NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / Eat Well / Recipes

Dish: 3 Easter lamb meals for the long weekend

Slow-braised shoulder of lamb with oregano and lemon salsa. Photo / Josh Griggs


Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

While a roast leg of lamb is a lovely Easter tradition, this tender juicy meat lends itself to a host of delicious choices. Here are three to choose from for some lovely times at the table on the long weekend.

Lamb, oregano and fennel seed meatballs

Serves 4-6

These light and tasty meatballs are fragrant with oregano and fennel seeds, bathed in a rich tomato sauce and topped with molten mozzarella. Autumn fare done and dusted.

Ingredients

Meatballs
1 cup panko breadcrumbs 3 tablespoons milk or water
1 large egg
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp each sea salt and fennel seeds
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 lemon, finely grated zest only
600 grams lamb sausages, skins removed
Tomato sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Sea salt
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 x 400-gram tins crushed Italian tomatoes
To cook and serve
Oil
1 ball fresh mozzarella in whey, drained
Parmesan, for grating
Oregano leaves, to serve

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake.

2. For the sauce: Heat the oil in a large ovenproof sauté pan and cook the onion and garlic with a good pinch of salt until soft. Stir in the tomato paste and brown sugar and cook for 1 minute. Add the vinegar and tomatoes and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Set aside.

3. For the meatballs: Stir the breadcrumbs with all the remaining ingredients, except the sausage meat, in a large bowl and leave for 10 minutes. Add the sausage meat and mix until fully combined. Hands are good for this. Form into large meatballs.

4. To cook: Heat a little oil in a sauté pan and brown the meatballs all over. Nestle the meatballs into the tomato sauce. Cover with a piece of baking paper then foil to seal tightly. Bake for 25 minutes. Uncover then dot over the mozzarella and grate over a generous amount of parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Scatter with oregano leaves before serving.

- Recipe by Claire Aldous

Lamb, oregano and fennel seed meatballs. Photo / Josh Griggs
Lamb, oregano and fennel seed meatballs. Photo / Josh Griggs

Slow-braised shoulder of lamb with oregano and lemon salsa

Serves 6-8

Full-flavoured, rustic and very delicious, slow-cooking renders this meat so tender and juicy that it can be just pulled apart. The zesty oregano and lemon salsa adds a final flourish.

Ingredients

1.5-2kg bone-in lamb shoulder
1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
2 big sprigs rosemary
2 brown onions, thickly sliced
1 cup chicken stock
Sea salt and ground pepper
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Oregano and lemon salsa
⅓ cup packed parsley leaves
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 lemon, finely grated zest only
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Sea salt and ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan bake. Make 6 deep slits in the lamb and press a clove of garlic into each one. Put the remaining garlic, rosemary, onions and the stock in the base of a roasting dish and season.

2. Stir the brown sugar and vinegar together, rub all over the lamb and season with salt and pepper. Place fat side up in the dish and roast for 30 minutes.

3. Take out of the oven, cover with a piece of baking paper then seal the dish tightly with foil.

4. Reduce the heat to 150°C regular bake.

5. Cook for about 3½ hours, or until the lamb is very tender when pierced with a skewer. Remove the paper and foil and roast for a further 30 minutes. Let the meat rest for 20 minutes before serving.

6: For the oregano and lemon salsa: Stir all the ingredients together and season generously with salt and pepper.

7. To serve : Pull the meat off the bones, discarding any excess fat. Spoon over some the cooking juices and cloves of garlic from the dish, and a good dollop of salsa. Serve with side of your choice (we chose polenta).

Cook's note: The lamb can be cooked 2-3 days ahead. Cool then cover and chill. Lift off and discard the layer of fat that will have set over the jellied cooking juices. Re-cover the baking dish and place back in a 180°C oven for about 1-1½ hours, or until fully heated through to the bone.

- Recipe by Claire Aldous and Sarah Tuck

Slow-braised shoulder of lamb with oregano and lemon salsa. Photo / Josh Griggs
Slow-braised shoulder of lamb with oregano and lemon salsa. Photo / Josh Griggs

Leftover lamb ragu

Serves 4

If you manage to have any roast lamb leftover, this makes a great day-after dinner.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil
80g pancetta or bacon, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
Sea salt and ground pepper
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp tomato paste
100g crushed and sieved tomatoes
2 tsp caster sugar
¼ cup cream
½ cup white wine
3-3½ cups leftover (ideally slow-roasted) lamb
½ cup black olives, halved and pitted
To serve
Hot cooked pappardelle or tagliatelle
125-gram ball buffalo mozzarella, well drained and torn
2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the pancetta or bacon and cook for 3 minutes. Add the onion, chilli flakes and rosemary, season with salt and pepper and cook for 8-10 minutes until just soft.

2. Add the garlic, cook for 1 minute then add the tomato paste, tomatoes, sugar, cream and wine and stir to combine.

3. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, then add the lamb and olives, reserving a few olives for garnish. Cook for a further 5 minutes until the lamb is heated through or, if you have super tender slow-cooked lamb shoulder like I did, reheat it wrapped in foil in the oven at 160°C for 20 minutes then shred it into the sauce and stir through.

4. To serve: Serve the lamb ragù over hot pappardelle or tagliatelle and top with buffalo mozzarella and parsley.

- Recipe by Sarah Tuck

Leftover lamb ragu. Photo / Sarah Tuck
Leftover lamb ragu. Photo / Sarah Tuck

Find more great recipes at dish.co.nz

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest Recipes

Slow-cooking secrets: How to master flavourful meals with ease
Food News

Slow-cooking secrets: How to master flavourful meals with ease

Soba to spaghetti: Why chilled noodles are the perfect summer meal
Food News

Soba to spaghetti: Why chilled noodles are the perfect summer meal

Cold brew, hot summer: How to make the perfect iced coffee at home
Food News

Cold brew, hot summer: How to make the perfect iced coffee at home

Camping meals for a Kiwi summer
Food News

Camping meals for a Kiwi summer

The best produce to eat in January and February
Food News

The best produce to eat in January and February

Take it outside: How to eat alfresco without any fuss
Food News

Take it outside: How to eat alfresco without any fuss

Latest Food News

Why your shopping habits reveal more than you think
Food News

Why your shopping habits reveal more than you think

Premium
Why your child is a picky eater - and what parents can do about it
Food News

Why your child is a picky eater - and what parents can do about it

Slow-cooking secrets: How to master flavourful meals with ease
Food News

Slow-cooking secrets: How to master flavourful meals with ease

Is kimchi ice cream the cool new food trend?
Food News

Is kimchi ice cream the cool new food trend?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Recipes

Slow-cooking secrets: How to master flavourful meals with ease
Food News

Slow-cooking secrets: How to master flavourful meals with ease

Master the art of slow cooking with essential methods, tips and flavour secrets

16 May 12:00 AM
Soba to spaghetti: Why chilled noodles are the perfect summer meal
Food News

Soba to spaghetti: Why chilled noodles are the perfect summer meal

19 Jan 10:44 PM
Cold brew, hot summer: How to make the perfect iced coffee at home
Food News

Cold brew, hot summer: How to make the perfect iced coffee at home

17 Jan 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP