When the Easter long weekend rolls around, you’ll always find Matt Moran at his farm. Here in the NSW Central Tablelands, not too far from Moran’s newest venue The Rockley Pub, the chef loves to cook up a storm – and he has a tried-and-tested formula for his Easter feasting.
“I’ll always get the charcoal barbecue out and roast a little bit of fish on Easter Friday,” he says. “Then, for the rest of the weekend, I’m doing barbecues, always a lamb roast or maybe a slow-cooked lamb shoulder and some sort of salsa to cut through the fat… A salsa verde, maybe a gremolata. Then I’ll use whatever I have growing in the vegie garden. Easter usually comes at the end of the season, so I’ll work with what I’ve got. If the long weekend falls in March, then I’ll have the last of my tomatoes. But there’s always rhubarb, so there’s always a crumble for dessert.”
This seasonal inspiration carries through in these six roasts with the most – humble roast chicken gets an autumnal boost with porcini and apricot, whole roasted cauliflower is adorned with burnt butter and raisins, and of course, there’s a recipe for a signature Matt Moran lamb shoulder, complete with mint salsa. Because as Moran says, “You can’t eat lamb without mint sauce!”
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