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When it comes to special occasions, cultures across the globe can agree on one thing – we all enjoy celebrating with showstopping, spicy lamb dishes

The crust on this leg of lamb will become your new favourite craving. It can easily be adapted to use any combination of herbs and spices and can be placed on top of chicken, fish, beef or even a whole-roasted cauliflower to add crunch.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 2 hours

Serves: 6

For the crust

12 SpinneysFOOD Bay Leaves

3 tsp SpinneysFOOD Whole Black Peppercorns

3 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt

1 lemon

1kg deboned leg of lamb

50g SpinneysFOOD Fresh Parsley

120g SpinneysFOOD Salted Butter

160g fresh bread

For the stuffing

2 red onions

2 garlic cloves

100g SpinneysFOOD Salted Butter

250g SpinneysFOOD Hot Cross Buns

80ml chicken or lamb stock

1 carrot

2 celery sticks

490ml SpinneysFOOD Bottled Drinking Water

1 Place the bay leaves, peppercorns and salt in a pestle and mortar and grind well. Zest the lemon. 2 Butterfly the lamb leg and season it on all sides with 1 tablespoon of the spice mix.

3 Place the remaining spice mix in a food processor along with the zest, parsley, butter and fresh bread to form a paste. 4 Lay a sheet of cling film on a flat surface. Transfer the crust mixture onto it and top with another sheet of cling film. Roll out thinly with a rolling pin. Set aside. 5 Preheat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6. 6 To make the stuffing, finely chop 1 onion and the garlic. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft, approx. 5 minutes. Roughly tear the hot cross buns and toast in a dry pan until golden. Add to the first pan along with the stock. Allow to cool completely. 7 Place the stuffing in the middle of the deboned lamb leg and roll it up tightly. Tie the leg with kitchen string to secure it. 8 Roughly chop the remaining onion, carrot and celery sticks and scatter into a roasting tray. Place the lamb on top. 9 Roast the lamb for approx. 1 hour and 30 minutes, pouring 4 tablespoons of water over the lamb every 15 minutes. In the last 15 minutes, remove the lamb from the oven. Carefully remove one sheet of cling film from the thinly rolled-out crust mixture. Flip the crust onto the lamb so it covers the meat and gently press it onto the surface of the meat while removing the remaining piece of cling film. Pour 250ml of water into the roasting tin. Return the lamb to the oven for the remaining 15 minutes of cooking or until the crust is crispy. 10 Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

These manti are a labour of love, but then again, if they weren’t they wouldn’t be worthy of a special occasion. Baking and then boiling the manti gives them a unique, chewy texture but you can also simply bake them, or boil them.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

For the pastry

280g SpinneysFOOD All-Purpose Flour

½ tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt

30g SpinneysFOOD Salted Butter

130ml SpinneysFOOD Bottled Drinking Water

1 large egg yolk

For the filling

1 brown onion

Handful of SpinneysFOOD Fresh Parsley

1 tsp paprika

½ tsp ground allspice

½ tsp Aleppo pepper

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt

½ tsp SpinneysFOOD Black Pepper, freshly ground

160g SpinneysFOOD Free-Range Lamb Mince

2 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For the yoghurt-garlic sauce

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt

400g Greek yoghurt

2 tsp Aleppo pepper

2 tsp ground sumac

For the mint butter

300g SpinneysFOOD Salted Butter

Handful of SpinneysFOOD Fresh Mint

2 tsp sumac

To serve

½ tsp sumac

1 tbsp pine nuts

1 To make the pastry, place the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse twice to combine. Add the butter and process until fully incorporated, approx. 10-20 seconds. Add the water and egg yolk and process until a dough ball starts to form. Transfer to a lightly floured counter. Return the bowl of the food processor to its base, but don’t clean it. 2 Knead the dough until uniform in texture then wrap and allow to rest while you prepare the filling.

3 Peel and chop the onion into quarters. Place the onion, parsley, paprika, allspice, Aleppo pepper, salt and pepper in the bowl of the processor. Blitz until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Break up the lamb mince into small pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse to combine but don’t overmix. Set aside. 4 Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease two large baking sheets. 5 Divide the dough into quarters and roll out very thinly. Cut the quarters into 30cm x 10cm rectangles then cut into 5cm strips. Cut each strip in half to form two squares. You should have 28 squares in total. 6 Using a ¼ teaspoon measure, place a small ball of filling in the centre of each strip of dough. Fold the strip lengthways in half loosely over the filling. Pinch the sides together to enclose the filling but not cover it. Place the manti on the baking sheet then press the filling down gently to flatten them slightly. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough. 7 Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool. 8 Place the manti in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, stirring as you add them to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan, and cook to warm through, then drain well.

9 To make the yoghurt-garlic sauce, combine all the ingredients. 10 Heat the butter in a saucepan over a medium-high heat until lightly golden. Add the mint leaves and sumac and cook until fragrant, approx. 1 minute, then remove from heat. 11 Spread the sauce over the base of serving bowls, then spoon the manti on top. Drizzle with the hot mint butter, sprinkle over the sumac and pine nuts. Season to taste and serve hot.

