particularly for a large gathering; but I can’t imagine cooking anything other than lamb.

I’m looking for an easy lunch this year, so for a light starter I’m going for eggs mimosa, but I have added some tuna.

It’s really a jazzed-up egg mayonnaise but it does look pretty. The component parts can be made well in advance and can be easily assembled shortly before serving.

A large roast leg of lamb will be the centrepiece of lots of Easter lunches, and very nice it is too, but you really need the skill of a surgeon when carving it, so I’ve been buying boned leg from the freezer shop recently, which is much easier to slice. I mix chopped rosemary or sometimes mint with the rind and juice of a lemon, some garlic, pepper and olive oil, then rub it all over the outside of the leg and inside the cavity where the bone was.

We like our lamb nice and pink, but however you like it, it’s important to cover it and let it rest in the warm for about half an hour after it comes out of the oven.

Sliced boulangère potatoes with onions go well with the lamb and make a change to roasties. They can be cooked at the same time as the lamb, then while it’s resting, you can just give them a blast of heat to brown the top.

For dessert, there’s a lemony Easter bunny cake. I don’t know why I call it a cake because with its syrup-soaked sponge, it’s more like a trifle; but I assembled it in a cake tin so it’s a cake! The sponge layers are sandwiched together with a custard and mascarpone mixture and put in the fridge to firm up for several hours or overnight, then it’s covered with lemon whipped cream and decorated.

Unusually for me, chocolate doesn’t make an appearance in my lunch this year, apart from the bunnies, but no doubt if I drop enough hints, I’m sure there will be an Easter egg or three lurking about somewhere.

Eggs mimosa

(Serves 6)

8 large eggs, hard-boiled and shelled
160g can of tuna in spring water or brine, well drained
4 tbsps mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp snipped fresh chives
Lettuce leaves
Cream
1 tsp mild curry powder
Extra chives to serve

Halve six eggs lengthways, remove the yolks and place them into a bowl and put the whites to one side. Add the tuna and two tablespoons of the mayonnaise to the yolks and mix well, then season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in the chives.

Halve the remaining two eggs, reserve the yolks, then finely chop the whites and add them to the tuna mixture. Put two or three small lettuce leaves on to each of six plates. Using a teaspoon, fill the cavities of the egg whites with the tuna mixture, then put two each on to the lettuce, cut-side down.

Mix the rest of the mayo with the curry powder and enough cream to give a pouring consistency and spoon a little over each of the eggs. Rub the reserved yolks through a sieve on to the eggs, grind over a little pepper and garnish with extra chives.

Lemon and rosemary lamb

(Serves 6)

2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsps chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried
3 tbsp olive oil
Grated rind and 2 tbsp lemon juice
Ground black pepper
1.5 to 1.75kg boned leg of lamb
1 onion, thickly sliced
Flour
250ml beef or lamb stock
4 tbsps port
2 tbsps redcurrant jelly
Salt

Preheat the oven to 225˚C. Put the first four ingredients into a small bowl and season well with black pepper.

Pat dry the lamb with kitchen paper, then tie it with kitchen string so that it keeps its shape during cooking. Scatter the onion into a small roasting tin. Rub the lemon mixture all over the lamb, then put it in the tin and pour over any remaining lemon mixture. Roast for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 170˚C and continue to cook for about an hour and 10 minutes for medium-rare lamb, or 15 minutes longer for more well-done lamb. Transfer the lamb to a carving dish, cover loosely with foil and leave in the warm to rest for at least 20 minutes.

Skin off most of the fat from the roasting tin, then dust in enough flour to absorb the rest.

Put the pan over low heat and cook for a few minutes, scraping up all the onion and brown bits from the bottom of the tin, but discarding any really burnt bits of onion.

Pour in the stock and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the port and redcurrant jelly, together with any juices that have collected on the carving dish, and simmer for a minute or two more.

Season to taste with a pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper and strain the sauce into a gravy boat.

Boulangère potatoes

(Serves 6)

30g butter
2 large onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1.5kg potatoes
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
Salt and ground black pepper
Approx. 400ml vegetable stock
Extra butter for browning

Use some of the butter to generously grease a shallow baking dish and melt the rest in a pan. Fry the onions gently without colouring them until they are soft, then add the garlic and fry for a minute or two more.

Peel the potatoes and slice them to about the thickness of a euro coin. Layer the potatoes and onions into the dish, sprinkling the layers with some of the thyme, a little salt and a few grinds of pepper, starting and finishing with a layer of potatoes.

Heat the stock, then pour it over the potatoes so that it comes just below the top layer of potatoes.

Cover the dish with foil and when the lamb goes into the oven, cook the potatoes on a lower shelf at the same time.

When the lamb is cooked and resting, increase the oven temperature to 220˚C, take off the foil, dot the potatoes with extra butter and continue to cook at the top of the oven until well browned.

Easter bunny cake

250ml milk
2 tbsps cornflour
6 tbsps sugar
2 egg yolks
2 lemons
250 g tub mascarpone
5 tbsps lemon curd
2 tbsps Limoncello liqueur (optional)
3 x 20cm sponge cake layers
200ml cream
Lindt chocolate bunnies, Cadbury’s mini eggs and mint leaves to decorate

Heat the milk until hot but not boiling. Beat together the cornflour, two tablespoons of the sugar, the egg yolks and the grated rind and juice of one lemon.

Pour on the hot milk, whisking all the time, return the mixture to the pan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Simmer for two minutes, then let it cool. When it’s cold, beat in the mascarpone and three tablespoons of the lemon curd.

Put the rest of the sugar, the juice of the remaining lemon and 150ml of water into a pan and bring to the boil. Let it bubble for two minutes, then cool and stir in the Limoncello.

Line a 20cm spring-form or loose-based cake tin with cling film, leaving plenty overhanging the sides. Put one cake layer in the bottom of the tin and drizzle over a third of the lemon syrup, then spread on half the mascarpone custard. Repeat once more, then top with the remaining cake layer and the rest of the syrup. Fold the excess cling over the cake and chill for several hours or better still, overnight.

Fold back the cling film, invert a serving plate on top and, holding plate and tin together, turn the cake out, remove the tin and peel off the cling film. Whisk the cream with the remaining lemon curd until it stands in soft peaks. Swirl the cream all over the cake and decorate with chocolate bunnies, mini eggs and mint leaves. Chill until ready to serve.