It’s amazing how powerful marketing can be. For years I thought ‘spring lamb’ was something to look forward to, associating it with Easter, better weather and celebrations. Conversely, when I suggest cooking lamb in the autumn people look at me as if I am guilty of the heinous crime of eating out of season. But talk to a farmer or butcher and he will set you straight. The truth is that spring is when lambs are supposed to be born, so you are not eating spring lamb when you eat lamb at Easter. You are eating animals that were born in October to be ready for the spring market. The meat tastes good, but delicate. It’s more than likely that the animal won’t have been outside for long. It will have none of that strong, sweet, almost fruity flavour you will get from a lamb that has lived, eating grass and gambolling.

Really good lamb is the stuff you eat through summer and into autumn. It tastes more mature, has a finer grain and comes to life with the kind of ingredients spring lamb just can’t handle.

Braise shanks with pumpkin and star anise, cook shoulders stuffed with feta and dill, or braise chunks with hot Moroccan spices. Your approach should be rustic and assertive. The fruits we think are so good with pork are even better with lamb; just look at the pie opposite.

Quinces, apricots, plums and damsons are all good, and spices – cinnamon, ginger, cayenne and saffron – can be used with abandon. Clean citrussy flavours are good, too – a gremolata made with orange or lemon rind cuts through that sweet fattiness – and strongly flavoured vegetables (chicory and fennel) are interesting partners.

The cheaper cuts, which tend to have more fat and flavour, are perfect for cooking with distinctive ingredients, so put shoulder on your shopping list: boned, it can be stuffed (try couscous with fruit and nuts, or rice with goat’s cheese and leeks) then formed into a football and tied (the French call it en ballon). Chunks of shoulder are good for braising. And take a different look at that hallowed cut, the leg. Instead of roasting it quickly on a high heat, try pot-roasting it long and slow.

Serve me an expensive rack of lamb with baby vegetables and my response will be a bit lukewarm. But tell me you’re making an eye-wateringly hot chilli with chunks of lamb, black beans and chorizo and I’ll want your address.

Shall I bring the beer?

‘Squab’ Pie

I saw this dish on the menu of a pub and the name intrigued me so much I did a bit of research. It is not made of squab at all but lamb, and is a very old-fashioned pie as it mixes fruit with meat and spices. This is very luxurious, good enough for a weekend lunch with friends.

Serves 6

1kg lamb neck fillet, cubed
Plain flour
2 tbsp oil
2 leeks, trimmed, base removed and cut into rings
1 onion, roughly chopped
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp allspice
1 eating apple
1 bramley apple
10 prunes, pitted
2 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
500ml lamb or chicken stock
2 tbsp double cream (optional)
250g puff pastry
1 egg
1 tbsp milk

Toss the lamb with some flour and salt and pepper. Heat half of the oil in a casserole and the other half in a frying-pan so that you can brown two batches of lamb at the same time.

Brown the meat thoroughly on all sides, then put the meat from the frying-pan into the casserole.

Wash the leeks well. Add to the frying-pan with the onion – there should be some fat left in it; if not add more oil – and cook over a medium heat until the onion is golden. Add to the lamb, along with the spices.

Halve and core the eating apple and cut it into about 12 wedges. Peel and core the bramley and cut into thin slices. Add both apples to the lamb along with the prunes, thyme, bay leaves and stock. Bring to the boil.

Season and turn down to a simmer. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes, making sure it isn’t getting so dry it catches on the bottom of the pan. (You do want the mixture to be quite thick, though, so don’t add too much extra liquid.)

Stir in the cream if you are using it, check for seasoning and place in a pie dish with a capacity of about one litre. Leave to cool. If you have a pie funnel, set it in the middle. Roll out the pastry until it is large enough to cover the pie. Cut off strips to fit around the rim of the dish. Mix the egg and milk to make an egg wash. Wet the rim with this and press the pastry strips on to it. Brush the strips on the rim with more of the wash. Place the pastry on top of the pie dish and press down all the way round the edge. Trim off the excess. Crimp the edges and 'knock up' the pastry with a blunt knife all the way round. Use any leftovers to make decorations. If you don't have a pie funnel, make slits in the top for the steam to escape. Paint the rest of the wash all over the pie with a pastry brush. Cook in an oven preheated to 200°C/gas mark 6 for 25 minutes.

Lamb with Fennel and Orange

This dish is a good combination of sweet fatty lamb, sharp fresh citrus and aniseedy fennel.

Serves 6

3 tbsp olive oil
1kg cubed lamb shoulder
1 large onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
Pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)
2 strips orange rind
400ml (14fl oz) lamb or chicken stock
1½ tbsp tomato purée
2 oranges
2 bulbs fennel

For the gremolata

Coarsely grated zest of ½ orange
2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, very finely chopped

Heat one tbsp of the oil in a casserole and season the meat. Brown the cubes on all sides, making sure you get a good colour on them. It's best to do this in batches so that you don't crowd the pan, otherwise the lamb will sweat rather than brown.

Set the lamb aside and add another tablespoon of oil. Cook the onion until it is soft and golden. Add the garlic (and the chilli if you are using it) and cook for a further couple of minutes. Put the lamb back in the casserole and add the orange rind, stock, tomato purée and juice of one of the oranges. Bring to the boil then immediately turn down the heat very low. Cover and leave the lamb to cook for 45 minutes.

Trim the fennel – reserving any feathery fronds – and remove any discoloured outer layers. Halve each bulb lengthways. Cut each half into three wedges and slice out the little bit of core from each one.

Heat the final tablespoon of oil in a frying-pan and cook the fennel wedges until golden. Stir them carefully into the stew. Leave the lid off and let the lamb cook for a further 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the top and bottom off the remaining orange so it has a flat base to sit on. Slice off the peel and pith, removing it in big strips, until you have an orange with no pith. Cut out each segment by slicing in between the flesh and the membrane that surrounds it.

Five minutes before the end of cooking time add the orange segments and any juice that has run out of them to the lamb. Stir
gently. Combine the ingredients for the gremolata and sprinkle on top just before serving.

The perfect accompaniment is saffron risotto, but if that seems like too much work a rice pilaf is good.