Recipes
Food & Wine Pairings from the Pyrenees Winemakers
Ever wondered which foods to pair with which wines? The Pyrenees winemakers & cellar door chefs have curated a list of their favourite recipes and wine pairings for you to try.
Summerfield
Slow-Cooked Lamb Woodfired Pizza
Wine match: Summerfield Reserve Shiraz
If you've visited Summerfield's cellar door you will be familiar with their famous pizzas – made from scratch using the best local ingredients to create a mouth watering dish paired perfectly with a rich, full- bodied Shiraz.
The combination of a glass of our Reserve Shiraz with the Slow Cooked Lamb pizza is a seamless match. Plums, cherries, spice, chocolate and mocca frame this wine and it only improves from there. This is what Summerfield Reserve Shiraz is all about.
– Mark Summerfield
The Summerfield Cellar Door is open 7 days, from 10am to 5pm (10am – 5pm Sundays). Pizza is available Wednesday to Sunday lunch as well as Friday & Saturday nights. Click here for more information.
- Summerfield Pizza Dough
- Summerfield Pasture Raised Lamb
- Summerfield Reserve Shiraz
- Meredith Goat Cheese
- Spanish Red Onion
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Roasted Pine Nuts
- Garden Fresh Rosemary
- Spinach, Garlic & Seasonings
- Marinate Summerfield pasture raised lamb with Summerfield Reserve Shiraz, rosemary, garlic, spanish red onion, cracked pepper & salt.
- Sous vide for 12 hours @ 85 degrees.
- Portion, knead & shape Summerfield dough onto pizza tray.
- Spread with tomato based sauce, dress with lamb, onion, garlic & rosemary.
- Scatter with spinach and cheeses, finishing with roasted pine nuts.
- Cook in wood-fired pizza at 370 degrees for two minutes.

Above: Summerfield Wines.
Sally's Paddock
Sally's Nectarine Relish
Wine match: Sally's Hill Cabernet Franc
- 1 kg nectarines, seeded and coarsely chopped
- 1 small green capsicum, chopped
- 85 gm (½ cup) seedless raisins
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
- 1 ¼ cups white wine vinegar
- 400 g (2 cups, firmly packed) brown sugar
- Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.
- Bring to the boil and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 - 1 ¼ hours or until mixture thickens.
- Pour hot relish into warm sterilized jars and seal while hot. Keeps for up to 1 month in the refrigerator.
- Makes about 3 cups

Above: Sally's Paddock.
Blue Pyrenees Estate
Mushroom, Polenta Cake, Cauliflower & Garlic Butter
Wine match: Blue Pyrenees Section One Shiraz
Any day of the week at Blue Pyrenees Estate visitors can sample a range of exquisite dishes from Chef Suthat Sathittanakun, each created from the best carefully selected local ingredients.
The creaminess of polenta, richness of garlic butter and earthiness of mushrooms matches perfectly with Blue Pyrenees Section One Shiraz, a medium bodied wine notes of blueberry, mushrooms, black pepper.
Click here for more information.
- Mushrooms – mixed 400g cut into 1cm thickness (we use lions mane & oysters)
- 2 tablespoons of finely sliced chives
Polenta Cake
- 100g polenta (instant)
- 400ml milk
- 1 gram nutmeg
- 4 grams salt
- 10 grams Parmesan cheese
Garlic butter
- 200g butter
- 40 grams garlic, chopped
- 2 grams lemon zest
- 4 grams pepper, coarsely ground
- 2 grams salt
- 5 mL of lemon juice
- 10 grams parsley, chopped
Pickled pine mushrooms
- 50 grams pine mushrooms, sliced 1 cm thick
- 50 mL vinegar
- 50mL water
- 25 grams sugar
- 1 sprig tarragon
Cauliflower
- One head of Cauliflower
- Oil
Polenta cake
- Line a non stick loaf tin with baking paper & grease with oil.
- Bring milk up to a boil, add spices & polenta then stir constantly until polenta is cooked (about five minutes). Add parmesan.
- Put polenta into the loaf tin and allow to cool completely.
- Once cool cut into four slabs.
Garlic butter
- In a small pot melt 50g of butter until frothy, add half the garlic & cook for two minutes.
- Remove pot from heat & add all remaining ingredients. Mix well to combine.
- Place into a container & allow to cool in the fridge until required.
Pickled pine mushrooms
- Place all ingredients except the mushroom in a pot & bring to a boil, allow to cool.
- Add mushroom & set aside until required.
Cauliflower
- Set oven to 250 degrees.
- Peel off all outer leaves of cauliflower.
- Drizzle cauliflower with oil & season with salt & pepper.
- Roast for 40 minutes until cauliflower is dark.
- Allow to cool & cut into bite size florets.
To serve
- Heat oven to 180 degrees.
- Heat a heavy base pan to high, add oil & sear the polenta slabs for one minute on each side.
- Transfer polenta to a tray & bake for 10 minutes. Turn off the oven & place four bowls in the oven to warm.
- Heat pan back to high heat add 20ml oil & add the mushrooms & cauliflower then cook for 2 minutes.
- Remove pan from heat & add 4 tablespoons of garlic butter, stir to combine.
- Remove plates from the oven & place the polenta cake into each bowl.
- Divide mushrooms into the four bowls.
- Garnish each bowl with a few slivers of pickled pine mushrooms.
- Sprinkle with chives.
Serves four as an entrée.

