It was the final instant restaurant for group two in this year’s MKR and Calabrian sisters Leanne and Milena were dedicated to serving up good Italian food just like their mum and Nonna would make.
Leanne had lost her voice, but that was not stopping her from getting busy in the kitchen.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: MKR contestant’s sharp words for Manu
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The Victorian-based sisters served up two brilliant dishes – a perfect arancini and an almost-perfect spaghetti – but Manu’s comments about their less successful dessert got Leanne’s back up.
First up was arancini and everything was going along okay – except the cheese in the middle wouldn’t melt and Leanne and Milena were running out of time to serve up.
But they managed to execute it well – and the contestants were loving it.
Fiery Calabrian sisters Leanne and Milena on MKR. Credit: Seven Even Sophie and Katherine, who are well at the top of the leaderboard, were a little bit worried after this excellent first dish.
“Yum,” seemed to be the general consensus.
“It’s what we’ve been asking for – simple home cooking done well,” Manu said.
“It’s exactly what My Kitchen Rules is all about.”
Matt Preston called it “home cooking that transports you”.
Arancini: Leanne & Milena’s recipe. Credit: Seven NetworkThey didn’t change anything about the traditional recipe to impress the judges, and later, both Matt and Manu gave the entree a perfect 10.
Leanne and Milena’s main was home-made spaghetti with home-made sausage salsiccia (Italian sausage) and rapini (broccoli rabe).
“That’s a massive tick, perfect, delicious, wonderful,” Matt Preston said.
“You succeeded to cook the pasta perfectly,” Manu added, clearly impressed with the home-made elements of the dish.
Leanne and Milena’s spaghetti is a hit. Credit: Seven “I really have to take my hat off to you. Well done, ladies.”
Matt said he would have liked more rapini and chilli in the dish, and Manu would have liked a bit more red wine, but overall, they found it delicious, with Manu giving it an 8 and Matt a 9.
Dessert was woodfired chocolate hazelnut calzone, which promised to be delicious, but only scored a 4 from Manu and a 5 from Matt.
The pastry was rolled too thick, and Manu said he’d rather have had fresh strawberries instead of stewed, sugary strawberries, which made the dish “sloppy” and “undesirable”.
He said the combination of hazelnut chocolate and “acidic” strawberries “made no sense”.
“Who doesn’t like chocolate and strawberries?” Leanne said in a separate interview, clearly stinging from Manu’s assessment.
“Manu can go and get stuffed,” she added – with a smile on her face.
Leanne didn’t like Manu’s assessment of the dessert. Credit: Seven “That’s why God didn’t give me a voice for the end of the night, because I knew the dessert was gonna stuff up and I couldn’t answer back!”
But the first two dishes were strong enough to catapult Leanne and Milena into second place with 87 to Sophie and Katherine’s 95.
Rosie and Hayley realise they are out of the competition. Credit: Seven It meant fellow Italians Rosie and Hayley were out of the competition – and the race is on to see who will cook their way to victory.
MKR continues on Sunday at 7pm with the first of two cook-offs at 7pm on Channel 7 and 7plus.
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