While the ingredient list for this recipe is long, it is worth it. This is a rich, multi-layered curry loaded with flavour. It would be all the better with tinned chickpeas added to the curry to soak up the delicious gravy. Serve alongside a large bowl of rice or fresh rotis.

Prep time: 20 minutes (plus marination time)

Cook time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Serves: 4

1kg lamb neck

2 brown onions

4 garlic cloves

10cm piece fresh ginger

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Turmeric

1 tbsp white vinegar

4 tbsp ghee

2 SpinneysFOOD Bay Leaves

2 dried red chillies

1 black cardamom pod

4 SpinneysFOOD Cardamom Pods

4 cloves

1 SpinneysFOOD Cinnamon Stick

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Grain White Sugar

150ml yoghurt

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Cumin

2 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Coriander

2 tsp SpinneysFOOD Chilli Powder

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Garam Masala

4 large potatoes

500ml SpinneysFOOD Bottled Drinking Water

To serve Steamed rice

1 Place the lamb in a large bowl. 2 Peel the onions, garlic and ginger. Place 1 onion along with the garlic and ginger in a blender and blitz until finely chopped. Add half of this mixture to the lamb along with ½ teaspoon of turmeric and vinegar and mix well. Allow to marinate for 3-4 hours. 3 Finely chop the remaining onion.

4 Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee in a saucepan. Add the bay leaves, chillies, black and green cardamom pods, cloves and cinnamon. Toast for 2-3 minutes then add the onion and sauté over a medium heat until soft. Add the sugar and allow the onions to caramelise. Add the rest of the ginger-garlic paste and cook until the oil separates. 5 Add the marinated lamb and mix well to coat. Sauté for 5 minutes then add the yoghurt and salt. Add the cumin, coriander, chilli and garam masala and stir continuously until the oil separates. 6 Peel and quarter the potatoes and rub with the remaining ½ teaspoon of turmeric. 7 In a separate pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of ghee and fry the potatoes until golden and crisp. Add to the curry along with the water and allow to simmer gently until the meat is tender. 8 Serve hot with fresh rice.

The saffron-honey glaze forms a sticky lacquered crust on the lamb if basted often. If you’d like to serve extra glaze on the side, double the glaze recipe.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

1 generous pinch of saffron

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

175g SpinneysFOOD Organic Natural honey

1 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 x 850g lamb racks, trimmed

2 tbsp ras el hanout spice mix

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6.

2 Gently grind the saffron in a pestle and mortar and add to a small saucepan with the vinegar and honey. Bring to a simmer over a low heat then remove from the heat and allow to infuse.

3 Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat. 4 Sprinkle the lamb racks with the ras el hanout and rub all over. Place them in the frying pan and cook for 4 minutes or until browned. Transfer to an oven tray. Drizzle with half the glaze. 5 Roast the lamb for 12-15 minutes for medium, drizzling with the rest of the remaining glaze halfway through. 6 Allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving.

If you’ve made any Persian recipe before, you’ll know that the amount of herbs in this dish is not unusual. Don’t be tempted to put them in a food processor to make easy work of the chopping as it will turn them into a sauce. Serve these lamb shanks with the sabzi polo on page 61.

Prep time: 20 minutes (plus overnight soaking time)

Cook time: 3 hours 20 minutes

Serves: 4

2kg (4) lamb shanks

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Turmeric

2 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt

½ tsp SpinneysFOOD Black Pepper, freshly ground

6 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 large brown onion

80g SpinneysFOOD Red Kidney Beans, soaked overnight

1L SpinneysFOOD Bottled Drinking Water

3 large bunches of SpinneysFOOD Fresh Parsley

3 large bunches of SpinneysFOOD Fresh Coriander

1 bunch of SpinneysFOOD Spring Onions

1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves

4 dried Persian limes

1 fresh lime

¼ tsp crumbled saffron threads

1 Season the lamb shanks with the turmeric, salt and pepper then set aside. 2 Place a large pot over a medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Brown the lamb on all sides until caramelised. Remove from the pot. 3 Peel and chop the onion. Add to the same pan and sauté with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes, or until softened and golden. 4 Drain the beans and stir into the onions. Add the lamb shanks back to the pot and add the water. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and cook for 2 hours. 5 Wash and dry the parsley and coriander well and chop them as finely as possible. Finely chop the spring onions. 6 Heat a separate frying pan over a medium heat and add 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the spring onion-chive mixture and sauté for 2 minutes before adding the herbs and fenugreek leaves. Cook gently until wilted and dark green, approx. 15 minutes.

7 Rinse and puncture the dried limes with a fork a few times. Juice the lime. 8 When the meat has cooked for 2 hours, add the cooked greens and dried Persian limes to the pot. Season with salt, to taste, and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer for a further 1 hour. When the meat is very tender, uncover the stew and allow it to cook uncovered until the sauce is thick. Season well with salt and pepper, if necessary, and lime juice. Stir in the saffron.

9 Serve hot with rice, if desired.