We can’t lower the fuel levy or ban electricity hikes, we can’t make Zuma pay back the money or prevent e-tolling, but we can turn frugality into something to celebrate. In fact, we are turning it into a whole campaign. We want everyone to enjoy a lifestyle in which the only thing you need to cut is electricity. A lifestyle filled with #FrugalFridayFeasts. Every week the Ultra Value Wine Challenge team brings you an irresistible meal for two, which includes wine, all for under R200! In the words of Oprah: everyone gets a feast!
In June this year, Chef Angelo Scirocco was selected as one of twenty young talented chefs from all over the world to participate in the Grand Finale of the prestigious San Pellegrino Young Chefs Awards in Milan. This young chef has recently returned to the canteen at The Chef’s Warehouse in Cape Town’s Bree Street, and, when posed with the challenge of preparing a #FrugalFridayFeast, he drew inspiration from his own personality, concocting a feast that is “humble with a bit of an edge”.
Angelo’s Panzanella is a combination of exotic tomatoes and thinly sliced dough rye bread, and is a brilliant example of how the simplest ingredients, when approached with passion, can be turned into a dish so sexy it should be served on a catwalk.
Chef Angelo says his “favourite dish” is best enjoyed with a glass or two of Neil Ellis Groenekloof Sauvignon Blanc 2015, as this wine’s delicate acidity complements the flavours of the marinated tomatoes and olives – and at R85 a bottle, it offers quality drinking at an affordable price too.
Angelo’s ‘Panzanella’
Serves 2
For the tomato marinate
250 g whole exotic tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1/2 x dried red chilli crushed
25g basil crushed
75 ml extra virgin olive oil
25 ml lemon juice
1 stick of rosemary
Zest of 1/2 lemon
10 olives pitted
Toss all the ingredients together and allow to marinate overnight.
Parsley and garlic oil
75g Italian flat leaf parsley
1 clove garlic
200ml canola oil
Heat oil to approximately 60⁰C. In the meantime, place the parsley and garlic into a heat proof jug blender. Pour the oil over and blend on high speed for two minutes and then on medium speed for a further six minutes. Season. Strain through a coffee filter overnight. The oil can be stored in the freezer to preserve what you don’t use.
Sourdough rye croutes
1/2 loaf of really good quality sourdough rye bread
25 ml olive oil
Maldon salt
White pepper
Slice the bread as thinly as possible using a serrated bread knife. Lay the slices onto parchment paper. They shouldn’t touch each other or else they will stick to each other. Drip some olive oil over them and then season. Cover the slices with another layer of parchment paper. Then press between two oven trays. Bake on 180⁰C for 10 -15 minutes checking every five minutes to make sure they don’t burn. When ready, remove from oven and let them sit pressed until cooled down.
Arrange the tomato marinate, as well as the sourdough rye croutes, on a big plate and drizzle liberally with the parsley and garlic oil.