Above: Suthat Sathittanakun, chef at Blue Pyrenees Estate.
Grape Farm Winery
Cajun Prawns with Charred Corn Blinis
Wine match: Grape Farm Splash Rose
The restaurant Grape Farm Winery, Zocalo, offers a range of Spanish inspired tapas style dishes. The food philosophy is simple in that ingredients need to be as fresh as possible, sourced as locally as possible and be as tasty as possible. All of the herbs and garnishes, some seasonal fruit and vegetables are grown on site.
Click here for more information.
- 8-10 large green tiger prawns, depending on size
- Cajun spice rub – make your own interesting version as we do or if you’re feeling lazy, buy one
- 1 cob of fresh corn – charred
- 1 cup self raising flour
- 1/3 cup of milk
- 2 eggs
- chives
- rocket leaves
- lemon slices cut thick
- Moonambel Gap Olive oil
- 3-4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
- 50 ml white wine
- 75 grams unsalted butter
- pinch Murray River salt flakes
- cracked pepper
- Mexican tarragon leaves
- Heat a char pan/griddle to hot & smoking
- Brush lemon slices with olive oil and char oil side down for about 1 min then set aside
- Lightly brush corn cob with olive oil and char on all sides, set aside to cool – once cool, slice off the kernels
For the blinis (savoury pancake)
- Mix milk and eggs together & lightly whisk
- Add a pinch of salt to the flour
- Combine milk/egg mixture with flour and gently mix (avoid over mixing or may become rubbery)
- Add corn kernels and roughly chopped chives
- Using a large dessert spoon add to frying pan, will make about 16 blinis @ 6cm diameter – more than you’ll need for this dish so eat the rest for tomorrow’s breakfast.
Prawns
- Prepare raw green prawns by removing tail shell and digestive tract but leaving heads and tails on
- Toss in Cajun spice rub to coat
- In a frying pain, heat to medium, add small amount of olive oil and 25 grams of butter
- Add sliced garlic and prawns
- Cook prawns for about 1 minute on each side or until just cooked through
- Add a pinch of slat flakes and cracked pepper
- Remove prawns from pan, add white wine to deglaze then add remaining butter (50 grams) and reduce quickly
To plate
- Line a bowl with rocket leaves, arrange a few blinis
- Place prawns on rocket and drizzle with the sauce
- Garnish with charred lemon slice and Mexican Tarragon leaves
Best consumed with a glass of Rosé

