A roast leg of lamb is an ideal St Patrick’s Day dinner, but you don’t just have to keep it for special days. It is one of those meals that is always good and, with quality assured lamb now available all year, you can enjoy it again and again. It is a perfect Sunday lunch and very easy to prepare.

If you haven’t cooked boulangère potatoes before, they are well worth trying. You will go back to them again and again, and having been cooked in stock, herbs and the lamb juices, they taste fabulous. I like this roast with the wilted spinach – it is full of iron.

This is the time of year you should be thinking of a herb garden. You will get great use from it during the year, saving you money. Donegal rapeseed have a good range of flavoured oils. The garlic one goes very well with roast meats. The chili or lemon are also worth trying.

If you’re looking for another way to use lamb, why not try out a traditional Irish stew with colcannon. You will get some neck and shoulder cuts from your butcher.

Happy cooking.

Roast leg of spring lamb with boulangère potatoes

Serves six

1 tbsp Donegal rapeseed oil

Knob of butter

3 onions, thinly sliced

1.5kg (3lb) potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

4 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves stripped

400ml (14fl oz) chicken stock

1.75kg (4lb) leg of lamb

3 garlic cloves, sliced

2 fresh rosemary sprigs

Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Wilted spinach, to serve

  • Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/gas mark 6).

  • To make the boulangère potatoes, heat the oil in a frying pan with the butter and sauté the onions for three to four minutes over a medium heat, until softened but not coloured. Season to taste. Layer the potatoes, onions and thyme leaves in a large roasting tin, large enough to fit the leg of lamb. Season each layer as you go and finish with an attractive overlapping layer of the potatoes. Pour over the stock and set to one side.

  • Using a sharp knife, make small incisions all over the lamb and press a garlic slice and a tiny sprig of the rosemary into each one. Weigh the joint and allow 20 minutes per 450g (1lb) plus 20 minutes. Add a further 20 minutes for well-done.

  • Then place the lamb carefully on top of the potatoes in the roasting tin. Roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4) and roast for 1 hour 20 minutes for a leg of lamb this size (1.75kg (4lb)).

  • Transfer the leg of lamb to a carving platter and cover loosely with foil, then leave to rest for 15 minutes, keeping the boulangère potatoes warm.

  • To serve, carve the lamb into slices and arrange on warmed serving plates with the boulangère potatoes and wilted spinach.

    • Wilted spinach

    Serves six

    100g (4oz) butter

    550g (1lb 4oz) spinach, tough stalks removed

    Pinch of caster sugar

    Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

    Heat a pan over a medium heat and add the butter. Once it has stopped foaming, quickly sauté the spinach with the sugar until soft and wilted. Season to taste and drain well on kitchen paper to remove the excess moisture. Return to the pan and keep warm. Use as required.

    Irish stew

    Serves six

    900g (2lb) boneless lamb neck, trimmed and cut into cubes

    1 litre (1 ¾ pints) chicken stock

    50g (2oz) pearl barley, washed

    225g (8oz) potatoes, cut into chunks

    225g (8oz) carrots, thickly sliced

    225g (8oz) leeks, well trimmed and thickly sliced

    225g (8oz) baby pearl onions or small shallots, peeled

    2 fresh thyme sprigs

    Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

    Chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

    Colcannon, to serve

  • Place the lamb in a large, heavy-based pan and pour over the stock. Bring to the boil, then skim off any scum from the surface and stir in the barley. Reduce the heat and simmer for 50 minutes, until slightly reduced and the lamb is almost tender.

  • Add the potatoes to the lamb with the carrots, leeks, baby pearl onions and thyme and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the lamb and vegetables are completely tender but still holding their shape. Season to taste.

  • To serve, transfer the stew into a warmed casserole dish and scatter over the parsley. Have a dish of colcannon alongside and allow everyone to help themselves.