Matt Moran Shares His Favourite Holiday Recipes Using Macadamias

Beloved Aussie chef Matt Moran is sharing some of his favourite holiday recipes, and there's one ingredient they all have in common - the Aussie macadamia!

'The great thing about macadamias is that they truly are one of the most diverse nuts to experiment with in the kitchen," he says.

"Their unique flavour profile and subtle creaminess make them perfect for breaking down into sauces and sides, or you can chop or shave them on top of your dishes as garnishes, adding a new layer of flavour and crunch and thus turning even the most basic of meals into something special."

Below he shares his take on some holiday favourites including roast lamb with macadamias and mint pesto, vegetarian braised mushroom with macadamia cream and a peach, macadamia and honey tart.

Anyone else drooling? 

Matt Moran's braised field mushrooms, cabbage, macadamia

Serves 4

Preparation time: 3 hrs 35min (allowing resting/drying time)

Cooking time: 1 hr 15 min

Ingredients

Koji mushrooms

4x large flat mushrooms

100g Shiro koji (find at the Asian supermarket)

100ml olive oil

20g fresh thyme, chopped

Macadamia cream

200g macadamias

100ml water

50g olive oil

10g sea salt

20ml lemon juice

Roasted cabbage

¼ cabbage

50g macadamias, roasted

20ml lemon juice

20ml olive oil

20g chopped parsley

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C.

For the mushrooms, place the flat mushrooms gill side up in a tray, drizzle olive oil over the top and cover with koji and chopped thyme. Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until soft and roasted. Remove from the oven and let cool on the tray before placing in the fridge to dry. We like to keep the mushrooms in the fridge, uncovered for 3 hours, this allows them to dry slightly so when reheated they get crispy.

For the macadamia cream, place macadamias, water, olive oil, sea salt and lemon juice in a blender and blend on high until smooth, taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

For the roasted cabbage, preheat the oven to 240°C, peel cabbage layers away from the core, place on a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil and salt, roast in the oven until slightly coloured, roughly 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place into a mixing bowl, add roasted macadamias, lemon juice, olive oil and parsley, mix and set aside. To serve, reheat the mushrooms in the oven at 240°C for 5-8 minutes, place 4 x spoonfuls of macadamia cream on a serving plate, place the 4 x roasted mushrooms on top, followed by the roasted cabbage.

Matt Moran's slow cooked lamb shoulder with macadamia and mint pesto

Serves 4

Preparation: 4 hrs (includes brine process)

Cooking time: 3.5 hrs

Ingredients

1 lamb shoulder on the bone (about 1.3kg), trimmed

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 sprig rosemary

2 litres chicken stock

Brine

300g salt

200g sugar

2g black peppercorns

1g juniper berries

1g cloves

2lt water

Mint pesto

1 clove garlic, roughly chopped

50g macadamias, roasted

¼ bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked

1 bunch mint, leaves picked

200ml grapeseed oil

3 tbsp chardonnay vinegar

Salt and pepper

Rocket garnish

50g broad lead rocket

Method

For the brine, place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, remove from the heat and allow to cool completely in the fridge before using. Place the lamb in a container, pour over enough brine to cover, then cover with plastic film and place in the fridge for 3 hours. Remove the lamb and pat dry with paper towel. Preheat the oven to 110°C. Place the lamb in a casserole dish with the garlic, rosemary, and chicken stock. Cover and roast for 3 ½ hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Remove the cover and turn oven up to 180°C, allow to cook for a further 15-20 minutes or until golden and crisp. To make the mint pesto, place the garlic, macadamias, parsley, mint, and grapeseed oil in a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl, stir in the vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the lamb with a scoop of macadamia pesto on top and broad leaf rocket alongside.

Matt Moran's honey, peach, macadamia frangipane tart

Serves 12

Preparation Time: 2 hrs 25 min (includes resting time)

Cooking time: 1 hr

Ingredients

Pastry tart base

180g butter

300g plain flour

90g icing sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

35g honey (we used manuka)

225g unsalted butter

60g castor sugar

100ml cream

½ vanilla bean

550g macadamias, roughly chopped

300g peaches, finely sliced

Method

To prepare the pastry, cut the butter into a 1 cm dice. Place the butter into a bowl then add the flour and icing sugar. Rub the butter into the flour and icing sugar to form a crumble. Add the egg then mix together until a dough has formed. Wrap the pastry and place into the refrigerator to rest for 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Roll the pastry out to a 5 mm thickness then line a 27 cm tart ring. Cover the pastry with a sheet of baking paper then top the baking paper with baking beans or rice, this will help keep the tart flat while cooking. Place into the oven to blind bake for 15 minutes then remove from the oven. Remove the baking beans/rice. Lightly beat the egg yolk then brush a thin layer around the surface of the tart. Return to the oven to cook for a further 5 minutes then remove and set aside. Increase the oven to 175°C.

For the filling, place the honey, butter, sugar and cream in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean then add the seeds to the mixture. Place the saucepan onto a medium to high heat and bring to the boil. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes then add the macadamia nuts. Stir to combine then cook for a further minute. Place the peach slices in the tart base and carefully pour the mixture over the top then place into the preheated oven. Bake for 25 minutes then rotate the tart and cook for a further 10 minutes. The tart should be golden brown all over, otherwise bake for a little longer until this is achieved. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the mould. Once cool, remove from the mould and cut into wedges. Serve with your favourite ice cream or just on its own.

Psssst! Have you checked out Matt's cookbooks? 

We love or check out his other books on Amazon. (Please note, CelebrityKind is an Amazon affiliate. That means, if you make a purchase through the links provided, we'll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, so you'll also be helping us grow!)