Domatokeftedes and rosé
For a big rosé to match the bold flavours of these tomato and feta morsels, look to Australia’s warmer wine regions.
For the past few years, one of the most exciting trends in Australian wine has been the growth in number and quality of pale, truly savoury, dry-finishing rosés. Where bold, magenta-coloured, richly fruity, grenache-based pink wines used to be the norm, typified by the Charles Melton Rose of Virginia style, more and more Australian winemakers are looking to Provence, the southern Rhône, the Loire Valley and Burgundy for inspiration, and are producing only gently pink, often more bronze- or salmon-coloured wines with delicate perfumes, subtle, complex flavours and food-friendly savouriness: think Spinifex, Sutton Grange, Dominique Portet, Pondalowie, Castagna, Krinklewood and Arrivo, for example. As much as I adore this newer, paler, drier style, however, some food calls for a big pink drink, a rosé with plenty of flavour, plenty of fruit, and even perhaps a touch of sweetness to balance, as here, the acidity of the tomatoes and the saltiness of the cheese. In this case it’s worth looking to Australia’s warmer wine regions for inspiration: McLaren Vale, the Barossa and Langhorne Creek.
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Domatokeftedes with herb and garlic sauce
Serves
10
Cooking Time
Prep time 20 mins, cook 50 mins (plus cooling, standing)
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7
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Roma tomatoes, halved lengthways
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60 ml
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(¼ cup) olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
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80 gm
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(½ cup) fine burghul
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1
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onion, finely chopped
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4
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garlic cloves, finely chopped
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75 gm
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Greek feta, coarsely crumbled
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¼ cup
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(loosely packed) each flat-leaf parsley and mint, coarsely chopped
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2 tbsp
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self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
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1 tbsp
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dried oregano
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For deep-frying:
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vegetable oil
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| Herb and garlic sauce |
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1 cup
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(firmly packed) each flat-leaf parsley and mint
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80 ml
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(1/3 cup) olive oil
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2
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garlic cloves, finely chopped
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1
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lemon, finely grated rind and juice only
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1
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Preheat oven to 220C. Place tomato cut-side down on a baking tray, drizzle with oil, season to taste and roast until skin blisters (15-20 minutes). When cool enough to handle, remove skin (discard) and coarsely chop (reserve juices for sauce). Combine tomato in a bowl with burghul, stand until burghul has absorbed juices (5 minutes).
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2
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Meanwhile, heat 20ml oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add onion and garlic and sauté until soft (7-10 minutes). Cool slightly, add to tomato mixture. Cool to room temperature, then add remaining ingredients, adding extra flour if mixture is too wet. Season to taste, roll into walnut-sized oval balls, place on a tray and refrigerate until required.
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3
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Meanwhile, for herb and garlic sauce, process ingredients and reserved tomato juices in a food processor to a coarse sauce consistency, season to taste and set aside.
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4
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Heat vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or large deep-sided saucepan, dust domatokeftedes in flour, then cook in batches (be careful, hot oil may spit) until golden and warmed through (3-5 minutes). Drain on absorbent paper, season to taste and serve hot with herb and garlic sauce.
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This recipe is from the March 2010 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.
WORDS Max Allen
RECIPE Alice Storey
PHOTOGRAPHY Ben Dearnley
STYLING Geraldine Munoz and Alice Storey