Do try this at home

Treat your family to a traditional Easter lunch with these recipes from Celebrity Masterchef 2010 winner Lisa Faulkner

Roasted leg of lamb

Serves: 6-8

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 2 hours

• 1 x 2.5kg leg of lamb
• 1 bulb garlic
• Vegetable oil
• Fresh rosemary
• Salt and pepper
• Vegetables and roast potatoes, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. With a sharp knife, cut little slits in the leg of lamb – about 20 or so all over. Peel the garlic, cut each clove into slices about the size of your thumbnail and stick them in the holes in the lamb. Drizzle with the oil and season. Take little branches of the rosemary and stick them in the holes with the garlic, so the whole leg looks like a porcupine.

Gather up the garlic skins and all the rosemary trimmings and drop them into the bottom of a large roasting dish. Position the leg of lamb on top and roast in the oven for about 2-21/2 hours until medium rare, or for longer if you prefer. If your leg of lamb is a different weight, as a rough guide, you should cook it for 30 minutes per 450g.

Serve the lamb on a platter with your selection of vegetables and roast potatoes. Visit Fabulousmag.co.uk to find a recipe for the crunchiest roast potatoes.

588 calories 39g fat

FYI Rosemary is an evergreen herb that has an intense woody, bittersweet flavour, which really complements spring lamb. It also works well in many stews, sauces and dressings.

Aromatic Roast Potatoes

Serves: 6

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

•  4 bay leaves
• 6 peppercorns
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1.5kg Maris Piper potatoes
• 1 garlic bulb, smashed with the back of a knife to release the cloves
• Coarse sea salt
• 100g goose fat

Place the bay leaves, peppercorns and thyme in a square of muslin (or a section of a clean old tea towel) and tie with string to form a bag. Peel and cut the potatoes into large chunks and tip into a pan of cold water, add the garlic cloves and 1tsp of salt and bring to the boil. Parboil for 10-15 minutes, until the outsides of the potatoes have softened. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F/gas mark 6.

Drain, discard the bag, and return the potatoes and garlic to the dry pan. Place over a medium heat and toss the pan to allow the potato edges to rough up, then steam dry for 1-2 minutes. Set aside.

Pour the fat into a large roasting tin and heat in the oven for 5 minutes, until smoking. Remove from the oven and, using a pair of tongs, carefully place the potatoes and garlic into the hot fat, allowing space between each potato. Spoon up fat from the corner of the tin and drizzle over the potatoes, ensuring each has a coating of oil. Cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes, turning half way through, until crisp and golden. Drain on paper towels and keep warm.

336 calories, 17g fat

Simnel cake

The ultimate Easter treat, simnel cake has marzipan baked into the middle and on top. It’s decorated to tell the Easter story – the marzipan balls around the edge signify 11 of Jesus’ disciples, and the one in the middle represents Jesus himself.

Serves: 16

Prep time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 3 hours

Preheat the oven to 140ºC/275ºF/gas mark 1. Line the base and sides of a round 23cm cake tin with greaseproof paper. Put the raisins, glacé cherries, ground almonds and currants in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, nutmeg, mixed spice, ground cinnamon, margarine and sugar, then beat together with a hand-held electric mixer, or by hand with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs, beating in one at a time. Tip in the brandy and mix well. Leave to rest.

To make the marzipan, beat all of the ingredients together in a bowl until they combine to form a smooth dough. Wrap the marzipan in cling film and store in an airtight container until you are ready to assemble your cake.

To assemble the cake, roll out the marzipan on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar to 1cm thick. Cut out two circles the same size as the cake tin. With the leftover marzipan, shape 11 little balls about 3cm in diameter and one bigger ball.

Pour half of the cake mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Top with one of the marzipan discs, then pour over the rest of the mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 3 hours or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin, then turn it out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

Brush the top of the cake with the jam and cover with the other marzipan disc. Dip the balls in the jam and place them around the cake, finishing with the big one in the middle. Heat the grill, then put the cake under to brown the top – keep an eye on it as it will only take about 1 minute. Alternatively, use a cook’s blowtorch.

882 calories 38g fat

Both recipes are from Recipes From My Mother For My Daughter by Lisa Faulkner (£14.99, Simon & Schuster). Fabulous readers can buy it for £12.99 (inc. P&P). Call 01872 562327 and quote FAULKNER. Or visit Efcbook shop.com

Photography: Chris Terry, Alpha Press, Getty Images Visit Lisafaulkner.co.uk, @lisafaulkner1