It’s Easter Sunday in a few days, and while I toyed with the idea of serving a rabbit stew with my tongue planted firmly in cheek, I decided to go traditional and roast a rib of lamb.

A lamb rib is where those delicious chops usually come from. They certainly don’t come cheap, but for a day of celebration and thanksgiving like Easter, it’s worth it. Especially if you’ve given up meat for Lent.

My favorite recipe comes from the always adorable Jamie Oliver. Because we try to be low-carb around here, we usually omit the crushed potatoes- but they are delicious, so I’m reprinting the original recipe here:

Roast Rack of Lamb with Crushed Potatoes

Ingredients
10 Anya potatoes
1 handful of cherry tomatoes
6-bone rack of lamb
olive oil
1 handful of Kalamata olives, stoned
1 small handful of garlic cloves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few sprigs of rosemary
2 lugs of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5.

Boil the potatoes until tender and squeeze the pips from the tomatoes.

Stick a large frying pan on a high heat, add a lug of olive oil and sear the lamb until golden. Remove and put to one side while you crush the drained potatoes in the frying pan – use the bottom of a jar or a masher – then fry for a couple of minutes over a low to medium heat.

Stir the tomatoes and olives into the potatoes with some seasoning and rosemary sprigs, drizzle with a little olive oil and place in a roasting tin. Place the lamb on top of the potatoes and cook according to pack instructions. Depending on the size of the racks, the lamb will take somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes to cook, but will still be pink in the middle (add 5 to 10 minutes if you like your meat well done)

When the lamb is cooked to your liking, slice it into chops and serve with the crispy potatoes and a little salsa verde or an extra drizzle of olive oil.