My other half and I love to host. He’s all about firing up the BBQ – sorry, I mean smoker (he’d definitely roll his eyes at me if I didn’t get that right), and I’m all about setting the scene with a pretty tablescape and, naturally, creating more side dishes than anyone could ever actually need.
Since we only got our dining table at the end of last year, we decided it was finally time to host our first Easter lunch. Now, we’re no strangers to a roast, we’ve made plenty over the years, but we wanted to switch things up a bit. The Easter weekend brought some surprisingly lovely weather, so we took things outdoors(ish) with a slow-cooked, smoked leg of lamb, paired with a line-up of homemade sides: crispy roasted new potatoes, sausage rolls, and coleslaw, just to name a few!
The Main Event: The Lamb
My other half took the reins on this one. He started with a leg of lamb, drizzled it in olive oil, then coated it in a garlicky butter spice rub. He scored the skin, tucked in a few sprigs of rosemary, and once the smoker was up to temp, he sealed it on the grill tray to get that smoky goodness going.


My Cheat’s Pastries
While the lamb was getting all juicy and delicious, I got cracking on the pastries. First up: sausage rolls. I used ready-rolled puff pastry and sausage meat, then added a layer of caramelised onion chutney to half before rolling them up. Fork-sealed the edges, gave them an egg wash, and popped them in the oven for about 20–25 minutes. So quick, easy and delicious!
Next, I made some cheese and garlic butter wheels. Taking the same puff pastry, but this time with homemade garlic butter and a generous sprinkling of cheddar and parmesan, I then rolled it into a log, sliced it up, egg-washed it, and put it into the oven.
The Sides
No feast is complete without sides – plural. I made a sun-dried tomato and burrata salad, roasted smashed new potatoes, homemade coleslaw, and a simple green salad, and served it all with warm ciabatta rolls for those lamb sandwiches of dreams.
Once the lamb was almost done, we added some stock and onions to a roasting pan and placed the lamb on top to soak in all that flavour. When it reached the perfect internal temperature (we went for 90°C for that ideal pull-apart texture), we shredded it right into the pan juices.
And for Dessert…
If anyone somehow had room left, I’d also whipped up a mini egg chocolate loaf cake. Full disclosure, this one was a packet mix with pre-made icing. Even though I used to run a café and cake business, I weirdly don’t own a stand mixer or a round cake tin!