Above: Grape Farm Winery.
Taltarni
Ginger & Pumpkin Risotto with Goats Cheese
Recipe by Chef Andrea Rigodanza
Wine match: 2018 Shiraz Viognier
The food & wine magic being developed out of a partnership with Chef Andrea Rigodanza is definitely worth taking note of – Rigodanza has created an exceptional food and wine marriage with this recipe, best paired with a balanced & medium bodied Shiraz. While the cellar door at Taltarni does not operate a restaurant, guests can enjoy a cheese & wine tasting flight or grazing board by prior arrangement.
Not only does the tartness of the goat's cheese work well with the red forest fruit flavours of the wine, the silky mouth feel of the Shiraz Viognier pairs perfectly with the creaminess of the risotto.
The Cellar Door at Taltarni is open for wine tastings from Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 5pm – click here for more information.
Pumpkin Cream
- 500g butternut pumpkin pulp
- 1 medium brown onion
- 20 ml olive oil
- 100g cream
- 500 ml water
- 4g sage
Risotto
- 250g Carnaroli or Arborio rice
- 80ml Taltarni Fumé Blanc
- 100g unsalted butter
- 75g grated Parmesan cheese
- 25g grated ginger
- 80g goat cheese
- Salt & pepper
Pumpkin Cream
- Heat the oil on medium high, slice the brown onion and add it to the hot oil, cook until caramelised.
- Cut thin slices of pumpkin and add it into the pot, cook for 5 minutes and add the sage and the liquids (cream and water).
- Cook for 25 minute or until the pumpkin is soft enough to be blended.
- Blend everything adding some salt and pepper.
- We want a watery cream since we are going to use it to cook the rice.
Risotto
- Heat up a medium size pot and add the rice, toast the rice until it's very hot, but make sure the grains don't change colour, they have to stay white. This process helps the rice grain to keep its shape during the cooking.
- When the rice is hot add the wine, wait until the alcohol has evaporated and start adding the pumpkin cream slowly. When you cook the risotto you can't add all the liquids at the beginning otherwise it's just boiled rice, you have to add the liquids very slowly, just enough so you don't have the rice sticking on the pan.
- After 15-18 minutes the rice should be nearly ready, take off the heat and add the ginger and the butter. Mix until the butter has completely melted, now you can add the parmesan and mix until you get a creamy emulsified risotto.
- Garnish it with some goat cheese and black pepper on top.

Above: Image from Taltarni.
The Avoca Hotel
Quail with Corn & Paté
Wine match: 2018 Equus Ambience Rosé
For visitors to the Pyrenees The Avoca Hotel is a destination in itself and few people in the region are as skilled at food and wine pairing as owner and barman, Ian Urquhart. Renowned for its game dishes, this recipe is served as an entreé in the dining room at The Avoca. All dishes on the menu have a perfect partner on the wine list and – for those that ask – Ian will happily explain the intricacies of why.
The sweetness of this dish and its brilliant colours need to be partnered by a wine with a good mix of acid, dryness, texture and spice. One might initially look to a white wine such as viognier but a better match in this case, is rosé because its colour and flavour are a perfect complement to the pink colour and earthy delicacy of the quail.
There are several great examples of rosé in the Pyrenees and we have picked the 2018 Ambience Rosé from Equus @ Moonambel as our match to this dish.
It is a wonderfully crisp wine made completely from Pyrenees Nebbiolo lending it a beautiful, pale salmon pink colour, flavours of cherry and earthy spice, nice acid but a delicacy that ensures it never overpowers the subtle flavours of the quail.
– Ian Urquhart, The Avoca
The Avoca Hotel is open for dinner from Thursday to Saturday as well as lunch from Friday to Sunday.
Quail
- 6 large quails, deboned
- sea salt and black pepper
- black sea salt
- micro herbs
Paté
- 500gm chicken livers, cleaned
- 1 small onion, sliced thinly
- splash of extra virgin olive oil
- pinch of fresh thyme leaves
- sea salt
- ½ cup dry sherry
- ½ cup cream
- 50gm butter
Corn Pureé
- 5 corn cobs, husks and silks removed
- 200ml milk
- 100gm butter
Corn Pureé
- Remove the kernels from one corn cob and fry in a pan until crunchy. Set aside for the garnish.
- Remove the kernels from the other cobs and place in a saucepan with the milk and butter.
- Cook for 20 minutes over low/medium heat, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool a little and then purée in a blender until smooth. Push through a fine sieve and then cover and refrigerate.
Paté
- Preheat the oven to 170° Place the livers, onion, olive oil, thyme and pinch of salt in a baking dish and mix together. Bake for about 20 minutes until the livers are cooked (they still need to be slightly pink).
- Remove and cool slightly and then place the mix into a food processor with the sherry, cream and butter. Process until smooth.
- Season with salt and pepper and then push the mixture through a fine sieve, cover and refrigerate.
Quail
- Halve and debone the quails, removing the wing tips and leg tips so that from each quail you get two halves with breast, boneless leg and wing with one bone in.
- Tuck the leg meat under the breast and use any excess skin to wrap over the leg. Lift the skin away from the breast and place a teaspoon of paté under the skin.
- Season the quail and grill for about a minute on each side before baking in a hot oven for 5 minutes.
To Serve
- Place some reheated corn purée on a warmed plate and top with a half quail. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of black sea salt. Scatter some micro-herbs and the pan-fried corn kernels to finish.
Serves 12 as an entrée.

Above: Image from The Avoca Hotel.