We think Sauvignon Blanc is much more versatile than the expected pairing of goat’s cheese and asparagus. Having said that, it is brilliant with goat’s cheese and asparagus, so we do share a recipe for a delicate soufflé.
We do, however, also have some other delicious options for you to try and they are not limited to salads and cured trout. Sauvignon Blanc is much more than a summer wine! Try our selection of wintery recipes that will work beautifully with both the newly released 2021 La Motte Sauvignon Blanc and the 2020 Pierneef Sauvignon Blanc.
Steamed Pork and Prawn Dumplings (Siu Mai) (Get Recipe)
Recipe by Hein van Tonder
With its natural acidity and a fine texture, Sauvignon Blanc is refreshing as a glass on its own, but with enough complexity to be a versatile and delightful partner to food. Try the 2020 Pierneef Sauvignon Blanc with those often challenging and spicy Asian flavours and make this delicious dish of Steamed Pork and Prawn Dumplings (Siu Mai).
Creamy salmon pasta with spinach, capers & lemon (Get Recipe)
Recipe by Sam Linsell
This creamy salmon pasta recipe with spinach and capers and lemon is a delicious and easy supper for two. The sauce cooks in roughly the same amount of time as the pasta, so have everything ready and prepped before you start cooking. The golden gremolata pangrattato is optional but highly recommended to give this creamy pasta a crunchy hit of flavour. I developed this recipe to pair with the 2020 La Motte Pierneef Sauvignon Blanc. The wine has a citrus flavour profile with green pepper and Cape gooseberry in the background which pairs beautifully with seafood pasta dishes such as this creamy salmon. The palate is very elegant, with a mineral finish and the best time to enjoy this wine is during 2021.
Asparagus and goat’s cheese soufflé (Get recipe)
Recipe from the La Motte Cape Winelands Cuisine Cookbook
The ancient Greeks and Romans used asparagus. It was cultivated in the Netherlands during the fourteenth century and Van Riebeeck planted it in the company’s garden at the Cape. From June 1652 until the cultivated variety could be harvested, the Dutch used the roots and thin new shoots of the wild asparagus at the Cape. Wild asparagus remained popular among some people until the end of the nineteenth century, as it had an excellent flavour and was available when the garden type was out of season.
Asparagus was always lightly cooked by the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century cooks of the Cape. It was used in various dishes, such as salads, soups, bredies and tarts. As a dish on its own, it was served with melted butter and sprinkling of nutmeg or with a garnish of finely chopped hard-boiled egg yolks and parsley. It was also served with Hollandaise.
A classic combination with both the 2021 La Motte Sauvignon Blanc and 2002 Pierneef Sauvignon Blanc.
Whole-baked Rainbow Trout with tomato and olives (Get Recipe)
Recipe by Chef Eric Bulpitt
"I was born in Walvis Bay, Namibia, and one of my earliest food memories was walking to the local fish shop, down a dirt road to buy Smoked Snoek - you could smell it well before you were even close to the fishmonger", says Chef Eric Bulpitt. "My dad was obsessed with fishing and would often take me along. Its these memories spend around the ocean that contribute to my love for fish, it brings a smile to my heart when I get to break down and prepare seafood. Being in Franschhoek the natural option would be local trout farmed just up the road of course, and what is better than trout cooked over the embers with sweet tomato and good olive oil."
Lazy lunches of grilled fish and vegetables are made for well-chilled glasses of Sauvignon Blanc. Cellarmaster Edmund Terblanche recommends the 2021 La Motte Sauvignon Blanc with Chef Eric's Rainbow Trout. It complements the acidity of the olives and tomatoes and has enough body for the fattiness of the fish.
Cape Seafood Lasagne (Get Recipe)
Recipe by Chef Eric Bulpitt
Chef Eric shares his recipe for a Cape Seafood Lasagne to enjoy with the 2021 La Motte Sauvignon Blanc. It has beautiful Cape curry flavours, preserved lemon and goat's cheese that work exceptionally well with the Sauvignon Blanc.
He shares the complete recipe for those who enjoy a challenge in the kitchen, but you can buy your preserved lemons and marsala oil from a deli, get a seafood curry mix from the La Motte Farm Shop and use store-bought lasagne sheets rather than making your own.
Ravioli with wild mushrooms and goat’s cheese (Get Recipe)
Recipe from the La Motte Cape Winelands Cuisine Cookbook
Persian-Arabian pasta recipes were also known in Spain, but it was the Italians who experimented with the recipes and exported the use of pasta to France. The Italian cooks started to fold pieces of meat or vegetables into pasta dough strips, which they then fried in fat. According to Anne Willan (Great Cooks and Their Recipes), they called the dish rabiole, which means ‘leftover ‘in the Ligurian dialect. In the recipes of the Italian chef Martino (1474), pieces of pasta dough were filled with spiced meat, which were then cooked in saffron water. He called this dish ravioli and serve it with cheese and cinnamon sugar. In his cookbook Opera (1570), the Italian chef Scappi gave a variation on pasta dough that contained eggs. Today, eggs are mainly used when preparing pasta dough for cooking ravioli.
The Dutch, who traded in the Mediterranean, took these Italian recipes to the Netherlands, where they developed their own fillings. Proof of this development is a ravioli recipe with a cheese filling that appears in Thomas van der Noot’s cookbook (1570). These recipes made their way to the Cape when the Dutch settled here. Try this moreish pasta with the 2021 La Motte Sauvignon Blanc, 2020 Pierneef Sauvignon Blanc and even the 2019 La Motte Chardonnay.
Warming Seafood Soup (Get Recipe)
Recipe from the La Motte Cape Winelands Cuisine Cookbook
In the days of the early Cape, meat was scarce and the ocean was big. We can therefore easily assume the fish dishes were often served. The Cape cooks improvised and adapted their fish soup recipes according to the availability of ingredients and the seasons. Snoek head soup is one such adaptation and today it is still a favourite winter recipe. Most of the old Cape fish soup recipes contained a mixture of seafood, good quality fish stock as a base, and herbs and spices. The soup was usually thickened with eggs and lemon juice, but sometimes seaweed was added to thicken the soup and enhance the flavour. This recipe is as wintery as they come and will work with the 2021 La Motte Sauvignon Blanc, 2020 Pierneef Sauvignon Blanc and also the 2019 La Motte Chardonnay.
Featured image by Ilse van der Merwe
